Kameron Woods named Oklahoma City Blues head coach
THE CITY OF OKLAHOMA, September 23, 2022 – The Oklahoma City Thunder have named Chip Engelland and Grant Gibbs assistant coaches, the team announced today. Engelland and Gibbs join current Thunder assistants Dave Bliss, Mike Wilks and David Akinyooye, along with assistant coach/player development Eric Maynor and assistant coach/program development Connor Johnson, on the coaching staff -Chief Mark Daigneault. Additionally, Kameron Woods was named the head coach of the Oklahoma City Blue.
Engelland joins the Thunder with 23 years of NBA coaching experience. He spent the last 17 seasons with the Spurs as an assistant coach, where he won two NBA championships (2007, 2014). The California native began his coaching career as a shooting analyst for the Detroit Pistons before spending two seasons for the Nuggets as director of player development. A graduate of Duke University, Engelland played four seasons for the Blue Devils, becoming team captain in his senior year. He also enjoyed a nine-year professional playing career in the Philippines, Canada and the ABC.
Gibbs joins the Thunder bench after serving as Les Bleues head coach for the past three seasons. He becomes the third Blues head coach to join the Thunder coaching staff. In the 2021-22 season, Gibbs helped lead the Blues to the league game in the first year of the G League Showcase Championship Cup. He joined the original Thunder organization as an assistant coach for the Blues in 2017 after a three-year international playing career that included stints in the Netherlands and Germany. Gibbs enjoyed a successful college playing career at Gonzaga and later at Creighton where he served as team captain.
Woods is set to take over the Blues head coaching duties after spending the past four seasons with the organization, most recently as assistant coach of the Thunder. The Butler product played two seasons with Les Bleues (2015-2017) before starting his coaching career. Last July, Woods served as head coach of the Thunder’s summer league team where he led Oklahoma City to a 5-3 record in summer league competition in Salt Lake City and Vegas.