Sport: Basketball
Born: August 2, 1970
Town: Teaneck, New Jersey
Lawrence Adam Frank was born August 2, 1970 in New York City and grew up in Teaneck, NJ. He had a deep interest in basketball but, unlike his older brothers—who were good high-school guards—did not possess the size or skill to play any higher than the recreational-league level. For a time, Lawrence was the player-coach of a CYO team. He likes to joke that this was so he wouldn’t get cut. Lawrence attended Teaneck High School, where he was a year ahead of baseball star Doug Glanville and a classmate of Lawrence Sher, the cinematographer on Garden State and The Hangover. Teaneck High is also the alma mater of longtime NBA commissioner David Stern. For the record, Lawrence did try out for the school basketball and didn’t make the cut.
In college, Lawrence got more basketball than most people could have handled. He served as a varsity manager for Bobby Knight’s Indiana Hoosiers. They went to the Final Four during Lawrence’s senior year. When he graduated, he knew exactly what he wanted to do.
Starting in 1992–93, Lawrence worked as an assistant at Marquette and Tennessee. In 1997–98, he took a job with the Vancouver Grizzlies under fellow New Jerseyan Brian Hill. Lawrence did it all—scouting, devising plays, running practices, and helping Hill during games. In 2000, he became an assistant with the Nets and helped them reach the NBA Finals twice. In 2004, Lawrence was named interim coach following the departure of Byron Scott. New Jersey reeled off 13 straight victories after he took the helm. No “rookie” coach in a major North American sports had ever gone 13–0. During his tenure in New Jersey, Brian Hill served as his assistant. Lawrence coached the Nets until early in the 2009–10 season, when the team started 0–16.
Lawrence went to work the following season as an assistant to Doc Rivers with the Celtics. In 2011–12, he was named head coach of the Detroit Pistons. Short on talent, Lawrence did what he could for the club, but after two losing seasons he was shown the door. Lawrence wasn’t on the unemployment line long, however. Jason Kidd, whom he had coached for many years in New Jersey, was now coach of the Brooklyn Nets and hired him for his staff. Unfortunately, they clashed on some important points and Lawrence was given less responsibility than he expected.
In 2014, the Nets bought out Lawrence’s contract and he joined the Clippers staff. In 2017, he was promoted to President of Basketball Operations for the team