Gary Kloppenburg

{{Infobox basketball biography

| name = Gary Kloppenburg

| image =

| image_size =

| alt =

| caption =

| position = Assistant Coach

| league = WNBA

| team =

| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|mf=yes|1953|01|06}}

| birth_place = Tulare County, California, U.S.

| death_date =

| death_place =

| high_school = La Jolla (La Jolla, California)

| college =

Feather River (1972–1974)
UC San Diego (1978–1981)

| coach_start = 1983

| coach_end =

| cyears1 = 1983–1984

| cteam1 = Feather River (men's asst.)

| cyears2 = 1984–1988

| cteam2 = Feather River (men's)

| cyears3 = 1988–1993

| cteam3 = Lassen CC

| cyears4 = 1993–1999

| cteam4 = Lassen CC (men's)

| cyears5 = 1999–2000

| cteam5 = Panteras de Miranda

| cyears6 = 2000–2002

| cteam6 = Seattle Storm (assistant)

| cyears7 = 2003

| cteam7 = Phoenix Mercury (assistant)

| cyears8 = {{nbay|2004|start}}–{{nbay|2006|end}}

| cteam8 = Charlotte Bobcats (assistant)

| cyears9 = 2008–2011

| cteam9 = Indiana Fever (assistant)

| cyears10 = 2012–2013

| cteam10 = Tulsa Shock

| cyears11 = 2014

| cteam11 = Los Angeles Sparks (assistant)

| cyears12 = 2015–2016

| cteam12 = Indiana Fever (assistant)

| cyears13 = 2017–2019

| cteam13 = Seattle Storm (assistant)

| cyears14 = 2017

| cteam14 = Seattle Storm (interim)

| cyears15 = 2020

| cteam15 = Seattle Storm

| cyears16 = 2021

| cteam16 = Seattle Storm (assistant)

| cyears17 = 2022

| cteam17 = Indiana Fever (assistant)

| highlights =

As head coach:

WNBA champion (2020)
2× CCCAA champion (1992, 1993)

As assistant coach:

WNBA champion (2018)

}}

Gary Robert Kloppenburg (born January 6, 1953) is an American basketball coach.

Early life and college career

Kloppenburg was born in 1953, when his father Bob Kloppenburg was head coach at Lindsay High School in Lindsay, California.{{cite web | url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/696732966/ | title=LINDSAY SEQUOIAS SET TO PLAY IOWA COLORED GHOSTS|newspaper=Lindsay Gazette |location=Lindsay, California | date=9 January 1953|page=6|via=Newspapers.com }}{{cite web|last=Nelson|first=Glenn|url=https://archive.seattletimes.com/archive/?date=19931104&slug=1729835|title=Defender Of The Faith|work=Seattle Times|date=November 4, 1993|accessdate=August 30, 2020}} When Bob Kloppenburg became head coach of California Western (later U.S. International) University, Gary Kloppenburg later attended La Jolla High School in La Jolla, California, graduating in 1971.{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/164784604/|title=Coach's Profile|work=Feather River Bulletin|page=19|date=December 18, 1985|accessdate=August 30, 2020|url-access=subscription}}

From 1972 to 1974, Gary Kloppenburg attended Feather River College and played on the basketball team. Kloppenburg then played semi-professional basketball in Europe, first with the English National League in 1975–76 then in the Netherlands in 1977. He then returned to the U.S. and enrolled at the University of California, San Diego, where he played on the UC San Diego Tritons men's basketball team in the 1978–79 and 1980–81 seasons.{{cite book|url=https://static.ucsdtritons.com/custompages/downloads1/28136.pdf|title=UC San Diego Men's Basketball 2006–07 Media Guide|page=34|publisher=UC San Diego|year=2006|accessdate=August 30, 2020}} Kloppenburg graduated from UC San Diego in 1981 with a B.A. in Spanish literature.{{cite web|url=https://www.nba.com/hornets/news/staff_grows.html|title=Basketball Operations Staff Adds Four New Faces|publisher=Charlotte Hornets|date=April 2, 2004|accessdate=August 30, 2020}}

Coaching career

Kloppenburg began his coaching career as an assistant men's basketball coach at Feather River College. In 1984, Kloppenburg became head coach. From 1988 to 1993, Kloppenburg was head women's basketball coach at Lassen Community College in Susanville, California, where he led the team to two consecutive California Community College Athletic Association titles in 1992 and 1993. From 1993 to 1999, Kloppenburg was head men's basketball coach at Lassen.

Kloppenburg served as an assistant coach with the Seattle Storm from 2000 through 2002 and Phoenix Mercury in 2003. He was an assistant coach of the Charlotte Bobcats of the National Basketball Association from 2004 to 2007, and an assistant coach of the Indiana Fever from 2008 through 2011{{cite web|url=http://www.wnba.com/coachfile/gary_kloppenburg/|title=Coach Bio: Gary Kloppenburg|publisher=WNBA|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20150420003257/http://www.wnba.com/coachfile/gary_kloppenburg/index.html|archivedate=April 20, 2015|accessdate=August 30, 2020|url-status=dead}} and Los Angeles Sparks in 2014.[http://www.swishappeal.com/2014/2/12/5406294/los-angeles-sparks-assistant-coaches-gail-goestenkors-gary-kloppenburg Gail Goestenkors and Gary Kloppenburg named Los Angeles Sparks assistant coaches for the 2014 season]

Kloppenburg improved the Shock during his two-year tenure; nevertheless, he was fired after the 2013 season.

In 2017, Kloppenburg became an assistant for the Seattle Storm. Kloppenburg served as interim head coach on August 10, 2017, after head coach Jenny Boucek was fired.{{cite web|url=https://storm.wnba.com/news/dan-hughes-to-miss-2020-storm-season-in-florida/|title=Seattle Storm Announces Head Coaching Change, Names Gary Kloppenburg Interim Head Coach|publisher=Seattle Storm|date=August 10, 2017|accessdate=August 30, 2020}} Kloppenburg stayed on the staff under new head coach Dan Hughes. In the 2019 season, Kloppenburg served as interim head coach during the time Hughes was recovering from cancer surgery. On June 29, 2020, Kloppenburg became head coach again after Hughes was determined to be at higher risk of illness from COVID-19.{{cite web|url=https://storm.wnba.com/news/dan-hughes-to-miss-2020-storm-season-in-florida/|title=Dan Hughes To Miss 2020 Storm Season In Florida|publisher=Seattle Storm|date=June 29, 2020|accessdate=August 30, 2020}}