Tuomas Iisalo was born on 29 July 1982 and is a Finnish professional basketball coach and former player who is the interim head coach of the Memphis Grizzlies in the NBA.
15 Facts About Tuomas Iisalo
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Tuomas Iisalo previously served as an assistant coach of the Grizzlies under Taylor Jenkins.
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Tuomas Iisalo was voted the Coach of the Year in Finland in 2024 by the Finnish sports journalists.
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Tuomas Iisalo grew up in Loviisa and played in a youth team of local club Hokki Basket.
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Tuomas Iisalo started his senior playing career in 2000 with Kouvot in Korisliiga.
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Tuomas Iisalo won the Finnish Cup with Kouvot in 2009.
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In May 2021, Tuomas Iisalo inked a two-year deal with fellow Bundesliga side Telekom Baskets Bonn.
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Taylor Jenkins 8.
Tuomas Iisalo helped the Bonn team to a trip to the 2023 Bundesliga finals, where they eventually fell short to Ulm.
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In December 2023, Tuomas Iisalo was named the head coach of the Team World in the LNB All-Star Game.
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On 6 April 2024, Tuomas Iisalo was voted the EuroCup Coach of the Year, leading Paris to the 2024 EuroCup Finals with a record-tying 20 wins and only one loss, with the highest team average in the EuroCup history.
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Tuomas Iisalo led Paris to the LNB Pro A Finals in June 2024.
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On 8 July 2024, the Memphis Grizzlies of the National Basketball Association named Tuomas Iisalo as assistant coach, responsible for the team's offense, making him the first Finnish-born coach in the NBA.
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In late June 2024, Tuomas Iisalo was one of the coach lecturers in the Dusan Ivkovic Basketball Coaching Clinic in Belgrade, Serbia, teaching offense through variable big men and speaking about the evolution of his pick and roll defence.
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Tuomas Iisalo's father worked as a foreign correspondent in East Berlin in the 1980s.
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Tuomas Iisalo's younger brother Joonas is a professional basketball coach.