The following is a list of general managers, head coaches, and assistant coaches of Asian heritage in sports leagues in the United States and Canada, including the Big Four, other professional leagues and the collegiate NCAA. Some of the appointments listed below made into the list of Asian-American firsts.
Existing Asian coaches reflect that problems of race and sports especially "Asian stereotypes exist at all levels of basketball", which contributes to a factor why there has been a lack of Asian coaches in NCAA basketball. [1] The Asian Coaches Association is the most prominent association representing the causes of Asian basketball coaches. [1]
Women of Asian heritage coaching men's teams in particular encounter stereotypes. In 1998, Kim Ng recalled "she has been treated with kid gloves since being named an assistant GM with the Yankees." [2]
Name | Title | League | Club | From | Until | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Dave Yanai | Head coach | NAIA / NCAA D-II Basketball | Cal State Dominguez Hills Toros and Cal State Los Angeles Golden Eagles | 1977 | 2005 | [3] |
Erik Spoelstra | Assistant coach | NBA | Miami Heat | 1997 | April 2008 | Filipino descent from mother's side [4] [5] |
Kim Ng † | Asst. General Manager | MLB | New York Yankees | March 1998 | 2001 | [6] [7] |
Kim Ng † | Asst. General Manager | MLB | Los Angeles Dodgers | 2002 | March 2011 | [8] |
Erik Spoelstra | Head coach | NBA | Miami Heat | April 2008 | present * | First Filipino head coach [4] [5] |
Don Wakamatsu | Field manager | MLB | Seattle Mariners | November 2008 | August 2010 | First field manager of Asian descent in Major League Baseball [9] [10] |
Rich Cho | General manager | NBA | Portland Trail Blazers | July 2010 | May 2011 | First Asian G.M. in Big Four leagues [11] |
Rich Cho | General manager | NBA | Charlotte Hornets | June 2011 | February 2018 | [12] |
Norm Chow | Head coach | NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision | Hawaii Rainbow Warriors | December 2011 | November 2015 | [13] |
Matt Okada | Associate Head Coach | NCAA D-II Basketball | Dominican Penguins | August 2021 | present * | [14] [15] |
Asami Morita | Head Coach | NCAA D-II Basketball | Westminster Griffins | May 2023 | present * | First full Japanese head coach of an NCAA or four-year program [16] |
Jonathan Yim | Player Development Coach | NBA | Portland Trail Blazers | 2013 | 2021 | [17] |
Shenton Wai | Asst. coach | NCAA D-I Basketball | UTSA Roadrunners | June 2015 | March 2016 | [18] [19] |
Dave Roberts | Field manager | MLB | Los Angeles Dodgers | November 2015 | present * | First field manager of Asian heritage to lead team to the World Series |
Jeff Hironaka | Head coach | NCAA D-II Basketball | Seattle Pacific Falcons and Colorado Christian Cougars | 2002 | March 2020 | [20] [21] |
Bobby Webster | General manager | NBA | Toronto Raptors | June 2017 | present* | Japanese descent from mother's side; only NBA G.M. presently* of Asian heritage [22] |
Natalie Nakase † | Asst. coach | NBA | Los Angeles Clippers | August 2018 | present * | [23] |
Don Wakamatsu | Field manager (interim) | MLB | Texas Rangers | September 2018 | October 2018 | [24] |
Mike Magpayo | Head coach | NCAA D-I Basketball | UC Riverside Highlanders | July 2020 | present * | First NCAA Division I head coach of Asian heritage [25] |
Rex Walters | Assistant Coach | NBA Basketball | New Orleans Pelicans | 2020 | present * | First NCAA Division I half-Japanese (half German) player for Northwestern University and University of Kansas Final Four Team (1992-1993) and a draft pick of New Jersey Nets in 1993 NBA Draft. Coached San Francisco Dons, assistant coach with Detroit Pistons. [26] |
Kim Ng † | General manager | MLB | Miami Marlins | November 2020 | present * | First female G.M. (irrespective of ethnicity) in Big Four leagues [27] |
Marcus Freeman | Head Coach | NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision | Notre Dame Fighting Irish | December 2021 | present * | Korean descent from mother's side. First NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision head coach of Korean heritage [28] [29] |
Kimberly J. Ng is an American executive in Major League Baseball. She is the former general manager of the Miami Marlins. She was the first woman to serve as general manager of a team in the Big Four leagues in North America and the first person of East Asian descent to serve as general manager of an MLB team.
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Wilbur Donald Wakamatsu is an American former professional baseball player, scout, coach, and manager. Wakamatsu was drafted in the 11th round of the 1985 Major League Baseball draft by the Cincinnati Reds. He played as a catcher in Major League Baseball for the Chicago White Sox. He served as the bench coach of the Texas Rangers from 2018 through 2021. He was hired as bench coach of the Kansas City Royals for the 2014 season. He was the manager of the Seattle Mariners for the 2009 season, as well as the majority of the 2010 season. He was the Toronto Blue Jays' bench coach for 2011 and 2012, after which he was replaced by DeMarlo Hale. During the 2013 season he worked as a scout for the New York Yankees in the Dallas/Fort Worth area. He is currently the first-ever executive vice president of baseball operations with the Oakland Ballers.
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University of Chicago graduate Kim Ng says she has been treated with kid gloves since being named an assistant GM with the Yankees. 'People used to apologize for swearing in front of me – until they realized I probably swear more than them,' she said.