Jack McKinney lakers coach who pass away by the early hours of today
ohn Paul McKinney was an American college and professional basketball coach who lived from July 13, 1935, until September 25, 2018[1]. He created the fast-paced play known as Showtime while serving as the Los Angeles Lakers’ head coach in the National Basketball Association (NBA). However, a bicycle accident terminated his one and only season with the Lakers early. After joining the Indiana Pacers, McKinney won the 1981 NBA Coach of the Year award there. In addition, he served as the Sacramento Kings’ (formerly the Kansas City Kings’) coach. He also worked as an assistant for the Portland Trail Blazers and the Milwaukee Bucks.
Childhood
On July 13, 1935, in Chester, Pennsylvania, John Paul McKinney was born into a family consisting of homemaker Jen McMahon and police detective Paul McKinney.[2] Under coach Jack Ramsay, he played basketball at Chester’s St. James High School. 1953 marked his graduation.[3][4]
Career in college
McKinney attended Saint Joseph’s University in Philadelphia for his college education. Dr. Jack Ramsay was also the Hawks’ coach throughout his three seasons as a player, and he helped the team win the 1956 National Invitation Tournament (NIT), its first-ever postseason, and the Big 5 championship.[3] He competed for them in track and field as well.[4]
In 1966, McKinney rejoined St. Joe’s as head coach, taking over for the departing Ramsay.[5] McKinney is inducted into both the Big 5 and Saint Joseph’s Halls of Fame.[3] After graduating Mike Bantom to the NBA and Pat McFarland to the American
Basketball Association (ABA), the Hawks were expected to have a disappointing season. Instead, they had a fantastic season, winning their conference and making it to the postseason. For this achievement, he was also named the Eastern Coach of the Year by Philadelphia sportswriters for the 1973–74 campaign.[6][7] But following a first-round loss in the 1974 NCAA Division I
basketball tournament, he was sacked, and more than 500 students staged a protest in response.[2][7]
Trail Blazers of Portland (1976–1979)
McKinney won an NBA title with the Portland Trail Blazers under Ramsay in 1976–1977 while serving as an assistant coach. McKinney’s wife Claire stated that her husband regarded his time with the Blazers as the pinnacle of his career, and Ramsay referred to McKinney as the offensive designer.[2]
Lakers of Los Angeles (1979)
In 1979–1980, McKinney was appointed head coach of the Lakers for the first time. Jerry Buss, the team’s new owner, recruited the coach to implement a running attack because he wanted games to be exciting.[8][9] Though some believed he should play forward, McKinney had 6-foot-9-inch (2.06 m) newcomer Magic Johnson as a point guard, even though incumbent Norm Nixon was already among the best in the league.[10][11][12]
On November 8, 1979, the Lakers were 9–4 after 13 games, when McKinney suffered a near fatal head injury after falling while bicycling.[2] Assistant coach Paul Westhead, who also worked under McKinney at St. Joseph’s, was named the interim head coach.[12] However, the length of the recovery and lingering doubts about the complete return of McKinney’s mental faculties, combined with the team’s level of success under Westhead, ultimately meant that McKinney would never get the chance to return to the job. Westhead continued to use McKinney’s offense, a creative and spontaneous offense that came to be known as Showtime,[12][13][14] and the team finished the season with a record of 60–22.[2] The Lakers advanced to that year’s NBA Finals, when McKinney was fired mid-series on May 13, 1980.[15][16] The Lakers won the series for their first of five NBA titles in nine seasons, and hired Westhead to permanently replace McKinney.[17]
Pat Riley, who replaced Westhead as Lakers coach, won four titles with the team and became the coach most synonymous with the Showtime Lakers.[2][18] However, Norm Nixon credited McKinney with creating Showtime. “That should never be forgotten,” said Nixon.[19] According to Riley, McKinney “might have won five or six titles for the Lakers in the ’80s” were it not for his accident.[2] McKinney was deferential. “I just put in some ideas that were accepted, and the rest was up to Paul and Pat and some great players,” he said.[2]
Indiana Pacers (1980–1984)[edit]
McKinney joined the Indiana Pacers the following season in 1980–81.[19] He was hired at the recommendation of a guilt-ridden Buss, who was a business partner with Pacers owner Frank Mariani.[19][20] In his first season, McKinney was named the NBA Coach of the Year after leading the Pacers to their first playoff appearance since the former American Basketball Association (ABA) team joined the NBA during the ABA–NBA merger of 1976. Over the next three seasons, however, the team’s performance regressed, and McKinney was fired after the Pacers posted the league’s worst record in the 1983–84 season.
Kansas City Kings (1984)[edit]
McKinney was soon hired as the head coach of the Kansas City Kings, but resigned from the position on November 18, 1984, after the team started with a 1–8 record in the 1984-85 season.[21] He left coaching for good afterwards, citing ongoing issues with his memory, plus no longer feeling passionate about the profession.[22]
Post-playing career[edit]
After he left coaching, McKinney relocated back to his native Pennsylvania with his family. He worked as a sales representative for a major sporting goods company, while also filling in at times as a color analyst for the Philadelphia 76ers broadcasts. He said he got offers to come back to coaching, but never took any of them. Eventually, he and his wife would retire to Florida.
In 2005, McKinney co-authored a book about his experiences at Saint Joseph’s, and donated 10 percent of its proceeds to the school.[3]
