# Jack McKinney (basketball)
**Jack McKinney** was an American basketball coach who served as head coach of the [Los Angeles Lakers](https://www.edgepedia.org/los-angeles-lakers), Indiana Pacers, and Kansas City Kings, and whose career was redirected by a near-fatal bicycle accident thirteen games into the 1979-80 NBA season. He had been hired to install an up-tempo running offense for a team built around [Kareem Abdul-Jabbar](https://www.edgepedia.org/kareem-abdul-jabbar) and rookie [Magic Johnson](https://www.edgepedia.org/magic-johnson), and the foundation he laid became the basis of the Lakers' "Showtime" era, though he was not on the bench to see it through.[1](https://projects.latimes.com/lakers/coach/jack-mckinney/) • [2](https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/sports/1979/07/31/see-how-we-run-says-laker-coach-mckinney/08fa05e5-8131-4cd1-985d-baa30fd39ffa/)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Lakers hiring | Hired as head coach by the Los Angeles Lakers on July 30, 1979, his first NBA head coaching job, after 22 years coaching high school and college basketball[3](https://www.basketball-reference.com/coaches/mckinja99c.html) • [1](https://projects.latimes.com/lakers/coach/jack-mckinney/) |
| Lakers record | 10 wins, 4 losses (a .714 winning percentage) before the accident ended his tenure[1](https://projects.latimes.com/lakers/coach/jack-mckinney/) |
| The accident | On Nov. 8, 1979, riding his son's bicycle to a tennis date, he went over the handlebars on a downhill in Palos Verdes, struck his head, and suffered severe head injuries, a facial fracture, and a fractured elbow; he was in a coma for three days[1](https://projects.latimes.com/lakers/coach/jack-mckinney/) • [4](https://time.com/6154947/winning-time-lakers-hbo-true-story/) |
| Aftermath | Assistant Paul Westhead took over, kept McKinney's system, and the Lakers won 60 games and the 1980 NBA championship; McKinney was fired on May 13, 1980[1](https://projects.latimes.com/lakers/coach/jack-mckinney/) |
| Pacers tenure | Hired by Indiana on June 2, 1980; won NBA Coach of the Year in 1981 and took the Pacers to the playoffs for the first time since the 1976 ABA-NBA merger[3](https://www.basketball-reference.com/coaches/mckinja99c.html) • [1](https://projects.latimes.com/lakers/coach/jack-mckinney/) |
| Career record | 136-215 (.387) over 351 NBA games as head coach, 0-2 in the playoffs[3](https://www.basketball-reference.com/coaches/mckinja99c.html) |
| Later roles | Nine games as Kings head coach in 1984-85 before resigning; later a Lakers front-office scout[5](https://www.latimes.com/sports/la-xpm-2012-feb-09-la-sp-lakers-mckinney-20120210-story.html) • [6](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1985-01-14-sp-9872-story.html) |
## Early career and path to the Lakers
McKinney first made his name coaching in the East at St. Joseph's, his Philadelphia alma mater, whose Hawks compiled a 165-83 record during his eight seasons there and earned him regional coach-of-the-year recognition in 1974.[2](https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/sports/1979/07/31/see-how-we-run-says-laker-coach-mckinney/08fa05e5-8131-4cd1-985d-baa30fd39ffa/) He then moved to the professional ranks, spending two years as an assistant to Larry Costello with the [Milwaukee Bucks](https://www.edgepedia.org/milwaukee-bucks), where he worked alongside Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, followed by three years beside his St. Joseph's predecessor and mentor, Jack Ramsay, with the [Portland Trail Blazers](https://www.edgepedia.org/portland-trail-blazers).[2](https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/sports/1979/07/31/see-how-we-run-says-laker-coach-mckinney/08fa05e5-8131-4cd1-985d-baa30fd39ffa/) • [7](https://as.com/baloncesto/nba/pat-riley-armani-gomina-y-showtime-f202602-n/) The 1976-77 Blazers, with Ramsay as head coach and [Bill Walton](https://www.edgepedia.org/bill-walton) as its star, won the NBA title.[7](https://as.com/baloncesto/nba/pat-riley-armani-gomina-y-showtime-f202602-n/)
