Paul Pressey facts for kids
Pressey at a banquet event in June 2016
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| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | December 24, 1958 Richmond, Virginia, U.S. |
| High school | George Wythe (Richmond, Virginia) |
| Listed height | 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) |
| Listed weight | 185 lb (84 kg) |
| Career information | |
| College |
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| NBA Draft | 1982 / Round: 1 / Pick: 20th overall |
| Selected by the Milwaukee Bucks | |
| Pro career | 1982–1993 |
| Coaching career | 1994–2016 |
| Career history | |
| As player: | |
| 1982–1990 | Milwaukee Bucks |
| 1990–1992 | San Antonio Spurs |
| 1992–1993 | Golden State Warriors |
| As coach: | |
| 1992–1994 | Golden State Warriors (assistant) |
| 1994–2000 | San Antonio Spurs (assistant) |
| 2000–2004 | Orlando Magic (assistant) |
| 2004–2006 | Boston Celtics (assistant) |
| 2007–2010 | New Orleans Hornets (assistant) |
| 2010–2013 | Cleveland Cavaliers (assistant) |
| 2014–2016 | Los Angeles Lakers (assistant) |
| Career highlights and awards | |
As player:
As assistant coach:
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| Career NBA statistics | |
| Points | 7,664 (10.6 ppg) |
| Rebounds | 2,798 (3.9 rpg) |
| Assists | 3,715 (5.1 apg) |
Paul Matthew Pressey (born December 24, 1958) is an American former professional basketball player. He also worked as an assistant coach for many different teams in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Paul Pressey is known for being one of the first "point forwards." This means he could both handle the ball like a point guard and score like a forward.
Paul Pressey's Basketball Journey
Early College Success
In 1979, Paul Pressey played basketball at Western Texas. His team had an amazing season, winning all 37 games they played. They also won the NJCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship.
Later, in 1982, he played for the Tulsa Golden Hurricane. Paul was named the MVC Player of the Year. He averaged 13.2 points, 6.4 rebounds, 4.0 assists, and 3.2 steals per game.
Playing for the Milwaukee Bucks
Paul Pressey spent most of his playing career with the Milwaukee Bucks. He was a small forward but often handled the ball a lot. He even led the team in assists for five years in a row.
As a rookie, on March 26, 1983, he scored 23 points. He also made 4 steals in a game against the New York Knicks. The Bucks won that game 89–81.
A Strong Defender
Paul Pressey was known as a great defender. He was chosen for the All-NBA Defensive Team three times. This award goes to the best defensive players in the league. He was also among the top 20 players in a special stat called "defensive rating." He achieved this for four seasons in a row, from 1982 to 1986.
In 1986, he took part in the NBA Slam Dunk Contest. He finished in 6th place. During his time in Milwaukee, the Bucks had a strong team. They had famous players like Sidney Moncrief, Bob Lanier, and Marques Johnson. Paul and the Bucks reached the Eastern Conference Finals three times. However, they never made it to the NBA Finals.
Key Games and Achievements
In the 1984-85 NBA season, Paul helped the Bucks win 59 games and lose only 23. He started 80 games and led the team with 6.8 assists per game. He also scored 16.1 points and grabbed 5.4 rebounds per game.
In the playoffs that year, the Bucks beat the Michael Jordan-led Bulls. Paul scored 20 points, grabbed 6 rebounds, and made 6 steals in the final game. But in the next round, the Bucks lost to the Philadelphia 76ers.
On February 19, 1986, Paul had a great game against the Dallas Mavericks. He scored 26 points and made 11 assists. A week later, he set a personal record with 16 assists against the Los Angeles Clippers.
In the 1986 NBA Playoffs, Paul had a "triple-double." This means he got double-digit numbers in three stats: 23 points, 10 rebounds, and 16 assists. This happened in a game against the Philadelphia 76ers. The Bucks won that series. They then lost to the Celtics in the Conference Finals.
On November 7, 1988, Paul played the entire game, all 48 minutes. This was because many of his teammates were injured. He scored 21 points, had 8 assists, and grabbed 6 rebounds.
His last playoff game with the Bucks was in the 1990 NBA Playoffs. He helped them win a game against the Chicago Bulls with 19 points, 12 assists, 6 rebounds, and 4 steals. After that season, on August 1, 1990, Paul was traded to the San Antonio Spurs.
Time with the San Antonio Spurs
On November 7, 1990, Paul scored 14 points and made 10 assists. This was in a very high-scoring game where the Spurs beat the Denver Nuggets 161–153. His teammates David Robinson and Terry Cummings scored a combined 74 points in that game. Paul was released by the Spurs on May 5, 1992.
Brief Return with the Golden State Warriors
In the 1992–93 season, Paul was an assistant coach for the Golden State Warriors. The team had many injured players. So, he came out of retirement to help them. He played 18 games before he also got injured.
