James Richard Petersen (born February 22, 1962) is an American former 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 ...

player, and a current television analyst with the Minnesota Timberwolves. From 2009 to 2017 he served as an assistant coach and later associate head coach for the

Minnesota Lynx The Minnesota Lynx are an American professional basketball team based in Minneapolis. The Lynx compete in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as a member of the Western Conference (WNBA), Western Conference. The team won the WNBA ...

of the WNBA. He played as both a

power forward The power forward (PF), also known as the four, is one of the five traditional Basketball positions, positions in a regulation basketball game. Traditionally, power forwards have played a role similar to center (basketball), centers and are typi ...

and a center.

Basketball career

High school / college

Petersen, a St. Louis Park native, played

high school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., ...

basketball at St. Louis Park High School, being named Minnesota's Mr. Basketball in 1980, as well as being the first

McDonald's All-American McDonald's Corporation, doing business as McDonald's, is an American multinational fast food chain. As of 2024, it is the second largest by number of locations in the world, behind only the Chinese chain Mixue Ice Cream & Tea. Brothers ...

from the state of Minnesota. Born in

Minneapolis, Minnesota Minneapolis is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 429,954 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the state's List of cities in Minnesota, most populous city. Locat ...

, he then went on to be a four-year letter winner at the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota Twin Cities (historically known as University of Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint ...

, and a member of the 1982

Big Ten The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference, among others) is a collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representatives in 1 ...

Championship team that featured future

NBA 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 ...

veterans

Trent Tucker Kelvin Trent Tucker (born December 20, 1959) is an American former professional basketball player who played eleven seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA). A shooting guard, Tucker attended the University of Minnesota from 1978 to ...

and Randy Breuer.

NBA

Petersen was selected by the

Houston Rockets The Houston Rockets are an American professional basketball team based in Houston. The Rockets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southwest Division (NBA), Southwest Division of the Western Conference (NBA) ...

in the third round (51st overall) of the 1984 NBA draft, alongside

Hakeem Olajuwon Hakeem Abdul Olajuwon ( ; ; born January 21, 1963), nicknamed "the Dream", is a Nigerian and American former professional basketball player. From 1984 to 2002, he played Center (basketball), center in the National Basketball Association (NB ...

. In the following four seasons, he played with the

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

club, backing up both Olajuwon and

Ralph Sampson Ralph Lee Sampson Jr. (born July 7, 1960) is an American former professional basketball player. He is a member of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. A phenom, three-time college national player of the year, and first overall selec ...

, who were known as the

Twin Towers Twins are two offspring produced by the same pregnancy.MedicineNet > Definition of Twin Last Editorial Review: 19 June 2000 Twins can be either ''monozygotic'' ('identical'), meaning that they develop from one zygote, which splits and forms two e ...

. Petersen played in 20 post-season games (averaging six points and six rebounds) as the team reached the

NBA Finals The NBA Finals is the annual championship series of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The Eastern Conference (NBA), Eastern and Western Conference (NBA), Western Conference champions play a best-of-seven series to determine the league ...

, losing 2–4 to the

Boston Celtics The Boston Celtics ( ) are an American professional basketball team based in Boston. The Celtics compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NBA), Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), ...

. In the 1986–87 season, as Sampson began to struggle with injuries, Petersen achieved career-best averages of 11 points and seven rebounds, playing in all 82 games and starting in 56. In 1988, Peterson was traded with Rodney McCray to the Sacramento Kings for Otis Thorpe. A year later, he was traded to the

Golden State Warriors The Golden State Warriors are an American professional basketball team based in San Francisco. The Warriors compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference. Founded in 1946 i ...

for former teammate Ralph Sampson. Petersen retired in 1992 at the age of 30, after four seasons with the Rockets, one season with the Kings, and three seasons with the Warriors, with totals of 491 games and 3,397 points.

Post-retirement

After leaving the NBA, Petersen worked for the

National Basketball Players Association The National Basketball Players Association (NBPA) is the labor union that represents National Basketball Association (NBA) players. It was founded in 1954, making it the oldest trade union of the four major professional sports leagues in the U ...

in their player programs division, facilitating seminars in NBA locker rooms in topics such as

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and

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, financial planning, substance abuse and career planning for life after basketball. He also coached junior high, high school and AAU basketball teams in

La Jolla, California La Jolla ( , ) is a hilly, seaside neighborhood in San Diego, California, occupying of curving coastline along the Pacific Ocean. The population reported in the 2010 census was 46,781. The climate is mild, with an average daily temperature o ...

and Minneapolis. He has worked as a television analyst with 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 ...

since 2003; prior to that he was a radio analyst since 1998. As a broadcaster, Petersen has been acclaimed for his deep knowledge of basketball and detailed commentary on the nuances of the game. In November 2008, Petersen was named assistant coach of the WNBA's

; in 2016 he was named Associate Head Coach. In January 2017, he announced he was stepping down as associate head coach. He resides in

Wayzata, Minnesota Wayzata ( ) is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 4,434 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. A suburb of the Twin Cities, Wayzata is located about west of Minneapolis al ...

, with his wife Tika. His stepson Sanjay Lumpkin, a current assistant coach for the Atlanta Hawks also played college basketball for

Northwestern University Northwestern University (NU) is a Private university, private research university in Evanston, Illinois, United States. Established in 1851 to serve the historic Northwest Territory, it is the oldest University charter, chartered university in ...

References

External links

Stats at BasketballReference
{{DEFAULTSORT:Petersen, Jim 1962 births Living people American men's basketball players American women's basketball coaches Basketball coaches from Minnesota Basketball players from Minneapolis Centers (basketball) Golden State Warriors players Houston Rockets draft picks Houston Rockets players McDonald's High School All-Americans Minnesota Golden Gophers men's basketball players Minnesota Lynx coaches Minnesota Timberwolves announcers Parade High School All-Americans (boys' basketball) Sportspeople from St. Louis Park, Minnesota Basketball players from Hennepin County, Minnesota Power forwards Sacramento Kings players Sports coaches from Minneapolis 20th-century American sportsmen