When Hank Egan speaks, his players usually offer a keen ear.
The Cleveland Cavaliers first-year assistant coach brings a wealth of knowledge to the organization, and boasts nearly a 40-year resume in coaching.
The 1960 Navy graduate joined the Cavaliers after spending the 2002-03 season as an assistant coach with the Golden State Warriors. He came out of a brief retirement to join the Warriors? coaching staff and helped lead Golden State to its then-highest win total (38-44) since the1993-94 campaign.
He spent eight seasons as an assistant coach with the San Antonio Spurs and helped guide the team to an NBA Championship in 1999. He has helped cultivate the talent of NBA standouts such as Tim Duncan, David Robinson and Washington Wizards All-Star guard Gilbert Arenas.
He now adds to the list 21-year-old sensation LeBron James, who has helped the Cavaliers snag a post-season berth for the first time since 1998.
“The guy runs the court like a freight train, but he can shoot and pass with finesse,” Egan said of James. “He?s easy to coach because he will take the advice you give him and absorb it.”
Another assistant coach with Cleveland is Michael Malone, who graduated from Loyola College in 1994. He was not available for comment when Cleveland played at Washington on Sunday. The Wizards won that game to clinch a playoff spot.
Egan, 68, began his coaching career in 1966 as an assistant coach at the Air Force Academy. In 1971 he was named the head coach at Air Force, and he still lives in Colorado Springs. He remained at Air Force until 1984, when he was named head coach at the University of San Diego.
Having earned his reputation as one of the top defensive coaches in the country during his collegiate tenure, Egan also was the alternate coach to USC?s George Raveling for the 1984 U.S. Olympic Basketball Team.
With an influx of European talent entering the league, Egan?s involvement with the Olympics has proved pivotal with the Cavaliers? roster. Centers Martynas Andriuskevicius and Zyrdunas Ilgauskas are natives of Lithuania. Forwards Anderson Varejao (Brazil) and Alexsander Pavlovic (Serbia & Montenegro) also began their basketball playing days in another country.
“The European game is very fluid and much more team-oriented than the American game,” Egan said. “I enjoy watching everyone get involved in the flow of the offense.”
After getting his first dose of organized basketball as a guard for the Brooklyn Prep High (N.Y.) varsity squad, Egan is approaching 55 years of basketball experience as player or coach. Over time, Egan?s love for the game has not diminished, and he still finds joy in teaching the new generation about the fundamentals.
“I?m a teacher and the court is my classroom,” said Egan, who has two children and five grandchildren. “When vocation and advocation come together as one, then you?re in business.”
As for his younger colleague, Malone was an assistant coach with the New York Knicks for the past two seasons, after he was promoted into that position in May 2003. Malone is the son of former Cavaliers? head coach Brendan Malone.
