It took some time, but Zach Guthrie has finally returned to his Texas roots.
Guthrie was hired Monday by the Dallas Mavericks to become an assistant on head coach Rick Carlisle’s staff after he spent the last five seasons with the Utah Jazz under coach Quin Snyder. The 32-year old replaces Stephen Silas, who left the Mavs on Oct. 30 to become the head coach of the Houston Rockets.
Born in San Antonio, Guthrie graduated from the McCombs School of Business at the University of Texas in 2010. And he got his start in the pro basketball arena in 2007 as a basketball operations intern with the Austin Toros of the NBA D League, where he worked through the 2009-10 season.
The head coach of the Toros at the time was Snyder, who told Jazz reporters in November of his high praise for Guthrie.
“Zach’s development is something I’ve seen over a longer period of time, because you always knew he had a passion for the game,” Snyder said. “When I was in Austin he was an assistant for me and he kind of made himself an assistant.
“When I was in Russia (as an assistant coach for CSKA Moscow from 2012-13), Zach was someone that I talked to all the time. He’s grown as a coach. . .Every time I’ve asked more of him, not only has he been able to do it, but he’s excelled at it.”
Guthrie served in a variety of positions on Snyder’s staff with the Jazz, starting off as a basketball strategy and technology manager before becoming one of his most reliable and confident voices on the bench. He also has been a coach for Utah’s summer league team in Las Vegas.
In addition, Guthrie worked as the assistant video coordinator for the San Antonio Spurs (2011-12) and was the advanced scouting manager for the Orlando Magic (2012-15).
Meanwhile, basketball has always been a part of Guthrie’s DNA since his father, Bruce, worked for the Spurs for 26 years, including as the vice-president of marketing.
“He’s got a really creative mind and I think he’ll just continue to get better and better,” Snyder said of Zach Guthrie. “I know he’s someone when you look at him you can really project him as a head coach in the league at some point.”
Twitter: @DwainPrice
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