Hall of Fame
Hollins was born in Arkansas City, Kan., and raised in Las Vegas. Lionel spent two years as the starting point guard for the Rebels from 1971-1973 and was named to the All-Conference and NJCAA All-American teams.
Following his days at Dixie, he completed and received a bachelor’s degree from Arizona State University and was named First Team All-American by the Sporting News Magazine.
In 1975, he was the first-round pick of the Portland Trailblazers, picked sixth in the NBA draft. After 4 1/2 years with the Trailblazers, which included an NBA Championship and an appearance in the 1978 All-Star Game, he was traded to the Philadelphia 76ers, then to the San Diego Clippers and spent his last two years mentoring up-and-coming players with the Detroit Pistons and Houston Rockets. During his NBA career he was named to the First Team All-Rookie squad (1976), First Team All-Defense (1977), West All-Star team (1978), and started at point guard in three NBA Finals appearances (1977, 1981, 1982).
Lionel’s head coach at Dixie, Doug Allred said about Hollins, “He is a tremendous talent and he lets everyone around him feel as though they are part of it!”
Allred continued by quoting an NBA television commentator who recently referred to coach Lionel Hollins as a person who made a living playing smart, and as a coach he expects his players to do the same.
He is currently the head coach of the Memphis Grizzlies and was previously an assistant coach of the Phoenix Suns and the Vancouver Grizzlies. He led the Grizzlies to the postseason in two consecutive years, has coached in one NBA Finals (1993) and assisted in two All-Star Games (1993 & 1995).
He and his wife, the former Angie Dyton, are the parents of three sons and one daughter.
