BLEACHERS BREW EST. MAY 2006

Someone asked me how my blog and newspaper column came to be titled "Bleachers Brew". It's like this, it's an amalgam of sorts of two things: The bleachers area in the stadium/arena where I used to sit when I would watch baseball, football, and basketball games and Miles Davis' great jazz album Bitches Brew. That's how it got culled together. I originally planned on calling it "The View from the Big Chair" that is a nod to Tears For Fear's second album, Songs from the Big Chair. So there.

Tuesday, June 10, 2014

Looking at first year coaching records of former NBA champs



This appears on nba.com

Looking at first year coaching records of former NBA champs
by rick olivares pic by seth wenig/AP

The New York Knicks have hired Derek Fisher as their new head coach. Fish’s appointment will be the second this season for first time coaches with the other being Golden State’s Steve Kerr.

And no doubt once more, some quarters will lament the unemployment of some former coaches of the year or even proven ones. But that is the way of the world. Organizations can hire whoever they wish to whether they’ve got the track record or not.

A lot of teams believe that former players can get the job done as head coach but what we want to see is how former players who won a NBA title have fared in their first season and if they have gone on to win a championship.

Here’s a list (I might have missed out a few players) of players who contributed prominently on their champion teams and who later won a NBA title as head coach.

Perhaps the two most successful former players turned coaches are Phil Jackson and Pat Riley.

Who doesn’t know their pedigree as a player and a coach? But in terms of transition from player to head coach, Riley holds the distinction of leading his team -- the Los Angeles Lakers -- to the title in his very first year on the sidelines. Furthermore, he won three more championships and was the preeminent Lakers coach until Jackson did him one better in the new millennium with five championships including the Lakers’ first three-peat since the club was in Minneapolis.

And incidentally,  both Jackson and Riley won championships as a coach with two different franchises – Phil with Chicago and LA and Pat with Los Angeles and Miami – proving that they are some of the top coaches in NBA history.

Now here are other former players greats who won a NBA title as a player and how they fared in their first year in the NBA.

COACH
YEAR
TEAM
RECORD
FINISH
Danny Ainge
1996-97
Phoenix
40-34
4th in division
Elgin Baylor
1974-75
New Orleans
0-1

Larry Bird
1997-98
Indiana
58-24
2nd in division
Scott Brooks
2008-09
Oklahoma
22-47
5th in division
Quinn Buckner
1993-94
Dallas
13-69
6th in division
Rick Carlisle*
2001-02
Detroit
50-32
1st in division
M.L. Carr
1995-96
Boston
33-49
5th in division
Mo Cheeks
2001-02
Portland
49-33
3rd in division
Jim Cleamons
1996-97
Dallas
13-69
4th in division
Michael Cooper
2004-05
Denver Nuggets
4-10
2nd in division
Bob Cousy
1969-70
Cincinnati
36-46
5th in division
Dave Cowens
1978-79
Boston
27-41
5th in division
Billy Cunningham*
1977-78
Philadelphia
53-23
1st in division
Chris Ford
1990-91
Boston
56-26
1st in division
Matt Guokas
1985-86
Philadelphia
54-28
2nd in division
Tom Heinsohn*
1969-70
Boston
34-48
6th in division
Phil Jackson*
1989-90
Chicago
55-27
2nd in division
Avery Johnson
2004-05
Dallas
16-2
2nd in division
Dennis Johnson
2002-03
Los Angeles Clippers
8-16
7th in division
Magic Johnson
1993-94
Los Angeles Lakers
5-11
5th in division
KC Jones*
1973-74
Washington
47-35
1st in division; lost in NBA Finals
Jason Kidd
2013-14
Brooklyn
44-38
2nd in division
Terry Porter
2003-04
Milwaukee
41-41
4th in division
Kurt Rambis
1998-99
Los Angeles Lakers
24-13
2nd in division
Pat Riley*
1981-82
Los Angeles Lakers
50-21
NBA Champion
Bill Russell*
1966-67
Boston
60-21
2nd
Byron Scott
2000-01
New Jersey
26-56
6th in division
Bill Sharman*
1966-67
San Francisco
44-37
1st in division; lost in NBA Finals
Brian Shaw
2013-14
Denver
36-46
4th in division
Isiah Thomas
2000-01
Indiana
41-41
4th in division
Wes Unseld
1987-88
Washington
30-25
2nd in division
Jerry West
1976-77
Los Angeles Lakers
53-29
1st in division; lost in WC Finals
·      indicates that the coach win a NBA championship

On that list above, only eight have won a NBA championship.

And of those eight, four have won with the team they played with during their career – Billy Cunningham (Philadelphia 76ers), Tom Heinsohn (Boston Celtics), Jason Kidd (Dallas Mavericks), Pat Riley (Los Angeles Lakers), and Bill Russell (Boston Celtics).

And of those eight once more, four won a NBA Championship ring with the same team they began their coaching career – Billy Cunningham, Tom Heinsohn, Phil Jackson, Pat Riley, and Bill Russell.

Russell is the only one to accomplish that feat will serving as a player-coach when he won back-to-back titles from 1967-69.

Boston, the NBA’s most storied franchise has a knack for producing some top caliber coaches.

To wit, the 1958-59 Boston Celtics were not only NBA champions that season but also produced five coaches in Bob Cousy, Tom Heinsohn, KC Jones, Bill Russell, and Bill Sharman. Save for Cousy, all the others won a NBA championship as head coach. A tip of the hat to the late Red Auerbach for his protégés’ success!

The 1984 Celtics also produced later coaches in Larry Bird, Kevin McHale, Quinn Buckner, M.L. Carr, Danny Ainge, and Dennis Johnson.

The Boston team of 1985-86 likewise produced another platoon of coaches beginning with Larry Bird, Kevin McHale, Danny Ainge, Dennis Johnson, and Rick Carlisle with the latter being the only one to lift a the NBA trophy as sideline boss.


Is the pressure on for Derek Fisher and Steve Kerr? Without a doubt they’ve got their work cut out for them. Next season will be interesting to see how they fare not only as a first time coach but also as former champions adapting into a new environment.

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