INDIANAPOLIS – Friday, the Indiana Pacers announced two new additions to new head coach Nate Bjorkgren’s coaching staff for the 2020-21 season. Kaleb Canales and Greg Foster were hired as assistant coaches. Additionally, Bill Bayno was retained as assistant coach. Per team policy, the terms of the contracts were not released.
Canales holds 12 years of experience as an NBA assistant coach. He spent the last two seasons as an assistant coach of the New York Knicks after five seasons with the Dallas Mavericks in the same role. Canales began his NBA career with the Portland Trail Blazers and spent nine years serving in various roles within the organization. He joined the Trail Blazers as a video intern in 2004 before becoming an assistant coach in 2008 and eventually serving as interim head coach during the 2011-12 season. Canales became the first Mexican-American head coach in NBA history and was elected into the National Hispanic Sports Hall of Fame in 2011.
Foster served as an assistant coach of the Atlanta Hawks during the last two seasons (2018-20) after spending four years as an assistant with the Milwaukee Bucks (2014-18). He began his NBA coaching career as a player development coach with the Philadelphia 76ers in 2013-14 after spending two seasons in the collegiate ranks at Texas-El Paso, his alma mater. Selected with the 35th overall pick in the 1990 NBA Draft, Foster played in 656 career games over 13 NBA seasons with the Washington Bullets, Atlanta Hawks, Milwaukee Bucks, Chicago Bulls, Minnesota Timberwolves, Utah Jazz, Seattle SuperSonics, Los Angeles Lakers and Toronto Raptors.
Bayno enters his fifth season as an assistant coach with the Pacers. The Pacers have recorded a 183-136 (.574) record during the regular season over the past four years and have reached the postseason in every season. Bayno previously served as an assistant with the Minnesota Timberwolves, Toronto Raptors and Portland Trail Blazers.