National Basketball Association head coach Rick Adelman of Lynwood, California passed away at the age of 79 on Monday according to Jeremy Brener of Yahoo! Sports. Adelman is 10th all-time in regular season wins among NBA head coaches with 1042.
Adelman coached five NBA franchises. He was with the Portland Trail Blazers from 1988 to 1994, the Golden State Warriors from 1995 to 1997, the Sacramento Kings from 1998 to 2006, the Houston Rockets from 2007 to 2011, and the Minnesota Timberwolves from 2011 to 2014.
In the regular season, Adelman had a winning percentage of .582 in 1791 games. In the playoffs, Adelman was also above the .500 mark. He had a postseason record of 79 wins and 78 losses for a winning percentage of .503. Adelman’s 79 playoff wins are 14th all-time among coaches.
Twice Adelman reached the NBA Finals. The first time came in 1990 as the Trail Blazers lost in five games to the Detroit Pistons. The second time came in 1992 as the Trail Blazers lost in six games to the Chicago Bulls. Among the notable players Adelman coached over the years included Clyde Drexler, Chris Webber and Yao Ming. Adelman was inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 2021.
As a player, Adelman played seven seasons in the NBA from 1968 to 1975. He played with the San Diego Rockets (1968 to 1970), the Trail Blazers (1970 to 1973), the Chicago Bulls for one full season (1973 to 1974), and with the Bulls, New Orleans Jazz and the Kansas City/Omaha Kings during the 1974-75 season. Adelman averaged 7.7 points per game in 462 regular season games. Rick Adelman was the father of current Denver Nuggets head coach David Adelman.