When [Jerry West](https://www.edgepedia.org/jerry-west) stepped down as Lakers head coach in 1979, new owner [Jerry Buss](https://www.edgepedia.org/jerry-buss) first pursued UNLV coach [Jerry Tarkanian](https://www.edgepedia.org/jerry-tarkanian), who turned the job down, and the team moved on to McKinney, then a highly regarded Portland assistant.[4](https://time.com/6154947/winning-time-lakers-hbo-true-story/) Buss introduced him at a Forum press conference on July 30, 1979.[2](https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/sports/1979/07/31/see-how-we-run-says-laker-coach-mckinney/08fa05e5-8131-4cd1-985d-baa30fd39ffa/) McKinney's stated plan for the club he inherited was direct: "We plan to run more and make it a running offense. I don't want the other players standing around watching Kareem Abdul-Jabbar."[2](https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/sports/1979/07/31/see-how-we-run-says-laker-coach-mckinney/08fa05e5-8131-4cd1-985d-baa30fd39ffa/)
## The 1979-80 Lakers and the accident
The team McKinney assembled around Abdul-Jabbar and rookie Earvin "Magic" Johnson included Jim Chones, whom McKinney had pushed to acquire, [Michael Cooper](https://www.edgepedia.org/michael-cooper), and veterans [Norm Nixon](https://www.edgepedia.org/norm-nixon) and [Jamaal Wilkes](https://www.edgepedia.org/jamaal-wilkes). The Lakers won nine of their first 13 games, and the fast-break offense was just beginning to run at full speed.[1](https://projects.latimes.com/lakers/coach/jack-mckinney/)
**The accident itself** came on the club's first full day off of the season. With his wife Claire using the family's only car, McKinney took his son John's bicycle for the roughly mile-and-a-half ride to a tennis court at [Paul Westhead](https://www.edgepedia.org/paul-westhead)'s condominium complex. Descending a long, steep hill in Palos Verdes, he braked and something appeared to lock; the bike stopped abruptly and McKinney went over the handlebars, hitting the pavement head first without a helmet and sliding 12 to 18 feet.[8](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1987-01-07-sp-2388-story.html) Unconscious, he was taken by ambulance to Little Company of Mary Hospital in Torrance and placed in intensive care, where he was diagnosed with severe head injuries, a facial fracture, and a fractured elbow. He spent three days in a coma.[1](https://projects.latimes.com/lakers/coach/jack-mckinney/) • [4](https://time.com/6154947/winning-time-lakers-hbo-true-story/)
## Westhead takes over and the 1980 title
Westhead, McKinney's best friend and assistant, was appointed interim coach and kept McKinney's system in place. He asked player-turned-broadcaster [Pat Riley](https://www.edgepedia.org/pat-riley) to join him as an assistant; Riley accepted only after broadcast partner [Chick Hearn](https://www.edgepedia.org/chick-hearn) promised to take him back when McKinney returned.[5](https://www.latimes.com/sports/la-xpm-2012-feb-09-la-sp-lakers-mckinney-20120210-story.html)
McKinney's recovery was slow. Though he had recovered sufficiently to leave the hospital three weeks after the accident, McKinney continued to suffer pain, experienced reduced mental ability, and had sluggish reflexes.[1](https://projects.latimes.com/lakers/coach/jack-mckinney/) Buss, liking how the team played under Westhead, offered him the job on a permanent basis, and Westhead accepted. "Shoot, I'd have taken it too," McKinney said in 2006. "But at the time, that hurt."[5](https://www.latimes.com/sports/la-xpm-2012-feb-09-la-sp-lakers-mckinney-20120210-story.html) The Lakers finished 60-22, won the NBA championship, and McKinney was fired on May 13, 1980, after which he went into seclusion for months.[1](https://projects.latimes.com/lakers/coach/jack-mckinney/)
