Rick Adelman

Richard Leonard Adelman (June 16, 1946 – June 1, 2026) was an American professional basketball player and coach. He coached 23 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA), serving as head coach of the Portland Trail Blazers, Golden State Warriors, Sacramento Kings, Houston Rockets, and Minnesota Timberwolves. He was inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Massachusetts, in the class of 2021. As a coach he won 1,042 games, which at the time of his death was the tenth-highest in league history. Adelman never won a title, but led many of his teams to deep runs in the playoffs including two trips to the NBA Finals with Portland.

Early life and playing career

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. He began his basketball career in high school at Pius X High School in Downey, California, then matriculated to collegiate stardom at Loyola University of Los Angeles, now known as Loyola Marymount University. In the 1968 NBA draft, he was selected by the San Diego Rockets in the 7th round. He played two seasons in San Diego before being taken by the expansion Portland Trail Blazers in the 1970 expansion draft. After three seasons with Portland, Adelman played for the Chicago Bulls, New Orleans Jazz, and the Kansas City/Omaha Kings before retiring in 1975.

Coaching career

Chemeketa Community College From 1977 to 1983, Adelman coached at Chemeketa Community College in Salem, 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 After a year sidelined from the sidelines, Adelman was hired as the head coach of the Golden State Warriors on May 19, 1995, fresh off the heels of an injury-riddled 26-win season prior to his hiring. He was unable to have a winning season in two years there, with his first season seeing the team win just ten of their last 28 games on their way to a 36–46 record.

The team finished last in the division with 30 wins. On April 28, 1997, Adelman and his assistants were fired, with Adelman saying that he had felt it seemed inevitable by February.

Sacramento Kings Sitting out a season again, 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 tenure there: their first consecutive playoff appearances since 1979–1981.

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. 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 the Western Conference Finals, in one of the most controversial NBA playoff series of all time.

Despite his relative success in playoff appearances, Adelman did not get along with the Maloof brothers. 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 in six games 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 did not reach the playoffs again until 2023, nearly 17 years later. Adelman remains the only coach in the Sacramento era to reach the playoffs more than once during his tenure with the team.

Houston Rockets The Houston Rockets brought in 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 victories. 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. However, they lost in the first round of the playoffs again, this time in six games.

In the 2008-09 season, the Rockets finished fifth 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. Although they would lose the series to the Los Angeles Lakers, they proved their resilience by taking the series to seven games despite the loss of star center Yao Ming in Game 3. Adelman won his 800th career game, 13th among coaches in NBA history, on March 24, 2008, against the Sacramento Kings. On April 18, 2011, the Houston Chronicle reported that the Rockets would not give Adelman a new contract; Adelman and the team parted ways after four seasons and two playoff appearances.

Minnesota Timberwolves On September 13, 2011, the Minnesota Timberwolves confirmed the hiring of Adelman as their new coach. On April 6, 2013, Adelman won his 1,000th career game with a victory over the Detroit Pistons, becoming just the eighth coach in NBA history ever to do so.

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. Another son, David, is the head coach of the Denver Nuggets.

Adelman died on June 1, 2026, at the age of 79. His official cause of death has not been disclosed.

Career playing statistics

NBA Source

Regular season YearTeamGPMPGFG%FT%RPGAPGSPGBPGPPG San Diego 77 18.8 .394 .642 2.8 3.1 6.3 San Diego 35 20.5 .389 .747 2.3 3.2 7.4 Portland 81 28.4 .422 .724 3.5 4.7 12.6 Portland 80 30.6 .437 .751 2.9 5.2 10.1 Portland 76 24.0 .408 .716 2.1 3.9 6.6 Chicago 55 11.2 .376 .711 1.3 1.0 .7 .0 3.3 Chicago 12 28.3 .413 .718 2.2 2.9 1.3 .1 9.5 New Orleans 28 21.9 .421 .695 2.0 2.5 1.7 .2 6.3 Kansas City–Omaha 18 6.7 .464 .800 .8 .4 .4 .1 1.7 Career 462 22.6 .415 .713 2.4 3.5 .9 .1 7.7

Playoffs YearTeamGPMPGFG%FT%RPGAPGSPGBPGPPG 1969 San Diego 6 31.2 .453 .595 2.5 4.8 11.7 1974 Chicago 9 12.0 .471 .636 1.1 .8 .8 .0 4.3 1975 Kansas City–Omaha 6 5.7 .333 .750 .3 .5 .2 .0 2.0 Playoffs 21 15.7 .448 .625 1.3 1.9 .5 .0 5.8

Head coaching record