Photo: GabboT / CC BY-SA 2.0 (source: Wikimedia Commons)
My Take
Paul Westphal's arc is one of basketball's great full circles: he won a 1974 title with Boston, then returned to the Finals in 1976 against those same Celtics in a Phoenix uniform. What draws me to him is that he refused to be only a player, moving on to coach and to commentate, wringing every angle out of the game he clearly loved. A guard with that much craft tends to see the floor like a chessboard, and I suspect his analysis carried real authority. His death in 2021 closed a life lived entirely inside the sport, and I'd have given a lot to hear him break down a game in person.
Overview
Paul Douglas Westphal (November 30, 1950 – January 2, 2021) was an American basketball player and coach. Westphal played in the National Basketball Association (NBA) from 1972 to 1984. Playing the guard position, he won an NBA championship with the Boston Celtics in 1974. Westphal played in the NBA Finals again in 1976 as a member of the Phoenix Suns, in a loss to the Celtics.
Summary adapted from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
1. Profile
- Name (English)
- Paul Westphal
- Name (Japanese)
- ポール・ウェストファル
- Reading
- ぽーる・うぇすとふぁる
- Born
- November 30, 1950 – January 2, 2021
- Zodiac / Chinese zodiac
- Sagittarius / Tiger
- Origin
- Torrance, California, United States
- Blood type
- Private
- Height
- 193 cm
- Agency
- Private
- Occupation
- basketball player / basketball coach / sports commentator / head coach
2. Background
- Elementary school
- Private
- Junior high
- Private
- High school
- Aviation High School
- University
- University of Southern California
3. Relationships
- Spouse
- Private
- Children
- Private
- Parents
- Private
- Siblings
- Private
4. Personality
Motto
Private
6. Links
Basketball player — see all → · Basketball coach — see all → · More people from United States →
7. About this entry
Tags
- Last updated
- 2026-06-02
Facts are limited to publicly available information up to 2024; non-public items are marked "Private / Unknown". English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.