George Irvine was a native Seattleite and graduated from Ballard High School in 1966 as a three-time letterman with two years on All-City basketball teams, and a spot on the Seattle Times list of 2nd Team All-Time High School Players from Seattle high schools.

Irvine moved on to the University of Washington, where he was named a Pacific 8 All-Conference Starter in his junior and senior years and led his team to a ninth place national ranking in 1969. In 2002, he was named to the Husky All Century Team. He was inducted into the Pac-12 Basketball Hall of Honor during the 2012 Pacific-12 Conference Men’s Basketball Tournament, March 10, 2012.

After college, Irvine was selected by the Seattle SuperSonics in the 1970 NBA draft, but chose to play with the team that drafted him in the ABA draft, the Virginia Squires. He played for the Squires for five seasons and then with the Denver Nuggets in 1975-76, the final year before the ABA-NBA merger.

Irvine began a coaching career began as an Assistant Coach with the Nuggets. He went on to be Head Coach of the Indiana Pacers (1984-86, 88) and Detroit Pistons (2000-2001). In total, he spent 25 years in the NBA as coach, scout, and front office employee. He has also coached his sons throughout their youth and high school careers.

In 2005, Irvine retired and returned home to Seattle. In 2010, his number 44 was retired as he joined Ballard’s Basketball Wall of Fame. He passed away in May of 2017.