## Pacers, Kings, and later career
The next season McKinney rebuilt his career in Indiana. Pacers owner Sam Nassi, a friend of Buss, offered him the head coaching job, and he was hired on June 2, 1980.[3](https://www.basketball-reference.com/coaches/mckinja99c.html) • [9](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2006-oct-27-sp-mckinney27-story.html) He won the NBA Coach of the Year award in 1981 and led the Pacers, who had never approached a .500 record since joining the NBA in the 1976 merger, back to the playoffs.[1](https://projects.latimes.com/lakers/coach/jack-mckinney/) • [10](https://archives.nd.edu/observer/v15/1981-01-22_v15_075.pdf) He coached the Pacers for four seasons, from 1980-81 through 1983-84.[11](https://www.statmuse.com/nba/ask/jack-mckinney-head-coach)
He then spent nine games as head coach of the Kansas City Kings in 1984-85 before resigning, and he did not coach in the NBA again.[5](https://www.latimes.com/sports/la-xpm-2012-feb-09-la-sp-lakers-mckinney-20120210-story.html) He later worked as a scout, including for the Kings, and by 2006 was described as a Lakers front-office figure.[6](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1985-01-14-sp-9872-story.html) • [9](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2006-oct-27-sp-mckinney27-story.html)
## Legacy
McKinney's accident is remembered as a hinge point in NBA history. The Lakers began a run of five titles in nine seasons in 1980, and Riley, who replaced Westhead in 1981-82 and won four championships in Los Angeles, said he might have missed his entire coaching career had it not been for the bicycle accident.[5](https://www.latimes.com/sports/la-xpm-2012-feb-09-la-sp-lakers-mckinney-20120210-story.html) • [9](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2006-oct-27-sp-mckinney27-story.html) McKinney himself put it modestly: "It would be nice to be remembered as part of that, but I was there too short a period to be linked to Lakers folklore. I just put in some ideas that were accepted and the rest was up to Paul and Pat and some great players."[5](https://www.latimes.com/sports/la-xpm-2012-feb-09-la-sp-lakers-mckinney-20120210-story.html)
McKinney died at 83, as announced by St. Joseph's University in 2018.[12](https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/24797841/former-nba-coach-jack-mckinney-dies-83)
## References
1. [Jack McKinney, All Things Lakers, Los Angeles Times](https://projects.latimes.com/lakers/coach/jack-mckinney/)
2. [See How We Run, Says Laker Coach McKinney, The Washington Post (July 30, 1979)](https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/sports/1979/07/31/see-how-we-run-says-laker-coach-mckinney/08fa05e5-8131-4cd1-985d-baa30fd39ffa/)
3. [Jack McKinney Coaching Record, Basketball-Reference](https://www.basketball-reference.com/coaches/mckinja99c.html)
4. [The True Story Behind HBO's Winning Time, TIME](https://time.com/6154947/winning-time-lakers-hbo-true-story/)
5. [Jack McKinney's bike ride changed Lakers' history, Los Angeles Times (2012)](https://www.latimes.com/sports/la-xpm-2012-feb-09-la-sp-lakers-mckinney-20120210-story.html)
6. [The Rise & Fall of Jack McKinney, Los Angeles Times (1985)](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1985-01-14-sp-9872-story.html)
7. [Pat Riley: gomina, Armani y Showtime, AS.com](https://as.com/baloncesto/nba/pat-riley-armani-gomina-y-showtime-f202602-n/)
8. [McKinney's Fateful Bike Ride, Los Angeles Times (1987)](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1987-01-07-sp-2388-story.html)
9. [The Fall Guy, Los Angeles Times (2006)](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2006-oct-27-sp-mckinney27-story.html)
10. [The Observer, University of Notre Dame (January 22, 1981)](https://archives.nd.edu/observer/v15/1981-01-22_v15_075.pdf)
11. [Jack McKinney Head Coach, StatMuse](https://www.statmuse.com/nba/ask/jack-mckinney-head-coach)
12. [Former St. Joseph's, NBA coach Jack McKinney dies at 83, ESPN](https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/24797841/former-nba-coach-jack-mckinney-dies-83)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Sports, games, and recreation › Other team and ball sports › Basketball and court team sports › Basketball players and coaches (biographies) › NBA head coaches*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 21, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 21, 2026 · Last review: Oct 21, 2026*
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