Lawrence Frank (born August 23, 1970 in New York City) is an American basketball coach. He currently is the head coach of the NBA's New Jersey Nets, and is the youngest head coach in the league, being a few months younger than Mike Brown of the Cleveland Cavaliers. Frank became the interim head coach of the New Jersey Nets on January 26, 2004, succeeding Byron Scott, after serving as an assistant coach with the team since the 2000-01 season.
Frank began his NBA coaching career by achieving a 13-0 record from January 27-February 24, 2004, which set a new NBA mark for the most consecutive wins by a head coach to begin a coaching career. The 13-game winning streak was also the longest winning streak of any coach in any of the four major professional sports to begin a career. During the streak, the Nets won six consecutive games on the road, which gave Frank the mark for the most wins by a head coach on the road at the outset of his coaching career.
A native of Teaneck, New Jersey, Frank graduated from Teaneck High School, but never made the school's basketball team. Popper, Steve. blank">"A Coach in Training, Even as a Teenager", _The New York Times, January 28, 2004. Accessed May 5, 2007. "Almost 20 years ago, Bruce Frank was the starting point guard for the Teaneck High School team, playing alongside the future N.B.A. player Tony Campbell. Frank was good enough to dream of playing in the N.B.A. himself someday and to earn a place in Howie Garfinkel's Five-Star Basketball Camp. The camp also held interest for Bruce Frank's younger brother, Lawrence, a 16-year-old who had been cut from the same Teaneck High team." Frank spent three seasons as an assistant coach for the Vancouver Grizzlies under Brian Hill. Hill would later serve as Frank's assistant with the New Jersey Nets. His responsibilities with the Grizzlies included scouting upcoming opponents as well as practice and bench coaching duties.
Prior to joining the Grizzlies, Frank served as an assistant coach at the University of Tennessee for three seasons under Head Coach Kevin O'Neill. Frank first worked with O'Neill as a staff assistant at Marquette University in 1992 and during his tenure, helped lead the Marquette Warriors to two NCAA tournament berths and a Sweet Sixteen appearance in 1994.
Frank earned his B.S. in education from Indiana University in 1992, where he spent four seasons as a manager for the Hoosier basketball team led by Bob Knight. He also holds an M.S. in education administration from Marquette. Lawrence and his wife, Susan, have two daughters, and reside in Ridgewood, New Jersey.
The Nets picked up Lawrence's option on June 6, 2006, and he is now under contract through the end of the 2007-08 season. An extension worth $10 million over 4 years.
