Jack McKinney

John Paul McKinney (July 13, 1935 – September 25, 2018) was an American college and professional basketball coach. In 1979, as a head coach in the National Basketball Association (NBA) with the Los Angeles Lakers, he introduced an up-tempo style of play that became known as Showtime. This was his only season with the Lakers, which ended prematurely after a bicycle accident. McKinney later joined the Indiana Pacers, where he was named NBA Coach of the Year in 1981. He also coached the Kansas City Kings (now known as the Sacramento Kings), and served as an assistant coach for the Milwaukee Bucks and the Portland Trail Blazers.

Early life John Paul McKinney was born on July 13, 1935, in Chester, Pennsylvania, to Paul McKinney, a police detective, and Jen McMahon, a homemaker.

College career McKinney went to college at Saint Joseph's University in Philadelphia. He played three seasons for the Hawks, also coached by Ramsay, and led the team to the Big 5's inaugural title and the school's first postseason appearance in the 1956 National Invitation Tournament (NIT). McKinney is a member of the Saint Joseph's and the Big 5 Halls of Fame. However, he was fired after a first-round loss in the 1974 NCAA Division I basketball tournament, and his dismissal prompted a demonstration by over 500 students.

Los Angeles Lakers (1979) McKinney received his first NBA head coaching job in 1979–80 with the Lakers. Owner Jerry Buss, who had recently acquired the team, wanted games to be entertaining, and hired the coach to install a running offense. McKinney had rookie Magic Johnson, who some thought should play forward, be a point guard, even though incumbent Norm Nixon was already one of the best in the league.

On November 8, 1979, the Lakers were 9–4 after 13 games, when McKinney suffered a near fatal head injury after falling while bicycling. and the team finished the season with a record of 60–22. The Lakers won the series for their first of five NBA titles in nine seasons, and hired Westhead to permanently replace McKinney.

Pat Riley, who replaced Westhead as Lakers coach, won four titles with the team and became the coach most synonymous with the Showtime Lakers. However, Norm Nixon credited McKinney with creating Showtime. "That should never be forgotten," said Nixon. According to Riley, McKinney "might have won five or six titles for the Lakers in the '80s" were it not for his accident. 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) 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. He left coaching for good afterwards, citing ongoing issues with his memory, plus no longer feeling passionate about the profession.

Post-coaching career 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 retired 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.

Personal life McKinney died on September 25, 2018, at a hospice in Bonita Springs, Florida, at the age of 83.

McKinney was portrayed by Tracy Letts in the HBO documentary series Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty.

Head coaching record

College

NBA

Publications Jack McKinney with Robert Gordon, Jack McKinney's Tales from the Saint Joseph's Hardwood: The Hawk will Never Die, Sports Publishing (2005)