Rick Adelman, longtime NBA coach and Hall of Famer, dies at 79
Rick Adelman, longtime NBA coach and Hall of Famer, dies at 79
Ryan YoungMon, June 1, 2026 at 11:31 PM UTC
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Rick Adelman, seen here in 2013, died on Monday. He was 79. (Robyn Beck/AFP/Getty Images) (ROBYN BECK via Getty Images)
Longtime NBA coach and Hall of Famer Rick Adelman died on Monday, the National Basketball Coaches Association announced.
He was 79. Specifics of his death are not yet known.
Adelman spent seven years in the league as a player before jumping into coaching. He got his start with the San Diego Rockets in 1968, and he ended up averaging 7.7 points and 3.5 assists per game over the next seven seasons for several different teams before he retired after the 1974-75 campaign.
Adelman joined the Portland Trail Blazers staff as an assistant in 1983, and he ended up spending the next decade with the organization. After six years as an assistant coach, Adelman was hired for his first head coaching job in the league in 1988. He led the Trail Blazers to a pair of NBA Finals appearances, first in 1990 with Clyde Drexler, when they lost to the Detroit Pistons. They made it back two years later, but ended up falling to the Michael Jordan-led Chicago Bulls.
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After his split with the Trail Blazers, Adelman had a two-season run with the Golden State Warriors before he landed the head coaching job with the Sacramento Kings, the site of his longest NBA coaching stint. Adelman spent eight seasons with the Kings and got them to the playoffs in every campaign, which easily marked the longest stretch of sustained basketball success for the organization since they relocated to California. They reached the Western Conference finals once in that run. The Kings have been back to the postseason just a single time since Adelman left after the 2005-06 season, too.
“The Sacramento Kings are deeply saddened by the passing of former Head Coach Rick Adelman,” the team said in a statement. “Coach Adelman represented the very best of Sacramento basketball, and he will be remembered for the way he inspired those around him — with humility, integrity, kindness, and an unwavering belief in the power of teamwork.”
Adelman ended up spending seven more seasons coaching in the league, both with the Houston Rockets and Minnesota Timberwolves, before retiring for good in 2014. In total, he finished with a 1,042-749 record. He’s No. 10 on the league’s all-time wins list, and one of just 11 coaches in NBA history to surpass the 1,000-win mark.
Adelman was inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame as a coach in 2021. He was presented the Chuck Daly Lifetime Achievement Award by the NBCA in 2023, too.
Adelman had six children with his wife, Mary Kay. Their son, David, is the current head coach of the Denver Nuggets.
Source: “AOL Sports”
