Rick Adelman dies at 79

Rick Adelman, the Hall of Fame coach whose name remains tied to the Sacramento Kings’ best modern run, died Monday at 79, according to the National Basketball Coaches Association. The cause of death was not immediately announced. Adelman finished with 1,042 regular-season wins, a total that NBA.com said ranks 10th in league history. His career stretched from Portland to Golden State, Sacramento, Houston and Minnesota, but his eight seasons with the Kings defined the franchise’s most successful era. ### How central was Adelman to the Kings’ rise? Sacramento hired Adelman in September 1998 after the Kings went 27-55 under Eddie Jordan in 1997-98. Basketball-Reference lists that record as the team’s mark the season before Adelman arrived, and contemporaneous reporting from the Bay Area said the Kings had offered him the job after firing Jordan. The Kings then posted eight winning seasons in eight years under Adelman, from 1998-99 through 2005-06, according to ESPN and CBS Sacramento as summarized in Tuesday’s coverage. CBS Sacramento described him as the franchise’s all-time wins leader, a distinction that helps explain why his death landed first in Sacramento as a remembrance of that era as much as a leaguewide obituary. (basketball-reference.com) ### What made his broader NBA résumé stand out? Adelman’s 1,042 wins put him among the NBA’s most successful coaches by raw total. NBA.com said that total ranked 10th in league history at the time of his death, and also noted that he took two franchises to the NBA Finals. Portland was the first of those peaks. Adelman led the Trail Blazers to the Finals in 1990 and 1992, and later coached Houston and Minnesota after his Sacramento run, giving him a record of sustained success across multiple stops. (cbsnews.com) The Hall of Fame enshrined him in 2021, listing his birth date as June 16, 1946, and tracing his coaching path back to Chemeketa Community College in Salem, Oregon. ### Why does Sacramento remember those teams so distinctly? (nba.com) The Kings teams Adelman coached became identified with continuity and offense. Doug Christie, Chris Webber, Vlade Divac, Peja Stojakovic and Mike Bibby formed the core of the Sacramento group most often associated with him, and current Kings coach Doug Christie is one of the former Adelman players still visibly tied to that period, according to ESPN’s reporting summarized in the source briefings. (hoophall.com) CBS Sacramento said Adelman led the franchise through “the most successful era in franchise history.” That description is borne out by the team’s sustained winning under him and by the fact that his tenure still anchors most public discussion of the Kings’ high point in Sacramento. ### What else defined his career besides coaching? Adelman played seven NBA seasons before moving fully into coaching. (cbsnews.com) NBA.com and other reports on Monday noted that he spent time with the San Diego Rockets, Portland Trail Blazers, Chicago Bulls, New Orleans Jazz and Kansas City-Omaha Kings as a player before becoming one of the league’s winningest coaches. His family also remained in the league. NBA.com identified him as the father of Denver Nuggets coach David Adelman, linking one coaching generation directly to another in the announcement of his death. ### What comes next after the announcement? The National Basketball Coaches Association announced Adelman’s death on Monday, and tributes from former teams, players and local outlets followed immediately. (nba.com) NBA.com, CBS Sacramento and other outlets published remembrances the same day, while his Hall of Fame page remains the league’s official career snapshot. Sacramento’s historical record will remain easy to trace. Basketball-Reference preserves the 27-55 season that preceded his hiring, and NBA and Hall of Fame records preserve the totals that followed: 1,042 wins, a 2021 enshrinement, and the Kings tenure that still defines his place in Sacramento basketball history. (basketball-reference.com) (nba.com)