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Forward · 1985–89

Marc Iavaroni

Europe made him NBA-ready. After Virginia, Iavaroni played four seasons overseas and joined the league at 26, then started 77 games as a rookie for the 1983 champion Philadelphia 76ers, averaging 5.8 points and 5.5 rebounds in the Finals sweep. San Antonio and then Utah followed, with the Jazz years running 1985 to 1989, before two more seasons in Italy and Spain closed his playing days in 1992.

The clipboard suited him. He assisted in Cleveland, ran player development in Miami, and spent five years beside Mike D'Antoni in Phoenix before Memphis named him head coach in 2007. Later came assistant posts in Toronto and with the Clippers.

HOW HE CAME & WENTSan Antonio traded him and Jeff Cook to Utah for Jeff Wilkins on February 15, 1986, when the Jazz needed rebounding. Mike Brown took his starting spot in March 1989, his contract expired that summer, and Utah made no effort to re-sign him.

Full name
Marcus John Iavaroni
Utah Jazz tenure
1985–89
Position
Forward
Born
1956, Jamaica, New York
Height
6′8″ (203 cm)
Weight
209 lb (95 kg)
College
Virginia
Drafted
1978, 3rd round, New York
Signatures in the archive
  • 1985-86 Utah Jazz Team-Signed Pennant
  • 1989-90 NBA Hoops #142 Utah Jazz

No photograph of this signature is online yet.

With the Jazz

MARC IAVARONI · 1985–89 · PER GAME
SEASONTEAMGMPGPPGRPGAPGSPGBPGFG%3P%FT%
1985–86UTA2613.34.03.01.10.40.1.444.688
1986–87UTA7810.83.62.20.50.20.1.465.000.672
1987–88UTA8115.34.53.30.80.30.3.464.000.788
1988–89UTA7710.32.31.70.40.10.2.442.000.818
JAZZ TOTAL4 SEASONS26212.33.52.50.60.20.2.458.000.733

Season by season, regular season, with this franchise only. More info: Basketball-Reference ↗  ·  Wikipedia ↗

Did you know

MARC IAVARONI · 6 NOTES
  • Started at forward for the 1983 championship 76ers alongside Julius Erving and Moses Malone.
  • Somewhere along the way the 6-foot-10 forward picked up the nickname Psycho, which followed him through the league.
  • His high school teammate on Long Island was Seth Greenberg, later a college head coach and television analyst.
  • By playing out his three-year contract in full, on the advice of his attorney David Falk, he became the first unrestricted free agent in franchise history.
  • He left Utah at 32 for AC Milan on a deliberately one-year contract, the idea being that he could come back to the NBA at 34.
  • Scott Layden, then the club's director of player personnel, said of losing him 'We'll miss his whole package — on the floor, off the floor, in practice.'