It has been just four years since he played his last game in the NBA with the Brooklyn Nets in the 2012-13 season, but Jerry Stackhouse is already making waves in the coaching world.
Last season, Stackhouse served as an assistant coach for the Toronto Raptors, and, after leading the franchise's Summer League team in Las Vegas last summer, took over as the head coach of their D-League squad, Raptors 905.
Now Stackhouse has been named NBA D-League Coach of the Year.
Stackhouse had quite an impressive showing in his rookie coaching campaign, leading Raptors 905 to a league-best 39-11 record during the regular season, and now has them in the Eastern Conference finals. More on his success via the D-League's press release:
Stackhouse, in his first season as a head coach, led Raptors 905 (39-11) to its first Central Division title and the top overall seed in the 2017 NBA D-League Playoffs. Raptors 905 opened the season 10-2 and posted winning streaks of 10 games (Jan. 6 – 31) and nine games (Feb. 9 – March 4). The team also set an NBA D-League record with 21 road victories.
Raptors 905 boasted the NBA D-League's top defense, holding opponents to league lows of 98.8 points per game, 100.1 points per 100 possessions and 42.8 percent shooting from the field. Stackhouse's team finished with the league's highest point differential (8.0).
Under Stackhouse's direction, 2016-17 NBA D-League Defensive Player of the Year Edy Tavares and 2017 NBA D-League All-Star Axel Toupane earned GATORADE Call-Ups – Tavares to the Cleveland Cavaliers and Toupane to the New Orleans Pelicans and Milwaukee Bucks.
Just like he was scoring during his playing days, it appears that Stackhouse is a natural when it comes to coaching.