Gary Kloppenburg enters his fourth season as a Fever assistant coach. He was re-united with Lin Dunn, with whom he served for three seasons on the staff of the Seattle Storm from 2000-02, when he joined the Fever staff in 2008. Since his arrival, he has helped Indiana to three straight playoff appearances while remaining one of the WNBA’s top defensive units.

Regarded for his expertise on the defensive end of the floor, Kloppenburg was previously on the staff of the NBA’s Charlotte Bobcats where he served with Bernie Bickerstaff for three seasons. He was hired by Bickerstaff when the Bobcats were founded in 2004 – continuing a family bond established when Bickerstaff was in college, and strengthened when Gary’s father Bob coached in the NBA with Bickerstaff in Seattle and Denver.

Kloppenburg has coached at virtually every level of college and professional basketball, ranging from his beginnings at a California community college and intertwined with jobs in the NBA, WNBA, Continental Basketball Association and internationally.

Prior to joining the Bobcats’ staff as an assistant coach and advance scout, he was an assistant with the WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury for one season after three years with Dunn in Seattle. He worked for the NBA’s Toronto Raptors from 1997-99 after two seasons as an assistant coach and assistant director of player personnel in the CBA – first with the Rockford Lightning and then for the Quad City Thunder. Kloppenburg was the interim head coach for four games in 1999-00 with Rockford where he coached former NBA star Earl Boykins.

In the summer of 1999, he was head coach for Panteras de Miranda of the Venezuelan Professional League, and he has conducted basketball clinics in Greece, Belgium, Iceland and Japan.

After graduating from UC San Diego in 1981, his coaching career began at Lassen Community College (Calif.) where he had successful stints as head coach with both the men’s and women’s teams. He guided the women’s team for five seasons before taking over the men’s program for six.

Also fluent in Spanish, Kloppenburg was born Jan. 6, 1953, and has three children – Sonja, Ian and Carlotta.