Former Memphis Grizzlies and Sacramento Kings head coach Dave Joerger is joining the Cleveland Cavaliers in a coaching consultant role.
Sources: Former Grizzlies and Kings coach Dave Joerger has agreed to join the Cleveland Cavaliers as a coaching consultant. Joerger has been coaching in NBA for last 17 years. He will also serve as the coach of Team USA in FIBA AmeriCup Qualifying games in Feb. 2024.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) October 24, 2023
Joerger began his NBA coaching career when he joined the Grizzlies in the 2007-08 season as an assistant coach. He served as an assistant coach with Memphis for six seasons before he was promoted to the team’s head coach heading into the 2013-14 season.
The 49-year-old served as the Grizzlies’ head coach for three seasons, from the 2013-14 season through the 2015-16 season. During that time, he led the Grizzlies to an impressive 147-99 regular-season record.
The 2014-15 iteration of Memphis was the most successful Grizzlies team that Joerger coached. The team finished the regular season with a 55-27 record and defeated the Portland Trail Blazers in five games in the first round of the 2015 playoffs.
The Grizzlies’ season came to an end against Stephen Curry and the Golden State Warriors in the second round of the playoffs. Memphis held a 2-1 series lead against the Warriors at one point but went on to lose the next three games by double digits.
After eliminating the Grizzlies, the Warriors defeated the Houston Rockets in the Western Conference Finals and Cavaliers in the NBA Finals to win the title.
Following the end of the 2015-16 season, the Grizzlies fired Joerger, who then became the head coach of the Kings. He also spent three seasons as Sacramento’s head coach but enjoyed far less success coaching the Kings than he did with the Grizzlies.
Joerger finished with a 98-148 regular-season record during his time as Sacramento’s head coach and never led the Kings to more than 39 wins in a single season.
The Kings fired Joerger back in April of 2019.
Cavaliers fans should be excited about the news that Joerger is joining the team’s coaching staff. After all, he has plenty of experience as both an assistant and head coach at the NBA level and was a part of numerous playoff teams during his time with the Grizzlies and Philadelphia 76ers organizations.
