James Francis Lynam (born September 15, 1941) is an American former college and professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

coach. He coached at the college level for Fairfield University from 1968 to 1970,

American University The American University (AU or American) is a Private university, private University charter#Federal, federally chartered research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Its main campus spans 90-acres (36 ha) on Ward Circle, in the Spri ...

from 1973 to 1978, and St. Joseph's University from 1978 to 1981. In the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

(NBA), Lynam coached the San Diego / Los Angeles Clippers from 1983 to 1985, the

Philadelphia 76ers The Philadelphia 76ers, also known colloquially as the Sixers, are an American professional basketball team based in the Philadelphia metropolitan area. The 76ers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Atlan ...

from 1987 to 1992, and the

Washington Bullets The Washington Wizards are an American professional basketball team based in Washington, D.C. The Wizards compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference. The team plays i ...

from 1995 to 1997. Lynam compiled a 158–118 record at the college level, and 328–392 in the NBA. He was also Philadelphia's

general manager A general manager (GM) is an executive who has overall responsibility for managing both the revenue and cost elements of a company's income statement, known as profit & loss (P&L) responsibility. A general manager usually oversees most or all of ...

from 1992 to 1994.

Playing career

After graduating from West Catholic High School, he went to

Saint Joseph's University Saint Joseph's University (SJU or St. Joe's) is a Private university, private Jesuits, Jesuit university in Philadelphia, Lower Merion Township, Pennsylvania, and Lancaster, Pennsylvania. The university was founded by the Jesuits, Society of J ...

. With the

Hawks Hawks are bird of prey, birds of prey of the family Accipitridae. They are very widely distributed and are found on all continents, except Antarctica. The subfamily Accipitrinae includes goshawks, sparrowhawks, sharp-shinned hawks, and othe ...

, he was a three-year starter. In 1961, Lynam was a key player on a Hawks team that advanced to the 1961 Final Four. The Hawks defeated

Utah Utah is a landlocked state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is one of the Four Corners states, sharing a border with Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico. It also borders Wyoming to the northea ...

in a four-overtime game for third place. Lynam won the team MVP award after Jack Egan was expelled for his participation in the 1961 point shaving scandal. Lynam played with the Hawks until 1963. That year, he was named the MVP of the Big 5 in his senior year.

Coaching career

He began his coaching career at Lansdale Catholic High School in Lansdale, Pa where he was the head boys' basketball coach for the 1964–65 season. He then coached the

Fairfield Stags men's basketball The Fairfield Stags men's basketball team represents Fairfield University in Fairfield, Connecticut and competes in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference of NCAA Division I. The Stags play their home games in the 3,500 seat Leo D. Mahoney Arena ...

in 1968 where he coached for two years. In 1973, he took the reins at

in 1973, where he coached for five years. He coached the Eagles to a finals appearance in the East Coast Conference tournament in 1975. In 1978, he returned to his alma mater St. Joseph's. In 1980–81, he coached the Hawks to an ECC Tournament championship, to receive a bid to the NCAA tournament. As a #9 seed, the Hawks defeated Creighton in the first round and upset the #1 seeded and #1 ranked DePaul to reach the Sweet Sixteen. The Hawks then defeated

Boston College Boston College (BC) is a private university, private Catholic Jesuits, Jesuit research university in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1863 by the Society of Jesus, a Catholic Religious order (Catholic), religious order, t ...

to advance to the Elite Eight, where their Cinderella run would end by losing to eventual national champion

Indiana Indiana ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Michigan to the northwest, Michigan to the north and northeast, Ohio to the east, the Ohio River and Kentucky to the s ...

. On May 18, 1981, Lynam accepted an offer to be an assistant coach for the

Portland Trail Blazers The Portland Trail Blazers (colloquially known as the Blazers) are an American professional basketball team based in Portland, Oregon. The Trail Blazers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Northwest Division (N ...

. Portland's coach Jack Ramsay previously coached Lynam at St. Joseph's. In his second year in Portland, the Blazers won their first playoff series since their championship season of 1976–77, though they would lose in the second round to the

Los Angeles Lakers The Los Angeles Lakers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Lakers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division (NBA), Pacific Division of the Western Conference (NBA ...

