Yao Ming s former teammate joins the Trail Blazers! Percy serves as assistant coach for Billups: Help Yang Hansen grow

On July 11, the Portland Trail Blazers officially announced that the team has appointed James Percy as the team's assistant coach and will join the coach Changsey Billups' coaching staff. It is worth mentioning that Percy was once a teammate during Yao Ming's Rockets period, and he will help Yang Hansen grow in the new season.

The Trail Blazers official said that Percy joined the Trail Blazers with 25 years of NBA player and coaching experience. He has won two NBA championships (2006 and 2008) as a player and has also won one championship as an assistant coach (2016). Percy played for the Phoenix Suns in the 2024-25 season, after serving as an assistant coach of the Washington Wizards for two seasons (2022-24), and is now in Portland. From 2014 to 19, he served as assistant coach of the Cleveland Cavaliers, during which the team reached the NBA Finals four consecutive times in 2015-18 and won the NBA championship in 2016.

Persey also served as an assistant coach for the University of Virginia women's basketball team from 2021-22. His boss was Tina Thompson, the current Trail Blazers scout. His coaching career began in the 2013-14 season, when he worked for the Canton Stormtroopers in the NBA Development League. As a player, the Xavier University graduate played 864 games in his career, playing for the Denver Nuggets (with Billups in 1999-00), the Houston Rockets (with Yao Ming in 2002-03), the Memphis Grizzlies, Miami Heat, Boston Celtics, New Orleans Hornets and Indiana Pacers, and won two NBA championships with the Miami Heat in 2006 and the Boston Celtics in 2008. During his 2022-23 season, he played for the Rockets, 47 of which started, and averaged 9.8 points, 4.8 rebounds, 1.8 assists and 1.3 steals per game.