Greg Foster (basketball)
{{Short description|American professional basketball coach and former player}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=November 2020}}
{{Infobox basketball biography
| name = Greg Foster
| image =
| width =
| caption =
| team =
| league =
| position =
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1968|10|03}}
| birth_place = Oakland, California, U.S.
| death_date =
| death_place =
| height_ft = 6
| height_in = 11
| weight_lb = 250
| high_school = Skyline (Oakland, California)
| college =
| draft_year = 1990
| draft_round = 2
| draft_pick = 35
| draft_team = Washington Bullets
| career_start = 1990
| career_end = 2003
| career_position = Power forward / center
| career_number = 42, 44, 35, 40
| coach_start = 2013
| coach_end =
| years1 = 1990
| team1 = Breogán
| years2 = {{nbay|1990|start}}–{{nbay|1992|start}}
| team2 = Washington Bullets
| years3 = {{nbay|1992|full=y}}
| team3 = Atlanta Hawks
| years4 = {{nbay|1993|start}}
| team4 = Milwaukee Bucks
| years5 = 1993–1994
| team5 = Papagos Athens
| years6 = {{nbay|1994|start}}
| team6 = Chicago Bulls
| years7 = {{nbay|1994|full=y}}
| team7 = Minnesota Timberwolves
| years8 = {{nbay|1995|start}}–{{nbay|1998|end}}
| team8 = Utah Jazz
| years9 = {{nbay|1999|full=y}}
| team9 = Seattle SuperSonics
| years10 = {{nbay|2000|full=y}}
| team10 = Los Angeles Lakers
| years11 = {{nbay|2001|full=y}}
| team11 = Milwaukee Bucks
| years12 = {{nbay|2002|full=y}}
| team12 = Toronto Raptors
| cyears1 = {{nbay|2013|full=y}}
| cteam1 = Philadelphia 76ers (assistant)
| cyears2 = {{nbay|2014|start}}–{{nbay|2017|end}}
| cteam2 = Milwaukee Bucks (assistant)
| cyears3 = {{nbay|2018|start}}–{{nbay|2019|end}}
| cteam3 = Atlanta Hawks (assistant)
| cyears4 = {{nbay|2020|full=y}}
| cteam4 = Indiana Pacers (assistant)
| highlights =
- NBA champion ({{nbafy|2001}})
| stats_league = NBA
| stat1label = Points
| stat1value = 2,538 (3.9 ppg)
| stat2label = Rebounds
| stat2value = 1,691 (2.6 rpg)
| stat3label = Assists
| stat3value = 351 (0.5 apg)
}}
Gregory Clinton Foster (born October 3, 1968) is an American professional basketball coach and former player who last served as assistant coach for the Indiana Pacers of the National Basketball Association (NBA).
College years
Foster was born in Oakland, California and attended Skyline High School where he played alongside future NBA point guard Gary Payton. He began his collegiate basketball career at UCLA, playing for the Bruins his freshman and sophomore years before transferring to UTEP. As a junior in 1988–89, he played alongside future NBA stars Tim Hardaway and Antonio Davis. Foster helped lead the Miners to two WAC titles, and as a senior he averaged 15.0 points and 6.3 rebounds per game.
Foster earned his bachelor's degree in interdisciplinary studies from UTEP in 2011.{{cite news |last=Knight |first=Bill |title=UTEP basketball assistant Greg Foster gets degree 17 years after Miner days |url=http://www.elpasotimes.com/ci_18063160 |newspaper=El Paso Times |date=May 14, 2011 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130122144510/http://www.elpasotimes.com/ci_18063160 |archive-date=January 22, 2013 |url-status=dead }}
Professional career
A 6'11" center–power forward, Foster was selected by the Washington Bullets in the second round (35th overall pick) of the 1990 NBA draft. He spent 13 seasons (1990–2003) in the NBA as a member of the Washington Bullets, Atlanta Hawks, Milwaukee Bucks, Chicago Bulls, Minnesota Timberwolves, Utah Jazz, Seattle SuperSonics, Los Angeles Lakers, and Toronto Raptors. During his long career, mainly spent as a reserve player, he reached the NBA Finals three times (twice with the Jazz and once with the Lakers) and won a championship ring with the Lakers in 2001.
