Jay Triano

Early life and family

Triano was born in Tillsonburg, Ontario and raised in Niagara Falls, Ontario. He is of Italian descent through his great-grandfather, who landed on Ellis Island, then made his way to Welland, Ontario. His younger brother Jeff was a draft pick of the Toronto Maple Leafs in the 1982 NHL Entry Draft after playing OHL hockey for the Toronto Marlboros. Brady Heslip, his nephew and son of his sister Jody, played basketball at Baylor University and currently plays for him on the Canadian national team.

Playing career

As a student at Simon Fraser University, the 6 ft 4 in, 194 lb Triano broke or equalled eleven school men's basketball records, including having the most career points with 2,616. At Simon Fraser, he befriended Canadian athlete and activist Terry Fox. He was drafted in the eighth round of the 1981 NBA Draft by the Los Angeles Lakers, but was cut during training camp and never played in the NBA. The same year, he was also drafted by the Calgary Stampeders in the sixth round of the 1981 CFL Draft.

Triano was a national team player from 1977 to 1988, captained the team from 1981 to 1988, and played in the 1984 and 1988 Olympics. He led the Canadian team that won Gold at the 1983 World University Games in Edmonton, Alberta, defeating the United States in the semi-finals, which was led by Karl Malone and Charles Barkley, and Yugoslavia in the final, led by Dražen Petrović. He played three seasons of professional basketball, two in Mexico and one (1985–86 season for Fenerbahçe Istanbul) in Turkey.

Coaching career

After retiring as a player, he became head coach at his alma mater, Simon Fraser University, in 1988. In 1995, when the Vancouver Grizzlies debuted, he became team Director of Community Relations and worked as the colour commentator for their radio broadcasts. In 1998, Triano became the head coach of the Canadian men's national basketball team. He led them to a 5–2 record and a seventh-place finish in the 2000 Sydney Olympics, losing to France by five points in the quarter-finals. Two years later, he became an assistant coach for the Toronto Raptors, becoming the first Canadian-born coach in the NBA. He served under Lenny Wilkens, Kevin O'Neill, and Sam Mitchell.

In 2004, Triano was fired as national team head coach, and was replaced by Leo Rautins the following year.

In 2008, Triano was named an assistant coach for USA Basketball. On February 13, 2008, Triano served as head coach of the Toronto Raptors in their 109–91 victory over the New Jersey Nets, in place of head coach Sam Mitchell, who was absent from the team as a result of the passing of his father-in-law, making history as the first Canadian to serve as head coach for a regular-season NBA game.

On December 3, 2008, Triano was named interim head coach of the Raptors after Mitchell was relieved of his coaching duties. He became the first Canadian-born head coach in NBA history. Triano guided the Raptors to a 25–40 mark.

On May 12, 2009, Triano was given a three-year deal to remain head coach of the Raptors.

In Triano's first full season as the Raptors head coach in the 2009-2010 season, Toronto missed the playoffs by one game to the Chicago Bulls, going 2–5 in their last 7 games. The team finished 40–42.

In the 2010-2011 season, without Chris Bosh on the roster, Triano guided the Raptors to a dismal 22–60 record.

On June 1, 2011, the Raptors announced they would not be picking up the option on Triano's contract and would be giving him a different position within the organization, the Vice-President of Pro Scouting.

On August 17, 2012, Triano was named as an assistant coach for the Portland Trail Blazers. The following week, Triano was also named head coach of Team Canada for the second time in his career.

On May 18, 2016, it was announced that Triano would take on the associate head coach role (which is the team's leading assistant coach) for the Phoenix Suns. He'd be reunited with head coach Earl Watson, who was previously a player for the Trail Blazers during his last season in the NBA, and was considered a major influence on transitioning to being a full-time coach. With the later hiring of Turkish-born Mehmet Okur as a part of the Suns' coaching staff as a player development coach on September 13 in the same year, it would mark the first time in franchise history that multiple foreign coaches would be a part of their coaching staff in the same season.