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Bucks hire Jim Cleamons as assistant coach

The Bucks filled in their vacant lead assistant coaching position Monday, hiring former Lakers and Bulls assistant Jim Cleamons, according to a report.

By InactiveUser1083187
Hint: He's the guy leaning forward, not the guy that looks like Phil Jackson or Brian Shaw.
Hint: He's the guy leaning forward, not the guy that looks like Phil Jackson or Brian Shaw.
Harry How

The Bucks coaching staff is finally complete.  You can all FINALLY relax and not have to worry any longer.

Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! reports that Jim Cleamons has agreed to become the lead assistant under head coach Larry Drew, joining Bob Bender, Nick Van Exel, big man coach Scott Williams and player development coach Josh Oppenheimer on the revamped coaching staff.

The 63-year-old Cleamons has served as both a head coach and assistant in the NBA. He briefly held the reigns of the Dallas Mavericks from 1996-1997 and has filled in for Phil Jackson as head coach of the Lakers when Phil was absent. But he's mostly known for his work as an assistant under Jackson with both the Lakers and Chicago Bulls, in addition to spending time on the bench for the New Orleans/Oklahoma City Hornets. As of 2011, Cleamons was in China coaching the  Zhejiang Guangsha.

Cleamons was a draft pick of the Lakers out of (The) Ohio State Unversity in 1971.  He played nine seasons in the NBA with the Lakers, Cleveland Cavaliers, New York Knicks, and Washington Bullets.

All opinions of this hire seem positive, though Phil Jackson's coaching tree hasn't been a terribly encouraging one. The list includes Brian Shaw, Kurt Rambis, Frank Hamblen, Cleamons, and Tex Winter.  Not exactly gangbusters like Pat Riley or Gregg Popovich's respective trees, but nothing to complain about when it comes to assistants.

As for the other Bucks' coaches, Bender and Van Exel followed Drew from Atlanta and led the Bucks' squad in Vegas, while Williams was most recently in Europe working with summer signing Miroslav Raduljica. At Hoops World, Steve Kyler writes that Oppenheimer has also joined as a full-time addition to the coaching staff, with the charge of working closely with Giannis Antetokounmpo and the rest of the Bucks' youngsters. Oppenheimer's development credentials are significant, having worked with a slew of NBA players including Paul George, Russell Westbrook and Joakim Noah.

QUICK-HITTING JIM CLEAMONS FACTS/OPINIONS
  • There is a Jim Cleamons twitter account, though we can't be certain it's actually his.  It has him following 30 people and having 13 followers.
  • A few anagrams you can make out of his name, just for fun: Jam Con Smile, Jams Con Lime, Jam Once Slim
  • Hiring Cleamons more than likely solidifies the Bucks coaching staff as the most bald/follicly-challenged coaching staff in all of the league. I'd like to see you find one that tops this one.

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