Coaching Career
Mark Price began his coaching career during the 1998-99 basketball season as a community coach under head coach and friend Joe Marelle at Duluth High School for the varsity boys team. After Marelle discovered he had non-Hodgkins lymphoma, Price became a primary factor in the team's return trip to the final four of the class 5A GHSA state tournament. It was the first time Duluth High School returned to this point in the state tournament in 16 years. Price then went on to be an assistant coach to Bobby Cremins at Georgia Tech during the 1999-2000 season.
After Cremins retired from coaching at Georgia Tech, Price then went on the following year to be the head coach at Whitefield Academy in Atlanta for the 2000-01 season leading the team to a 27-5 record and the final eight teams of the state Class A tournament, a 20 win improvement over the prior season and 27 win improvement two seasons before Price arrived. NBA player Josh Smith also played at Whitefield Academy the same season Price was coach.
In 2003, Price was a consultant for the NBA's Denver Nuggets before moving on to become a NBA television analyst and color commentator for both the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Atlanta Hawks.
In March 2006, Price was named the inaugural head coach of the Australian NBL's South Dragons, a new franchise for the 2006–07 season, before being fired after the team stumbled to a 0-5 start. The coaching job was later taken over by player Shane Heal, in a controversial decision made by majority owner Mark Cowan. Heal was fired the following year after the Dragons finished last in the NBL for the 2007-08 season.
Price was the shooting consultant for the Memphis Grizzlies for the 2007-08 season and named the shooting coach for the Atlanta Hawks for the 2008-2009 and 2009-2010 seasons. Price helped to improve the Hawks offensive output in their first return to the Eastern Conference Semi-Finals in nearly 10 years during the 2009 NBA Playoffs. Price also trains other NBA players in partnership with the Suwanee Sports Academy, one of the largest basketball training facilities in the United States, during the basketball off-season in Atlanta specializing in shooting and point guard skills.
Price is credited with helping Boston Celtics point guard Rajon Rondo improve his jump shot. Rondo's scoring was a key factor in the Celtics reaching the 2010 NBA Finals, where they pushed the Los Angeles Lakers to a full seven game series. For the 2010-2011 season, Price joined the Golden State Warriors as an assistant coach with the primary task of improving the Warriors shooting and free throw percentages.
Price was a key factor in developing the overall teaching philosophy for On Court Player Development – a basketball skill development and character building program – in 2006 held at the Suwanee Sports Academy. The academy is also home to the Mark Price Shooting Lab.
In December 2011, Price was hired as a player development coach for the Orlando Magic.
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