Rick Adelman named winner of Chuck Daly Lifetime Achievement Award

Rick Adelman, a Hall-of-Fame coach andone of only 10 coaches in NBA history to have won more than 1,000games, is the recipient of the 2023 Chuck Daly Lifetime AchievementAward, the National Basketball Coaches Association announcedtoday.

“Rick Adelman’s NBA coaching careerhas been highlighted by innovation, integrity, and excellence,”said Indiana Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle, who is also the NBCApresident. “His teams always played to their strengths, and Rickalways found subtle ways to reinvent NBA basketball to help hisplayers thrive. His quiet, unassuming nature belies his impact asone of the great NBA coaches of all time.”

“I am honored to receive the ChuckDaly Lifetime Achievement Award,” Adelman said. “To be includedwith the past winners is special. Chuck was a great coach andrespected by all those who coached against his teams. To receive anaward like this I have to thank all those who helped me along theway, in particular my assistant coaches and front offices. I wouldalso like to thank the players I had through the years. Theireffort and cooperation made everything I did possible. Good playersmake coaching much easier.

“This event makes me think of MichaelGoldberg, who was a big help to all coaches and especially to me.He was a good friend who I miss. Thanks to the National BasketballCoaches Association, Coach Rick Carlisle and David Fogel. I alsowant to thank the Selection Committee for presenting me with thishonor. I am grateful to all of those who made this possible,especially my wife Mary Kay and my family. Thank you.”

Adelman coached in the NBA for 29years, including 23 as a head coach for five different teams (thePortland Trail Blazers, Golden State Warriors, Sacramento Kings,Houston Rockets and Minnesota Timberwolves), amassing a 1,042-749(.582) career record. He led his teams – known for theirfree-flowing, read-and-react motion offenses – to the playoffs 16times, to the Conference Finals four times and to the NBA Finalstwice.

He played collegiately at LoyolaMarymount in Los Angeles and, as a senior in 1967-68, was votedWest Coast Athletic Conference Player of the Year. Drafted by theSan Diego Rockets in 1968, Adelman played seven seasons in theNBA.

Adelman began his coaching career atChemeketa Community College in Salem, Oregon, in 1977 where he ledhis teams to a 141-39 record and three conference championships insix years. It was while at Chemeketa in 1983 that he was hired bythe legendary coach Jack Ramsay as an assistant coach for theBlazers, a position he held until he was named head coach midwaythrough the 1988-89 season.

In his first full season as an NBAhead coach in 1989-90, Adelman led the Blazers to a 59-23 record,the Western Conference championship and a trip to the NBA Finals.Two years later, the Blazers were once again Western Conferencechampions and back in the NBA Finals. Under Adelman, Portland hadfour straight seasons of 50-plus wins, a record of 291-154 (.684)and were in the playoffs all six seasons.

Adelman coached the Warriors for the1995-96 and 1996-97 seasons before assuming the reins in Sacramentoin 1998. In eight seasons as head coach of the Kings, Adelman had a395-229 (.683) record, winning 50 games or more in five consecutiveseasons and taking the team to the playoffs each year.

In 2007, Adelman was named theRockets' head coach, leading Houston to back-to-back 50-plus winseasons in his first two years and a winning record in all fourseasons. Adelman closed out his coaching career with the MinnesotaTimberwolves, where his teams improved from 17 to 26 to 31 to 40wins in his three seasons at the helm.

In 2014, upon his retirement, Adelmanranked ninth all-time in both games coached (1,791) and games won(1,042). Today, he ranks 10th in games won and 13th on the all-timeplayoff wins list with 79. His teams had a total of 11 50-winseasons and two 60-plus win seasons. Adelman finished runner-up inCoach of the Year voting four times with three different teams(1990-91 with Portland, 2000-01 and 2001-02 with Sacramento and2008-09 with Houston) and was a three-time All-Star Game coach.

Adelman was inducted into the NaismithMemorial Basketball Hall of Fame as a coach in 2021. He wasinducted into the Loyola Marymount Hall of Fame in 1986 and wasnamed Oregon Sports Person of the Year in both 1990 and 1992. In2015, the West Coast Conference (formerly the WCAC) inducted himinto its Hall of Honor.

“Rick Adelman is widely respected forhis teaching, his tough-to-defend motion offenses, and his abilityto get players to buy into his philosophy,” said David Fogel, theNational Basketball Coaches Association's executive director andgeneral counsel. “His commitment to the game and his players isreflected in his career accomplishments and makes him a most worthyrecipient of this award. Congratulations to Coach Adelman on thisprestigious recognition.”

The National Basketball CoachesAssociation’s Chuck Daly Lifetime Achievement Award honors thememory of Hall-of-Fame coach Chuck Daly, who set a standard forintegrity, competitive excellence and tireless promotion of NBAbasketball. The award is determined annually by a SelectionCommittee comprised of some of the most respected coaches andbasketball executives in the game, including Bernie Bickerstaff,Billy Cunningham, Joe Dumars, Phil Jackson, Gregg Popovich, PatRiley, Donnie Walsh and Lenny Wilkens.

The prior recipients are Mike Fratello(2022), Larry Brown (2021), Del Harris (2020), Frank Layden (2019),Doug Moe (2018), Al Attles and Hubie Brown (2017), K.C. Jones andJerry Sloan (2016), Dick Motta (2015), Bernie Bickerstaff (2014),Bill Fitch (2013), Pat Riley (2012), Lenny Wilkens (2011), JackRamsay and Tex Winter (2010), and Tommy Heinsohn (2009).