Wizards Announce Restructured Coaching Staff

WASHINGTON, DC – The Washington Wizards announced today their restructured coaching staff for the 2023-24 season under Head Coach Wes Unseld Jr.

“With the additions we’ve made during the offseason and the personnel that we have returning, I’m very confident that we have assembled a top-notch staff that will prioritize and facilitate internal growth and development for all of our players,” said Unseld Jr.  “We are all looking forward to working as a group as we begin training camp next week.”    

The Wizards added Brian Keefe and David Vanterpool as assistant coaches and Sammy Gelfand as assistant coach/analytics during the offseason, all of whom come to Washington with over 10 years of experience in the NBA. Keefe, Vanterpool and Gelfand will join returning staff Joseph Blair, Mike Miller, Zach Guthrie and James Posey.

Washington’s increased focus on player development will be led by Landon Tatum, who spent last season as associate head coach of the Capital City Go-Go.  He will be joined by player development assistants Ryan Lumpkin, Joe Ajike and Pete Fusilero. Daniel Villarreal will serve as Washington’s head video coordinator along with assistant video coordinator Addison Lee.

In other recent staff additions, Cody Toppert was named head coach of the Capital City Go-Go, the Wizards’ NBA G League affiliate.

Brian Keefe comes to Washington with 17 seasons of coaching experience, most recently as an assistant coach with the Brooklyn Nets during the 2022-23 season. In his NBA career, Keefe has spent time with the Oklahoma City Thunder as an assistant coach on two occasions (2019-20 and 2007-14), as well as an assistant coach with the Los Angeles Lakers (2016-19) and New York Knicks (2014-16). Keefe began his NBA career as a video coordinator with San Antonio from 2005-07 and was a staff member of the 2007 championship Spurs team. Keefe played collegiately for two seasons (1994-96) at UC Irvine, earning All-Big West Second Team honors as a sophomore. He then transferred to UNLV for his final two years of eligibility where he helped lead the Runnin’ Rebels to an NCAA Tournament berth in 1998.

David Vanterpool enters his first season with the Wizards after most recently spending the 2020-21 season as an assistant coach with the Brooklyn Nets. Prior to his time in Brooklyn, Vanterpool spent two seasons (2019-21) as associate head coach with the Minnesota Timberwolves and also served as an assistant coach with the Portland Trail Blazers for seven seasons (2012-19), where he was instrumental in the development of guards Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum. Before his time in Portland, Vanterpool held the role of director of pro personnel for the Oklahoma City Thunder for two seasons (2010-12). Prior to his NBA coaching career, Vanterpool spent three years (2007-10) as an assistant coach with CSKA Moscow, helping lead the team to three Russian League championships and the 2008 EuroLeague title. As a player, Vanterpool spent part of one NBA season (2000-01) with the Wizards during a 12-year professional career in which he played in Italy, China, Russia, the Continental Basketball Association and the American Basketball Association.

Sammy Gelfand enters his first season with the Wizards as assistant coach/analytics. Gelfand spent last season (2022-23) with the New Orleans Pelicans, serving as senior director of basketball analytics, where he was the team’s main resource for all statistical analysis. Before his time in New Orleans, Gelfand spent four seasons (2018-22) with the Detroit Pistons as director of coaching analytics and had a seven-year stint with the Golden State Warriors organization (two years in the NBA G League and five in the NBA), starting as the director of player personnel for the Santa Cruz Warriors before earning the title of basketball analytics manager for the Warriors and helping guide the team to three NBA Championships in 2015, 2017 and 2018.

Landon Tatum has been promoted to player development lead for the Wizards. Tatum served as the Wizards’ Summer League head coach in 2023 after spending the 2022-23 season as associate head coach of the Capital City Go-Go, helping the team to a combined 28-22 record and playoff appearance. Tatum has spent the past six years in various roles on the Wizards’ coaching staff. Prior to his role with the Go-Go, Tatum served as a player development manager where he specialized in on-court training, was a back-of-bench coach on Unseld Jr.’s staff in 2021-22 and also served in various video and coaching roles in his other seasons in Washington.

Cody Toppert joins Capital City after serving as an assistant men’s basketball coach at LSU last season and for the University of Memphis from 2019-22. He also has experience coaching on the professional level, serving as an assistant coach and director of player development for the Phoenix Suns during the 2018-19 season after stints in the NBA G League as head coach of the Northern Arizona Suns (2017-18) and assistant coach for the Rio Grande Valley Vipers (2015-17). He played professionally with his hometown Albuquerque Thunderbirds, earning an NBA D-League Championship in 2006 as well as eight seasons overseas in New Zealand, Portugal, Germany, Spain and Italy.