Coaching career
Foster served as an assistant coach at the University of Texas-El Paso.
During the 2013–14 season, he Served as player development coach for the Philadelphia 76ers. From 2014 to 2018 Foster served as assistant coach for the Milwaukee Bucks. On June 8, 2018, the Atlanta Hawks hired Foster as an assistant coach, a position he held for the next season as well.{{cite web |title=Hawks Announce Additions To Coaching Staff |url=https://www.nba.com/hawks/news/hawks-announce-additions-coaching-staff |website=NBA.com |access-date=November 6, 2020 |date=June 8, 2018}}
On November 13, 2020, Foster was hired as an assistant coach by the Indiana Pacers under Nate Bjorkgren.{{cite web |title=Pacers Name Assistant Coaches for 2020-21 Season |url=https://www.nba.com/pacers/news/pacers-name-assistant-coaches-2020-21-season |website=NBA.com |access-date=November 16, 2020 |date=November 13, 2020}}
On May 6, 2021, Foster was suspended one game after an on-court verbal altercation with Pacers player Goga Bitadze.{{cite web |title=Indiana Pacers suspend assistant coach Greg Foster, fine Goga Bitadze after on-court exchange |url=https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/31399589/sources-indiana-pacers-suspend-assistant-coach-greg-foster-fine-goga-bitadze-court-exchange|website=ESPN.com |access-date=May 6, 2021 |date=May 6, 2021}}
Personal life
Foster and his wife have a son and two daughters.{{cite web|url=http://www.nba.com/coachfile/greg_foster/?nav=page|title=Greg Foster|work=NBA.com|access-date=February 2, 2019}} While in high school, he had the name "Bowie" tattooed on his left shoulder as his friends felt he resembled former NBA center Sam Bowie, who was then playing for the Portland Trail Blazers.{{cite web|url=https://www.deseretnews.com/article/632996/Under-their-skin.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181001050128/https://www.deseretnews.com/article/632996/Under-their-skin.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=October 1, 2018|title=Under their skin|first=Jody|last=Genessy|work=Deseret News|date=May 31, 1998|access-date=February 2, 2019}}
Career stats
{{NBA player statistics legend|champion=y|leader=y}}
=NBA=
==Regular season==
{{NBA player statistics start}}
|-
| style="text-align:left;"| {{nbay|1990}}
| style="text-align:left;"| Washington
| 54||3||11.2||.460||.000||.689||2.8||.7||.2||.4||4.4
|-
| style="text-align:left;"| {{nbay|1991}}
| style="text-align:left;"| Washington
| 49||3||11.2||.461||.000||.714||3.0||.7||.1||.2||4.3
|-
| style="text-align:left;"| {{nbay|1992}}
| style="text-align:left;"| Washington
| 10||0||9.3||.440||–||.667||2.7||1.1||.0||.5||2.4
|-
| style="text-align:left;"| {{nbay|1992}}
| style="text-align:left;"| Atlanta
| 33||0||6.2||.463||.000||.722||1.7||.3||.1||.3||3.1
|-
| style="text-align:left;"| {{nbay|1993}}
| style="text-align:left;"| Milwaukee
| 3||0||6.3||.571||–||1.000||1.0||.0||.0||.3||3.3
|-
| style="text-align:left;"| {{nbay|1994}}
| style="text-align:left;"| Chicago
| 17||3||17.6||.477||.–||.710||3.2||.9||.1||.5||6.1
|-
| style="text-align:left;"| {{nbay|1994}}
| style="text-align:left;"| Minnesota
| 61||0||13.9||.470||.304||.700||3.4||.4||.2||.3||4.6
|-
| style="text-align:left;"| {{nbay|1995}}
| style="text-align:left;"| Utah
| 73||2||11.0||.439||.125||.847||2.4||.3||.1||.3||3.8
|-
| style="text-align:left;"| {{nbay|1996}}
