Pacers News Release | July 30, 2010
The Indiana Pacers announced Wednesday that former NBA player Vitaly Potapenko has been hired as an assistant coach, completing Coach Jim O’Brien’s staff for the 2010-11 season.
Potapenko played in the NBA from 1996 to 2007 with Cleveland, Boston, Seattle and Sacramento before playing professionally in Spain in 2007-08. Last season he served as an assistant coach with the Fort Wayne Mad Ants of the National Basketball Association Development League.
“We are very pleased Vitaly is going to be part of our staff,” said Pacers Coach Jim O’Brien. “He was an extremely hard worker as a player and did a great job in Fort Wayne for our NBADL affiliate last year.”
“I’m definitely happy to be here working for Coach O’Brien and (assistant coach) Frank Vogel who I had the opportunity to play for in Boston,” said the 35-year-old Potapenko, a native of Kiev, USSR. “It’s great to be back in the Midwest where I went to college (Wright State) and it’s great to be in Indiana where basketball is so popular and the fans are so great.”