Athletes - Rick Adelman

Home > Listing Index > Athletes > Rick Adelman

	Athletes - Rick Adelman

Richard Leonard Adelman (born June 16 1946 in Lynwood, California, United States) is a head basketball coach and former player in the National Basketball Association. He currently coaches the Sacramento Kings; previously in his career he has served as head coach of the Golden State Warriors and the Portland Trail Blazers.

Adelman began his basketball career as a collegiate star at Loyola Marymount University. In the 1968 NBA Draft, he was selected by the San Diego Rockets (now the Houston Rockets) in the 7th round. 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 retired from playing basketball in 1975.

From 1977 through to 1983, Adelman coached at Chemeketa Community College in Salem, Oregon, after which he was 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 1989 season (when poor team chemistry resulted in the team having a losing record), 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 in the finals); and went to the Western Conference finals (losing to the Los Angeles Lakers in 1991. Adelman spent two more years with the team, but was dismissed after the 1993-1994 season.

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.

After a year's absence from the sidelines; Adelman was hired by the Sacramento Kings in 1998, a position he still holds. Under Adelman's guidance, the Kings have been one of the more successful Western Conference teams in recent years, with several trips to the conference finals. The Kings have yet to advance to the NBA finals during Adelman's tenure, however. During the King's 2000 playoff run, they met Phil Jackson's Lakers. Adelman questioned Jackson's motivational techniques when it was learned that Jackson compared Adelman to Adolf Hitler.

In 2005, Adelman's name was mentioned as a possibility to replace Maurice Cheeks in Portland (where he still has family connections and still maintains a home). However, management of the Kings reportedly turned down a request from the Trail Blazers to interview Adelman.

Adelman is widely regarded around the league as a "player's coach", and is considered one of the more capable coaches in the NBA. However, he is sometimes criticized for being too hands-off; some NBA observers have suggested that Adelman's teams are not as fundamentally sound as their opponents. Adelman's defenders counter that his teams have often over-achieved--advancing deep into the playoffs without the benefit of a superstar such as a Michael Jordan or Shaquille O'Neal.

Adelman has a long association with Kings' general manager (and fellow ex-Trail Blazer) Geoff Petrie. Adelman's contract with the Kings expires at the end of the 2005-2006 season.

[ Visit the complete Wikipedia entry for Rick Adelman ]

This page is based on the copyrighted Wikipedia article Rick Adelman; it is used under the GNU Free Documentation License. You may redistribute it, verbatim or modified, providing that you comply with the terms of the GFDL.

Searches on eBay