. After two years with Portland, Lynam was named head coach of the San Diego Clippers. San Diego native and franchise cornerstone

Bill Walton William Theodore Walton III (November 5, 1952 – May 27, 2024) was an American basketball player and television Sports commentator, sportscaster. He played college basketball, collegiately for the UCLA Bruins men's basketball, UCLA Bruins an ...

was largely unavailable due to injury and generally frustrated with new Clippers Owner

Donald Sterling Donald T. Sterling (born Donald Samuel Tokowitz; April 26, 1934) is an American attorney and businessman who was the owner of the Los Angeles Clippers, San Diego/Los Angeles Clippers of the National Basketball Association (NBA) from 1981 to 2014. ...

(Sterling controversially moved the Clippers to Los Angeles overnight, despite not getting approval from the league).

Manute Bol Manute Bol ( ; June 19, 2010) was a Sudanese-American professional basketball player and political activist. Listed at or tall, Bol was one of the two tallest players in the history of the National Basketball Association (NBA). After he p ...

, who Lynam scouted and drafted, was later ruled ineligible for the NBA draft, essentially wasting the draft pick. After a tumultuous year and a half with the Clippers, which saw him as their last coach in San Diego, first coach in Los Angeles and first coaching hire by Sterling, he was fired as coach midway through his second season. Retiring 76ers coach

Billy Cunningham William John Cunningham (born June 3, 1943) is an American former professional basketball player and coach, who was nicknamed the Kangaroo Kid for his leaping and record-setting rebounding abilities. He spent a total of 17 seasons with the NBA' ...

was critical of the Clippers for firing Lynam, and was instrumental in Philadelphia hiring him as an assistant coach prior to the 1985–86 season. Sixers All Star point guard

Maurice Cheeks Maurice Edward Cheeks (born September 8, 1956) is an American professional basketball coach and former player who serves as assistant coach for the New York Knicks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He has also served as head coach of ...

said he had "never seen a better communicator than Jim Lynam." Lynam's popularity with Sixers players would eventually help him become head coach of the team midway through the 1987–88. The season he took over was Philadelphia's first without

Julius Erving Julius Winfield Erving II (born February 22, 1950), commonly known by the nickname Dr. J, is an American former professional basketball player. Erving helped legitimize the American Basketball Association (ABA), and he was the best-known player ...

Moses Malone Moses Eugene Malone Sr. (March 23, 1955 – September 13, 2015) was an American professional basketball player who played in both the American Basketball Association (ABA) and the National Basketball Association (NBA) from 1974 through 1995. A ...

since 1975. In his first full season as coach, he brought the Sixers back to the playoffs. In his second season, Philadelphia won the Atlantic Division title with a 53–29 record, earning the second seed in the conference. Though finally surpassing the

Larry Bird Larry Joe Bird (born December 7, 1956) is an American former professional basketball player, coach, and executive in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Nicknamed "the Hick from French Lick" and "Larry Legend" Bird is widely regarded a ...

Celtics for the first time in the

Charles Barkley Charles Wade Barkley (born February 20, 1963) is an American former professional basketball player who is a television analyst on NBA on TNT, TNT and CBS Sports. Nicknamed "Sir Charles", "the Bread Truck", and "the Round Mound of Rebound", ...

-era in Philadelphia, they fell to

Michael Jordan Michael Jeffrey Jordan (born February 17, 1963), also known by his initials MJ, is an American businessman and former professional basketball player, who is currently a minority owner of the Charlotte Hornets of the National Basketball Ass ...

's Bulls in back-to-back playoffs. Jim lynam basketball coach by bill cramer

After a 7–3 start to the 1991–92 season, injuries decimated the team and they stumbled to a 35–47 record, missing the playoffs. Barkley was unhappy with team owner

Harold Katz Harold Katz (May 5, 1937 – January 25, 2025) was an American businessman. He was from the Greater Philadelphia area. He attended Sharon Senior High School and received an alumni hall of fame award in 2024. Life and career Katz bought the Phil ...

over his controversial team decisions, such as trading

to Washington, trading the first overall pick in the 1986 NBA draft to

Cleveland Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–U.S. maritime border and approximately west of the Ohio-Pennsylvania st ...

