Meet the Philadelphia 76ers Coaching Staff: Lloyd Pierce

Meet the Philadelphia 76ers coaching staff. Lloyd Pierce is an experienced player and coach, and has his roots in player development.

Often we forget about all the faces working to make a basketball team function on a nightly basis. Outside of the players and the head coach, there’s actually a whole cast of people that contribute to the game, and it’s much more than just the 48 minutes of gameplay that we end up seeing.

Assistant coaches are often ignored and forgotten about throughout the season, but it shouldn’t be that way. Assistant coaches are often the head coach’s second, third, fourth, and more sets of eyes. What the head coach doesn’t see, the assistant coaches must see, and consult with the top dog about, so that he can effectively lead his team. Without assistants, a head coach would not be an effective piece of a basketball team.

Brett Brown is a great developmental coach on his own, and he’s a great leader in games. Although he gets a lot of credit, we shouldn’t forget his staff of assistants. This offseason here at The Sixer Sense, my goal is to highlight the large staff of assistant coaches, and inform Sixers and NBA fans about who is behind Brett Brown and the Sixers.

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First up on my list is assistant coach Lloyd Pierce.

Pierce has been an assistant coach for the Sixers for three years, and is one of the most well-known faces on the sideline. He was brought in at the same time as Brett Brown, after being interviewed for the same position.

Before coming to the Sixers, Pierce had a long history of basketball experience. He played in several different countries as a pro basketball player, but never made it to the NBA. He held a position as a coordinator for player development for the Cleveland Cavaliers, and was an assistant coach with a focus in player development for the Memphis Grizzlies.

One of Pierce’s biggest resume pieces in developing players is Marc Gasol, who Pierce worked closely with in developing to a usable big man in his time with Memphis.

Lastly, Pierce spent a small amount of time with the Golden State Warriors for the 2010-2011 season, which was just before the Mark Jackson era. Still, this was Stephen Curry‘s second season in the NBA, so I wonder how much of an impact Pierce had on the early professional development of Curry.

Lloyd Pierce, although an assistant for the team at the moment, was actually interviewed and considered for the team’s vacant head coaching position on multiple occasions. In 2010, when the Sixers were looking for a new coach, Pierce was an option, and then again when the Sixers ultimately hired Brown for the job. Pierce was ultimately brought on as an assistant.

Currently, Pierce is considering leaving the team, it appears. Pierce interviewed for the Santa Clara University, where he attended school, and where he played on the basketball team alongside former MVP point guard Steve Nash. Pierce also served as an assistant coach at Santa Clara before in the early 2000s.

Brown called Santa Clara “smart” for interviewing Pierce.

"I think Lloyd has all the ingredients to be an excellent coach on different. This one we are talking about the collegiate level. I look at him as young up-and-coming coach."

Losing Pierce to Santa Clara would be a big loss, but not a completely irreplaceable loss. Pierce has been a desired candidate for head coaching positions for the Sixers dating back 6 years now, and it just seems like him leaving at this point would be a new chapter for Philly.

Next: Toronto Tells Differing Tales of Bryan Colangelo

Overall, Lloyd Pierce has a good resume of developing players, and moving forward, that could be incredibly useful, with a roster bound to be full of rookies and sophomores, if he sticks around with the Sixers.