Rick Adelman

Richard Leonard Adelman (born June 16, 1946) is an American retired professional basketball player and coach. He coached 23 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He served as head coach of the Golden State Warriors, Portland Trail Blazers, Sacramento Kings, Houston Rockets and Minnesota Timberwolves.[1]

Rick Adelman
Adelman in 1970
Personal information
Born (1946-06-16) June 16, 1946
Lynwood, California
NationalityAmerican
Listed height6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Listed weight175 lb (79 kg)
Career information
High schoolSt. Pius X (Downey, California)
CollegeLoyola Marymount (1965–1968)
NBA draft1968 / Round: 7 / Pick: 79th overall
Selected by the San Diego Rockets
Playing career1968–1975
PositionPoint guard
Number12, 21, 5
Coaching career1977–2014
Career history
As player:
19681970San Diego Rockets
19701973Portland Trail Blazers
19731974Chicago Bulls
1974–1975New Orleans Jazz
1975Kansas City-Omaha Kings
As coach:
1977–1983Chemeketa CC
19831989Portland Trail Blazers (assistant)
19891994Portland Trail Blazers
19951997Golden State Warriors
19992006Sacramento Kings
20072011Houston Rockets
20112014Minnesota Timberwolves
Career highlights and awards
As player:

As coach:

Career playing statistics
Points3,579 (7.7 ppg)
Rebounds1,129 (2.4 rpg)
Assists1,606 (3.5 apg)
Stats  at NBA.com
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com
Career coaching record
NBA1042–749 (.582)

Early life and playing career

Adelman at Loyola University

Adelman was born in Lynwood, California, the son of Gladys (née Olsen) and Leonard Joseph "L. J." Adelman, who were from North Dakota and worked as teachers and farmers.[2] Adelman began his basketball career as a collegiate star at Loyola University of Los Angeles, now known as Loyola Marymount University.[3] In the 1968 NBA draft, he was selected by the San Diego Rockets (now the Houston Rockets) in the 7th round.[4] He played two seasons in San Diego before being taken by the expansion Trail Blazers in the 1970 expansion draft; he then played three seasons in Portland. He also played for the Chicago Bulls, New Orleans (now Utah) Jazz, and the Kansas City/Omaha (now Sacramento) Kings. He ended his playing career in 1975.

Coaching career

Chemeketa Community College

From 1977 through to 1983, Adelman coached at Chemeketa Community College in Hayesville, Oregon.

Portland Trail Blazers

He was then hired by the Portland Trail Blazers (then coached by Jack Ramsay) as an assistant. When Ramsay was fired and replaced with Mike Schuler in 1986, Adelman was retained; when Schuler was in turn fired during the 1988–89 season, Adelman was promoted to interim coach. After leading the team into the playoffs that year (despite a 39–43 record), Adelman was given the coaching position on a full-time basis in the 1989 off-season.

The next three years were quite successful for Adelman and the Trail Blazers; the team went to the NBA Finals in 1990 and 1992 (losing to the Detroit Pistons and the Chicago Bulls respectively) and went to the Western Conference finals in 1991 (losing to the Los Angeles Lakers). Adelman spent two more years with the team, but was dismissed after the 1993–1994 season.

Golden State Warriors

In 1995, Adelman was hired as the head coach of the Golden State Warriors. He was unable to duplicate his success in Portland, and was fired after only two years with the team.

Sacramento Kings

After a year's absence from the sidelines, Adelman was hired by the Sacramento Kings in 1998. Under Adelman's guidance, the Kings were one of the most successful teams in the Western Conference, qualifying for the playoffs every year of his Sacramento career.

During the Kings' 2000 playoff run, they met Phil Jackson's Los Angeles Lakers. Adelman questioned Jackson's motivational techniques when it was learned that Jackson compared Adelman to Adolf Hitler.[5]

In 2002, the Kings made a serious run for the NBA Finals. After clinching the first seed in the competitive Western Conference, the Kings blazed through the opening two rounds but lost to the Lakers in a controversial series with noticeably lopsided officiating in favor of the Lakers.[6]

In 2006, Adelman (in the final year of his contract) led the Kings to the playoffs. Despite the team struggling early in the regular season, the Kings rebounded and qualified for the playoffs as the #8 seed. Although competitive, they were defeated 4–2 by the defending champion San Antonio Spurs. Adelman's contract with the Kings expired at the end of the 2005–2006 season. On May 9, it was reported by the Sacramento Bee that his contract would not be renewed. The Kings have yet to reach the playoffs since.

