Jack McCloskey

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Jack McCloskey (2013)

John William "Jack" McCloskey (born October 19, 1925 - June 1, 2017 in Savannah , Georgia ) was an American basketball player , coach and manager in the National Basketball Association (NBA).

Life

Jack McCloskey had served as a lieutenant in the Navy during World War II . In the NBA, he played a game for the Philadelphia Warriors during the 1953 season and scored six points. Two decades later, he coached the Portland Trail Blazers from 1972 to 1974 . He had a record of 48 wins and 116 losses. He then stayed with Jerry West (then a coach) and his Lakers as an assistant coach. When West was named general manager, McCloskey had hopes of the Lakers coaching post, but they hired Paul Westhead as their coach. In 1979 McCloskey was named general manager of the Detroit Pistons .

During the next thirteen years, “Trader Jack,” as his nickname was, made more than thirty trades, mostly improving his team so that it became a real challenger to the Boston Celtics . His most famous acts were that he selected Joe Dumars and Dennis Rodman in the final rounds of the NBA Draft , trading three players in exchange for Bill Laimbeer and trading superstar Adrian Dantley for Mark Aguirre during the 1988-1989 season, which was the Pistons took NBA titles in 1989 and 1990. After the Chicago Bulls had succeeded in sweeping over the battered pistons in the Eastern Conference Finals in 1991, “Trader Jack” made his last official acts. He received Darrell Walker , Brad Sellers and Orlando Woolridge in exchange for Vinnie Johnson and James Edwards , in an attempt to make the team younger. He also drafted Doug Overton in the 1991 NBA draft in the second round and gave away the first round pick of the Pistons. That was a very dubious decision as Overton didn't play a game for the Pistons the next season. The Pistons' team chemistry was no longer right and they only won 48 games in the following season. In the playoffs they lost in the first round in five games against the New York Knicks and McCloskey left the team. He later worked again in the front office of the Minnesota Timberwolves and the Toronto Raptors .

On March 29, 2008, he was honored by the Pistons and a banner with his name was hung under the ceiling of the Palace of Auburn Hills .

Most recently he lived in Georgia with his wife Leslie . The writer Molly McCloskey was his daughter.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Allen Einstein: Detroit Pistons Mourn Loss of Legendary General Manager Jack McCloskey. In: nba.com. National Basketball Association / Detroit Pistons , June 1, 2017, accessed June 2, 2017 .
personal data
SURNAME McCloskey, Jack
ALTERNATIVE NAMES McCloskey, John William (real name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American basketball player, coach and official
DATE OF BIRTH October 19, 1925
DATE OF DEATH June 1, 2017
Place of death Savannah , Georgia , United States