| style="text-align:left;"| Utah
| 79||12||11.6||.453||.667||.831||2.4||.4||.1||.3||3.5
|-
| style="text-align:left;"| {{nbay|1997}}
| style="text-align:left;"| Utah
| 78||49||18.5||.445||.222||.770||3.5||.7||.2||.4||5.7
|-
| style="text-align:left;"| {{nbay|1998}}
| style="text-align:left;"| Utah
| 42||1||10.9||.377||.250||.619||2.0||.6||.1||.2||2.8
|-
| style="text-align:left;"| {{nbay|1999|trunc=y}}
| style="text-align:left;"| Seattle
| 60||5||12.0||.406||.200||.643||1.8||.7||.2||.3||3.4
|-
| style="text-align:left; background:#afe6ba;"|{{nbay|2000}}†
| style="text-align:left;"| L.A. Lakers
| 62||8||7.3||.421||.333||.714||1.8||.5||.1||.2||2.0
|-
| style="text-align:left;"| {{nbay|2001}}
| style="text-align:left;"| Milwaukee
| 6||0||4.0||.222||.000||.750||1.3||.2||.0||.0||1.2
|-
| style="text-align:left;"| {{nbay|2002}}
| style="text-align:left;"| Toronto
| 29||9||18.6||.385||.250||.813||3.5||.4||.0||.3||4.2
|- class="sortbottom"
| style="text-align:center;" colspan="2"| Career
| 656 || 95 || 12.2 || .440 || .225 || .748 || 2.6 || .5 || .1 || .3 || 3.9
{{s-end}}
==Playoffs==
{{NBA player statistics start}}
|-
| style="text-align:left;"| 1993
| style="text-align:left;"| Atlanta
| 1 || 0 || 5.0 || .333 || – || .750 || 1.0 || .0 || .0 || .0 || 5.0
|-
| style="text-align:left;"| 1995
| style="text-align:left;"| Utah
| 12 || 0 || 6.3 || .500 || – || .600 || 1.0 || .2 || .1 || .2 || 2.3
|-
| style="text-align:left;"| 1996
| style="text-align:left;"| Utah
| style="background:#cfecec;"|20* || 0 || 15.5 || .389 || .250 || .867 || 2.8 || .6 || .2 || .4 || 4.2
|-
| style="text-align:left;"| 1997
| style="text-align:left;"| Utah
| 20 || 16 || 16.8 || .453 || .500 || .600 || 3.4 || .3 || .1 || .3 || 4.1
|-
| style="text-align:left;"| 1998
| style="text-align:left;"| Utah
| 8 || 0 || 8.8 || .421 || – || – || 1.0 || .1 || .1 || .0 || 2.0
|-
| style="text-align:left;"| 1999
| style="text-align:left;"| Seattle
| 5 || 0 || 13.6 || .368 || .400 || 1.000 || 2.2 || .2 || .0 || .2 || 3.6
|-
| style="text-align:left; background:#afe6ba;"|{{nbay|2000}}†
| style="text-align:left;"| L.A. Lakers
| 1 || 0 || 3.0 || – || – || – || 1.0 || .0 || .0 || .0 || .0
|- class="sortbottom"
| style="text-align:center;" colspan="2"| Career
| 67 || 16 || 12.9 || .425 || .333 || .784 || 2.3 || .3 || .1 || .2 || 3.5
{{S-end}}
References
{{reflist}}
External links
{{Basketballstats |nba=323 |bbr=f/fostegr01}}
{{1990 NBA draft}}
{{Los Angeles Lakers 2000–01 NBA champions}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Foster, Greg}}
Category:American expatriate basketball people in Canada
Category:American expatriate basketball people in Greece
Category:American expatriate basketball people in Spain
Category:American men's basketball players
Category:Atlanta Hawks assistant coaches
Category:Atlanta Hawks players
Category:Basketball coaches from California
Category:Basketball players from Oakland, California
Category:Chicago Bulls players
Category:Los Angeles Lakers players
Category:Milwaukee Bucks assistant coaches
Category:Milwaukee Bucks players
Category:Minnesota Timberwolves players
Category:Philadelphia 76ers assistant coaches
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Category:UCLA Bruins men's basketball players
Category:UTEP Miners men's basketball coaches
Category:UTEP Miners men's basketball players
Category:Washington Bullets draft picks