The news of Michael Dunleavy, Sr., selling his Century City condominium is not exactly new. Last month, news reports stated the former Lakers and Clippers head coach had sold his unit in The Century for almost $7 million.
Coincidentally, with a little more than one month passing after the sale of the condominium, a source revealed to an NBA analyst with ESPN The Magazine that Dunleavy is a candidate for the currently vacant Los Angeles Lakers coaching job.
Realtor.com reported Dunleavy sold his condominium for $6.95 million in early April. The unit came on the market one year earlier with an asking price of $6.495 million.
The website reported Dunleavy purchased the condominium unit in 2012 for $4.5 million. When it was listed, the asking price reportedly hit a high of $7.2 million.
Reportedly an open floor plan with 4,660 square feet of space on the fourth floor of The Century, Dunleavy’s condominium unit was custom-made and featured four bedrooms and six bathrooms. Also included in the unit, according to Realtor.com, was a gourmet kitchen, living room, wet bar, floor-to-ceiling windows, and a master suite equipped with a private deck, “spa-like bath,” and “massive closet.”
A report on the sale in the Los Angeles Times stated the condominium unit also included a wine cellar and service entrance.
The Century, which is a 42-story high rise residence in Century City, also includes several community amenities including a fitness center with a spa treatment room, outdoor and private dining rooms, wine cellar, 75-foot pool with cabanas, screening room, and “culture lounge,” Realtor.com stated.
Dunleavy started his coaching career, which spanned 17 years, with the Lakers in 1990. In his first season as Lakers coach, he guided a Magic Johnson-led team to the 1991 NBA Finals. However, the Lakers lost in five games to the Chicago Bulls, which was coached then by Phil Jackson. It was Michael Jordan’s first of six NBA championships.
Prior to coaching the Lakers, Dunleavy, 60, was a player for the Philadelphia 76ers, Houston Rockets, San Antonio Spurs, and Milwaukee Bucks. When the Lakers hired a 36-year-old Dunleavy to replace then-head coach Pat Riley in 1990, he had just retired from the NBA as a player.
The Lakers won 58 games against 24 losses in Dunleavy’s first year as head coach. Almost five months after leading the Lakers to the Finals that year, Dunleavy’s Lakers suffered a major blow when Johnson announced he was HIV positive and retired from the NBA. The following season, the Lakers only won 43 of 82 games and were ushered out of the 1992 playoffs in the first round.
Dunleavy did not return to the Lakers for the 1992-93 season; he compiled a 101-63 regular season record during his two-year stint as Lakers head coach.
After coaching in Milwaukee and Portland between 1992 and 2001, Dunleavy returned to Los Angeles in 2003 to serve as head coach of the Clippers, where he also served as the team’s general manager. During a mediocre 2009-10 season, Dunleavy resigned as Clippers head coach. He has not coached anywhere since, though he remained with the Clippers a little while longer as a general manager.
At the end of the 2009-10 season, the Clippers relieved Dunleavy as general manager. According to several news reports, team owner Donald Sterling immediately stopped paying Dunleavy after letting him go; the former coach and general manager reportedly had $6.75 million remaining on his contract when he was relieved of his duties.
Dunleavy reportedly sued Sterling and the Clippers; in mid-2011, Dunleavy was reportedly awarded a $13 million judgment by an arbitrator.
Throughout his coaching career, Dunleavy has compiled 613 wins against 716 losses.
Dunleavy is reportedly up for the head-coaching job in New York, where Jackson, who has since won 10 championships – including 5 with the Lakers – since defeating his colleague in the 1991 NBA Finals, is currently serving as team president.
Mike Dunleavy, Jr., is currently playing for the Chicago Bulls.