Houston Rockets

The Houston Rockets brought in Rick Adelman as their new head coach, five days after the dismissal of Jeff Van Gundy, on May 18, 2007. Van Gundy had taken the Rockets to three playoff appearances in four years with no series wins. In his first season as head coach, Adelman guided the Rockets to a 22-game winning streak from January through March 2008, the third-longest winning streak in NBA history.

In the 2009 season, the Rockets finished 5th in the West with a 53–29 record. They entered the playoffs without their star shooting guard, Tracy McGrady, due to an injury. Despite this loss, the Rockets defeated the Portland Trail Blazers in six games to advance to the Western Conference Semifinals for the first time since 1997. However, they lost to the Los Angeles Lakers, but surprised many people and proved their resilience by taking the series to seven games even though their star center, Yao Ming, had a season-ending injury in Game 3 of that series.

Adelman won his 800th career game, 13th among coaches in NBA history, on March 24, 2008 against his old team the Sacramento Kings.[7]

On April 18, 2011, Houston Chronicle reported that the Houston Rockets would not give Adelman a new contract, and would part ways after 4 seasons.[8]

Minnesota Timberwolves

On September 13, 2011, the Minnesota Timberwolves confirmed the hiring of Rick Adelman as their new coach.[9]

On April 6, 2013, Adelman won his 1000th career game with a victory over the Detroit Pistons, becoming just the 8th coach in NBA history ever to do so. Adelman's victory came in front of a home crowd of 15,311, including his wife, Mary Kay, whom he promptly joined after the game to celebrate the occasion. The win came 24 years, 1 month, and 11 days after his first win with the Trail Blazers (February 26, 1989).[10]

On April 21, 2014, Adelman announced his retirement from coaching in the NBA. It was also announced that he would stay with the Timberwolves as a consultant.[1] Adelman ranks ninth in terms of games coached and games won. Despite these accomplishments, he went just 79–78 (.503) in playoff games and advanced to the NBA Finals twice, both times with the Portland Trail Blazers in 1990 and 1992 where they lost to the Detroit Pistons and Chicago Bulls.

Head coaching record

Legend
Regular season G Games coached W Games won L Games lost W–L % Win–loss %
Playoffs PG Playoff games PW Playoff wins PL Playoff losses PW–L % Playoff win–loss %
Team Year G W L W–L% Finish PG PW PL PW–L% Result
Portland 1988–89 351421.4005th in Pacific303.000 Lost in First Round
Portland 1989–90 825923.7202nd in Pacific21129.571 Lost in NBA Finals
Portland 1990–91 826319.7681st in Pacific1697.563 Lost in Conf. Finals
Portland 1991–92 825725.6951st in Pacific21138.619 Lost in NBA Finals
Portland 1992–93 825131.6223rd in Pacific413.250 Lost in First Round
Portland 1993–94 824735.5734th in Pacific413.250 Lost in First Round
Golden State 1995–96 823646.4396th in Pacific Missed Playoffs
Golden State 1996–97 823052.3667th in Pacific Missed Playoffs
Sacramento 1998–99 502723.5403rd in Pacific523.400 Lost in First Round
Sacramento 1999–00 824438.5375th in Pacific523.400 Lost in First Round
Sacramento 2000–01 825527.6712nd in Pacific835.375 Lost in Conf. Semifinals
Sacramento 2001–02 826121.7441st in Pacific16106.625 Lost in Conf. Finals
Sacramento 2002–03 825923.7201st in Pacific1275.583 Lost in Conf. Semifinals
Sacramento 2003–04 825527.6712nd in Pacific1275.583 Lost in Conf. Semifinals
Sacramento 2004–05 825032.6102nd in Pacific514.200 Lost in First Round
Sacramento 2005–06 824438.5374th in Pacific624.333 Lost in First Round
Houston 2007–08 825527.6713rd in Southwest624.333 Lost in First Round
Houston 2008–09 825329.6542nd in Southwest1376.538 Lost in Conf. Semifinals
Houston 2009–10 824240.5123rd in Southwest Missed Playoffs
Houston 2010–11 824339.5245th in Southwest Missed Playoffs
Minnesota 2011–12 662640.3945th in Northwest Missed Playoffs
Minnesota 2012–13 823151.3785th in Northwest Missed Playoffs
Minnesota 2013–14 824042.4883rd in Northwest Missed Playoffs
Career 1,7911,042749.5821577978.503

References

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