Career Statistics
Here are some of Paul Pressey's statistics from his basketball career.
| Legend | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | Games played | GS | Games started | MPG | Minutes per game |
| FG% | Field goal percentage | 3P% | 3-point field goal percentage | FT% | Free throw percentage |
| RPG | Rebounds per game | APG | Assists per game | SPG | Steals per game |
| BPG | Blocks per game | PPG | Points per game | Bold | Career high |
NBA Regular Season Stats
| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1982–83 | Milwaukee | 79 | 18 | 19.3 | .457 | .111 | .597 | 3.6 | 2.6 | 1.3 | 0.6 | 6.7 |
| 1983–84 | Milwaukee | 81 | 18 | 21.4 | .523 | .222 | .600 | 3.5 | 3.1 | 1.1 | 0.6 | 8.3 |
| 1984–85 | Milwaukee | 80 | 80 | 36.0 | .517 | .350 | .758 | 5.4 | 6.8 | 1.6 | 0.7 | 16.1 |
| 1985–86 | Milwaukee | 80 | 80 | 33.8 | .488 | .182 | .806 | 5.0 | 7.8 | 2.1 | 0.9 | 14.3 |
| 1986–87 | Milwaukee | 61 | 60 | 33.7 | .477 | .291 | .738 | 4.9 | 7.2 | 1.8 | 0.8 | 13.9 |
| 1987–88 | Milwaukee | 75 | 75 | 33.1 | .491 | .205 | .798 | 5.0 | 7.0 | 1.5 | 0.5 | 13.1 |
| 1988–89 | Milwaukee | 67 | 62 | 32.4 | .474 | .218 | .776 | 3.9 | 6.6 | 1.8 | 0.7 | 12.1 |
| 1989–90 | Milwaukee | 57 | 2 | 24.6 | .472 | .140 | .758 | 3.0 | 4.3 | 1.2 | 0.4 | 11.0 |
| 1990–91 | San Antonio | 70 | 18 | 24.0 | .472 | .281 | .827 | 2.5 | 3.9 | 0.9 | 0.5 | 7.5 |
| 1991–92 | San Antonio | 56 | 7 | 13.6 | .373 | .143 | .683 | 1.7 | 2.5 | 0.5 | 0.3 | 2.7 |
| 1992–93 | Golden State | 18 | 0 | 14.9 | .439 | .000 | .778 | 1.7 | 1.7 | 0.6 | 0.3 | 4.4 |
| Career | 724 | 420 | 27.2 | .485 | .222 | .749 | 3.9 | 5.1 | 1.4 | 0.6 | 10.6 | |
NBA Playoffs Stats
| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1982–83 | Milwaukee | 9 | - | 16.7 | .404 | .000 | .400 | 3.7 | 1.6 | 1.0 | 0.7 | 5.1 |
| 1983–84 | Milwaukee | 16 | - | 21.9 | .520 | .000 | .679 | 3.7 | 3.1 | 1.4 | 0.6 | 8.9 |
| 1984–85 | Milwaukee | 8 | 8 | 37.0 | .511 | .333 | .816 | 6.0 | 7.6 | 2.3 | 0.6 | 15.3 |
| 1985–86 | Milwaukee | 14 | 14 | 37.9 | .484 | .333 | .761 | 4.3 | 7.9 | 1.3 | 0.9 | 16.1 |
| 1986–87 | Milwaukee | 12 | 12 | 38.8 | .466 | .125 | .739 | 5.2 | 8.6 | 2.3 | 0.7 | 14.3 |
| 1987–88 | Milwaukee | 5 | 5 | 35.6 | .460 | .333 | .767 | 3.8 | 6.6 | 0.8 | 0.6 | 14.0 |
| 1989–90 | Milwaukee | 4 | 2 | 32.3 | .432 | .000 | .808 | 5.3 | 7.5 | 1.5 | 0.3 | 14.8 |
| 1990–91 | San Antonio | 4 | 0 | 31.0 | .406 | .250 | .667 | 2.8 | 4.0 | 2.0 | 0.8 | 8.3 |
| 1991–92 | San Antonio | 3 | 2 | 15.3 | .333 | .500 | .000 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 0.3 | 4.3 |
| Career | 75 | 43 | 30.3 | .471 | .244 | .728 | 4.2 | 5.6 | 1.5 | 0.7 | 11.7 | |
College Stats
| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1980–81 | Tulsa | 33 | 32 | 31.8 | .476 | - | .579 | 5.4 | 5.2 | 2.9 | 0.8 | 10.3 |
| 1981–82 | Tulsa | 30 | 30 | 32.4 | .560 | - | .664 | 6.4 | 4.0 | 3.2 | 0.7 | 13.2 |
| Career | 63 | 62 | 32.1 | .517 | - | .624 | 5.9 | 4.6 | 3.0 | 0.7 | 11.7 | |
Life After Playing Basketball
Coaching Career
After his playing days, Paul Pressey became a successful assistant coach. In the 1998–99 season, he won an NBA championship as an assistant coach for the San Antonio Spurs.
He later coached for several other NBA teams. These included the Cleveland Cavaliers from 2010 to 2013. On September 16, 2014, he joined the coaching staff of the Los Angeles Lakers. In 2019, he became an assistant coach for St. John's University.
Family Life
Paul Pressey has three children who also played sports. His daughter, Angie, played volleyball for the University of California, Berkeley. Her team reached the semifinals in the 2007 NCAA Final Four volleyball tournament.
His sons, Jeremiah (Paul Jr.) and Phil, both played basketball for Missouri. Phil even played for several NBA teams from 2013 to 2016. He now plays basketball in Europe.
Looking Back
In a 2019 interview, Paul Pressey talked about his NBA career. He said that playing in the NBA was a "far-fetched dream." He thought he might just get his degree and become a coach. He was surprised to be picked in the first round of the NBA draft.
See also
In Spanish: Paul Pressey para niños
