Robert William Weiss (born May 7, 1942) is an American former professional basketball player and coach.

Early life and education

Weiss was born on May 7, 1942, in Easton, Pennsylvania. He played high school basketball at Athens Area High School in Athens, Pennsylvania.

College career and statistics

Weiss played college basketball at Penn State University from 1963 to 1965, where he averaged 16.3 points per game during his senior season.

National Basketball Association

Philadelphia 76ers

Weiss was selected by the Philadelphia 76ers in the 1965 NBA draft in the third round with the 22nd overall selection. Weiss interspersed his career with the 76ers with a short stint in the Eastern Professional Basketball League, where he played for the Wilmington Blue Bombers in Wilmington, Delaware. He led the EBL in assists in the 1966–67 season and was named to the EBL All-Star First Team that season. In 1967, Weiss was a member of the Philadelphia 76ers' championship team.

Seattle SuperSonics

In the 1967 NBA Expansion Draft, he was selected by the Seattle SuperSonics. Weiss played in the NBA for twelve seasons, including six with the Chicago Bulls.

NBA career statistics

Regular season

Playoffs

Coaching career

NBA

After retiring as a player in 1977, Weiss briefly worked for an investment firm in Anaheim, California. In 1978, he joined the San Diego Clippers as an assistant coach. In 1980, he moved to the Dallas Mavericks, an expansion franchise. After six years in Dallas, Weiss accepted his first head coaching job in 1986 with the San Antonio Spurs. He coached the Spurs for two seasons, never posting a winning record. He did, however, lead them to the playoffs in 1988. After one year as an assistant with the Orlando Magic, Weiss moved to the Atlanta Hawks as head coach. In three seasons, his Hawks teams posted a record of 124–122 and made the playoffs twice. Weiss left the Hawks in 1993. He spent one year as head coach of the Los Angeles Clippers before joining the SuperSonics as an assistant coach. He served in that post for 12 years under both George Karl and Nate McMillan, going to the NBA Finals in 1996. He was promoted to head coach in 2005 after McMillan left for the Portland Trail Blazers. However, Weiss did not last even one season, as the Sonics struggled to a losing record. After a 13–17 start to the 2005–06 season, his three-year deal was terminated on January 3, 2006, and he was replaced with Bob Hill.

China

In 2008, Weiss went to China to coach the Shanxi Brave Dragons in the Chinese Basketball Association. He also coached for the Shandong Lions.

Return to NBA

In 2012, Weiss joined the Atlanta Hawks' coaching staff. The next year, he became an assistant with the Charlotte Bobcats. In 2017, he was hired by the Denver Nuggets as an assistant coach.

Head coaching record