One of the greatest sharp shooters of his era, Brian Winters enters his second full season as an assistant coach with the Warriors in 2001-02 after originally being named an assistant coach by Garry St. Jean midway through the 1999-2000 campaign (December 27, 1999). The Queens, New York native provides the Warriors with nearly 20 years of NBA experience as a head coach or assistant coach, having most recently served as an assistant coach with the Denver Nuggets during the 1997-98 season. Winters' head coaching experience began in 1995, when he was chosen to guide the expansion Vancouver Grizzlies. In two seasons in Vancouver, he installed a competitive nature that allowed the club to overcome the obvious expansion obstacles of a tough beginning. Prior to taking the Grizzlies head coaching position, Winters spent two seasons as an assistant coach with the Atlanta Hawks (1993-95) and seven seasons as an assistant coach with the Cleveland Cavaliers (1986-93). In those nine years as an assistant in Atlanta and Cleveland, he coached along side Lenny Wilkins, the winningest coach in NBA history. During his previous tenure as an NBA assistant coach, Winters helped guide four teams to 50-plus win seasons and helped qualify his teams for the playoffs in seven of the nine years. In Atlanta, the Hawks compiled a 99-65 record and a .604 winning percentage during Winters' two seasons in Georgia. His seven seasons in Cleveland were highlighted by five playoff runs and two 57-win seasons. After completing a nine-year NBA playing career, Winters spent two seasons as an assistant coach at Princeton University before joining forces with Wilkins and the Cavaliers in 1986. He spent his first season in the league as a player with the Los Angeles Lakers (1974-75) under Hall of Famer Bill Sharman and the next eight with the Milwaukee Bucks (1975-83) under coaches Larry Costello and Don Nelson. Winters was drafted by the Lakers in the first round (#12 overall) of the 1974 NBA Draft and was a member of the NBA's All-Rookie Team that season. He scored 10,537 career points (16.2 scoring average), participated in two NBA All-Star games (1976 and 1978) and on October 28, 1983, following his retirement, became one of only seven former Bucks players to have his number retired (#32). When not dissecting game film or roaming the hardwood during practice, the University of South Carolina graduate resides in Danville and enjoys spending time with his wife, Julie, and their six children; daughters Cara, Keelin and Meghan, and sons, Brendan, Kevin and Ryan.
