Content provided in partnership with

Who is Tim Floyd?

Sporting News, The, Feb 15, 1999 by Marc Hansen

He is the coach of the Bulls, of course, but nobody outside of the NBA knows who he is

On the day Tim Floyd became the most famous director of basketball operations ever, a Bulls fan named Marta Cerda was hanging out at Michael Jordan's restaurant wondering what the world had come to.

"I don't know anything about Tim Floyd," she said. "But I think it's disappointing. If Phil Jackson had felt wanted, he probably would have come back. I'm not surprised they hired a college coach. I think they just wanted someone to control."

News of the college coach's achievements had not made its way to Michael's place, which looms like a power forward at the downtown intersection of Illinois and LaSalle. Either that or nobody was listening.

Most Popular Articles in Sports: The first family: Archie, Peyton and Eli are incredibly famous, immensely ...; The growing gap: driving distances are skyrocketing on the PGA Tour. So why ...; Which pistol caliber for self defense? Four different people come to four ...; Drag racing - National Hot Rod Association; The world's most popular .22: the Marlin Model 60 just keeps on ticking; More »

A "lifelong Bulls fan," Marta did not know and did not care that Floyd guided Iowa State to the Big Eight Tournament title in 1996 or the NCAA Sweet 16 a year later.

In fact, Marta had heard nothing about the life and times of Timothy Fitzpatrick Floyd, whose business cards now say "Head Coach." She'd heard none of the stories that might help her understand how he found himself on the doorstep of United Center.

Most of the storytellers would give Marta the same advice: Do not underestimate this man. Give him a chance. He will not disappoint you.

"NBA fans might not know much about Timmy," Golden State coach P.J. Carlesimo says, "but the people who matter--the general managers, the players, the other coaches--they all know him and what he has done."

So why was Bulls G.M. Jerry Krause so eager to hire Floyd in the first place? What's more, if Krause was intent on going the college route, why choose a man who had been to the Final Four as a spectator only?

In 1995, Krause, who declined to be interviewed for this story, watched Floyd guide the Cyclones to a 23-11 record and NCAA Tournament berth. Not bad considering the team was 14-13 under Johnny Orr the year before.

Off-guard Fred Hoiberg was on the '95 team. As a member of the Pacers, Hoiberg went on to play for Larry Brown and Larry Bird. All three are great coaches, Hoiberg will tell you.

"Tim could be tough on players," Hoiberg says. "We found that out in our first meeting when some of the guys were a few minutes late. But he knew when to turn it on and when to turn it off. He wasn't as tough on players as Larry Brown, who was the complete opposite of Larry Bird. None of them put up with anything, but the thing I noticed was that Tim and Larry Brown echoed each other on a lot of things, especially on the defensive end."

In 1996, Krause saw Floyd put together an entirely new team, a team made up of basketball orphans and vagabonds. Before you knew it, the orphans and vagabonds were beating Kansas for the Big Eight Tournament title.

The magic took a holiday last season when Iowa State finished 12-18. By then, however, Krause had seen enough. The seniors were gone; the newcomers could not fill their Nikes. Floyd was beside himself in frustration, but Krause would not be deterred.

"It's a tremendous choice on the Bulls' part," Celtics G.M. Chris Wallace says. "I don't have any question Tim will adjust very quickly. He is a very intelligent person, a solution finder. Every place he has been, he's found solutions. Tim didn't come up in the game with a silver spoon. He had to succeed at some tough places.

"Despite the great tradition at UTEP, it's not an easy place to recruit (players). Nobody grows up dreaming of playing for you there. But he helped bring in big-time players. Idaho was a tough place. At New Orleans he inherited a team that had nobody over 6-5 and he found solutions. He found ways to get it done at Iowa State. He'll find ways to get it done on the pro level. I'm an admirer."

It's hard to find a college coach who is a salesman and bench master. Floyd, Wallace says, can do both. A relentless recruiter, Floyd often ventured onto the side roads of high school and junior college basketball, not always with politically correct results.

The big basketball controversy in Ames, Iowa, last fall was the revelation that a Floyd recruit--junior college transfer Dewayne Johns--had pleaded guilty to dealing and possessing crack cocaine in 1995, which was news to new coach Larry Eustachy. Before his first official game, Eustachy dropped Johns from the squad.

When he was a coach at New Orleans, Floyd once visited a prospect at a California correctional facility. The kid was a 6-10 center named Clifford Allen, who supposedly gave Hakeem Olajuwon fits on the court.

Naturally, Floyd was criticized for it. Ultimately, though, he didn't think Allen was worth the risk.

At the college level, he was a risk-taker. At the pro level, Wallace believes, Floyd's zeal for recruiting will not go to waste. "There's a lot of recruiting done in the NBA," he says. "Recruiting free agents, recruiting your own players to buy into your system. I think Tim could win anybody over."

Who is Tim Floyd?

Sporting News, The, Feb 15, 1999 by Marc Hansen

Find Research Guides for:

Find Featured Titles for: News

Most Popular Articles in Sports

Most Popular Publications in Sports