NBA in mourning: farewell to Hall of Fame coach Rick Adelman, he was 79

Goodbye to Rick Adelman, one of the best coaches in NBA history. The announcement of his death at age 79 was made by the National Basketball Coaches Association.

Rick Adelman has won 1042 games as an NBA coach (10th on the All-time list of winningest coaches ever). Only four other coaches-Pat Riley, Gregg Popovich, Jerry Sloan, and George Karl-have coached more games and had a better winning percentage than Rick.

His best results came at the helm of the Portland Trail Blazers, a franchise he led to two NBA Finals. During his long career, he has also been head coach in Sacramento, Houston, Minnesota and Golden State.

His son, David Aldeman, is the coach of the Denver Nuggets. The Trail Blazers pointed out that Rick Adelman not only led the team to the Finals twice, but was also a player on the Portland team in 1970. “Rick has been one of the most influential figures in franchise history,” the franchise’s words.