, and letting Rick Mahorn leave as a free agent among other moves, which were viewed as reasons Philadelphia unraveled from a perennial contender in the 1980s to missing the playoffs in 1992. Katz agreed to step away from the operational side of the team and hand the team decision making to Lynam, moving him from coach to general manager. As general manager, Lynam hired Doug Moe to be his replacement as Sixers coach. Lynam spent two years as Sixers general manager, before accepting an offer to become coach of the

prior the 1994–95 season. On February 6, 1997, Lynam was fired as coach. Following his dismissal from Washington, Lynam joined

John Calipari John Vincent Calipari (; born February 10, 1959) is an American basketball coach who is the head coach at the Arkansas Razorbacks men's basketball, University of Arkansas. He has been named Naismith College Coach of the Year three times (1996, 2 ...

's staff with the New Jersey Nets. When his former point guard with the Sixers

was hired by the Trail Blazers in 2001, he hired Lynam to his coaching staff. When Cheeks was hired as Philadelphia's coach for the 2005–06 season, Lynam was named an assistant. During the preseason, however, he was forced to leave the team due to an undisclosed medical condition. However, on September 29, 2006, it was announced that Lynam, along with NBA hall of famer

would be rejoining the 76ers as an assistant coach. In July 2010,

The Oregonian ''The Oregonian'' is a daily newspaper based in Portland, Oregon, United States, owned by Advance Publications. It is the oldest continuously published newspaper on the West Coast of the United States, U.S. West Coast, founded as a weekly by Tho ...

reported that Lynam was among candidates for an assistant coaching job in Portland. He remained in this role until 2010. The

Minnesota Timberwolves The Minnesota Timberwolves (often referred to as the Wolves or T-wolves) are an American professional basketball team based in Minneapolis. The Timberwolves compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Northwest Divisio ...

brought in Lynam as a part-time basketball operations consultant, evaluating pro personnel on the Wolves roster and throughout the NBA for part of the 2010–11 season. He retired from coaching and basketball operations in 2011 and moved to a broadcasting career. Since the start of the 2011–12 season, Lynam served as a pre-game and post-game analyst for the

NBC Sports Philadelphia NBC Sports Philadelphia is an American regional sports network owned by the NBC Sports Group unit of NBCUniversal, which in turn is owned by locally based cable television provider Comcast (and owns a controlling 75% interest), and the Phila ...

Personal

Lynam's daughter, Dei, is a former anchor/reporter for NBC Sports Philadelphia for the Sixers. She once served as a sideline reporter for 76ers telecasts. She also worked as a Sideline Reporter for TNT's coverage of the NBA Playoffs from 2010 to 2015. Now she helps call the 76ers G-League team, the Delaware Blue Coats games. He is also a grandfather to ten grandchildren. Lynam is known for his distinct Philadelphia accent.

Head coaching record

College

NBA

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San Diego San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...

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Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

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, align="left" , , 82, , 53, , 29, , .646, , align="center" , 1st in Atlantic, , 10, , 4, , 6, , .400 , align="center" , Lost in Conf. Semifinals , - , align="left" ,

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, align="left" , , 82, , 35, , 47, , .427, , align="center" , 5th in Atlantic, , —, , —, , —, , — , align="center" , Missed Playoffs , - , align="left" , Washington , align="left" , , 82, , 21, , 61, , .256, , align="center" , 7th in Atlantic, , —, , —, , —, , — , align="center" , Missed Playoffs , - , align="left" , Washington , align="left" , , 82, , 39, , 43, , .476, , align="center" , 4th in Atlantic, , —, , —, , —, , — , align="center" , Missed Playoffs , - , align="left" , Washington , align="left" , , 46, , 22, , 24, , .478, , align="center" , (fired), , —, , —, , —, , — , align="center" , — , -class="sortbottom" , align="left" , Career , , , 720, , 328, , 392, , .456, , , , 21, , 8, , 13, , .381

References

External links

BasketballReference.com: Jim Lynam

NBA.com coach file: Jim Lynam

St. Joseph's biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lynam, Jim 1941 births Living people American Eagles men's basketball coaches American men's basketball coaches American men's basketball players Basketball coaches from Pennsylvania Basketball players from Philadelphia College men's basketball head coaches in the United States Fairfield Stags men's basketball coaches Los Angeles Clippers head coaches NBA general managers Philadelphia 76ers assistant coaches Philadelphia 76ers executives Philadelphia 76ers head coaches Portland Trail Blazers assistant coaches Saint Joseph's Hawks men's basketball coaches Saint Joseph's Hawks men's basketball players San Diego Clippers head coaches Washington Bullets head coaches 20th-century American sportsmen