The Grand Rapids Gold, the NBA G League affiliate of the NBA’s Denver Nuggets, selected Jason Terry as its next head coach.
“I am very honored and humbled for the opportunity to become the next coach here with the Grand Rapids Gold,” he said. “For me, coaching is one thing, but impacting the lives of others who aspire to be something great in their personal lives is something that I pride myself on and it is something that is my purpose in life.
“At the end of the day, we want to develop young men not only to be productive on the court but off the court and in the community. We (also) want to win championships. I have been able to do so at every single level that I have been at, not only playing but coaching, as well, so this is nothing different. Winning at the end of the day is definitely what we want to achieve.”
Last season, Terry served as an assistant coach for the University of Arizona Wildcats, where he played collegiate basketball from 1995-99 before he was drafted by the Atlanta Hawks.
Terry was the assistant general manager for the G League’s Texas Legends for the 2019-20 season.
He retired from the NBA in 2018. The former guard played in the NBA for 19 seasons on various teams, including the Atlanta Hawks, Dallas Mavericks, Boston Celtics, Brooklyn Nets, Houston Rockets and the Milwaukee Bucks.
Nicknamed the Jet, Terry won the NBA Sixth Man of the Year Award in 2009 and an NBA championship in 2011 with the Dallas Mavericks.
During his NBA career, Terry averaged 13.4 points, 2.3 rebounds, 3.8 assists and 2,282 career three-pointers, the seventh most in NBA history. Even as an NBA player, Terry accumulated some coaching experience during the offseason. He coached 15- and 16-year-old girls at different AAU tournaments.
“We are ecstatic about our head coach,” said Steve Jbara, owner and president of the Grand Rapids Gold. “His body of work in the NBA, his body of work in the community, things he does on and off the court fits in perfectly with what we are trying to do in Grand Rapids. He is not only going to be a huge benefit to our players and our staff but the community as a whole.
“We’ve been able to spend some time together, and I can’t tell you how excited I am to get him in the market and get him engrained into the community. He is such a gift to the franchise. Hats off to everyone who got this done. His pedigree speaks for itself, and we are excited to chase a championship here with the Grand Rapids Gold.”
