Legendary Hall of Fame NBA Coach Rick Adelman Passes Away at 79

Rick Adelman, who coached the Portland Trail Blazers to a pair of NBA Finals appearances and was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2021, has died. He was 79.

Adelman died Monday, the National Basketball Coaches Association confirmed in a statement this evening.

"The membership of the National Basketball Coaches Association joins the NBA family in mourning the passing of legendary Head Coach and Hall of Famer, Rick Adelman," the NBCA release said.

"Adelman will be remembered not only as a coach and a player, but also as a mentor to so many in the basketball community. Rick was a husband to Mary Kay for 56 years; father to Kathy, RJ, Laura, David, Caitlin, and Patrick; and a grandfather of twelve. Our thoughts and prayers go out to the entire Adelman family during this difficult time."

Adelman made NBA impact as player, coach

A star at Loyola Marymount, Adelman was drafted by the San Diego Clippers in 1968. A 6-foot-1 point guard, he played in 462 regular season games for five franchises across seven NBA seasons, averaging 7.7 points, 3.5 assists and 2.4 rebounds per game.

Adelman's coaching career began at Chemeketa Community College from 1977-83 before he joined the Trail Blazers' staff as an assistant from 1983-89. He then took over the reins in Portland, leading the team to the 1990 and 1993 NBA Finals and going 291-154 across six seasons.

After leaving Portland, Adelman spent two years in charge of the Golden State Warriors (1995-97) before being hired by the Sacramento Kings prior to the 1998-99 season. He made the playoffs in all eight seasons in Sacramento, going 395-229 overall and reaching the Western Conference Finals in 2002.

Adelman later coached the Houston Rockets (2007-11) and Minnesota Timberwolves (2011-14). His 1,042 regular season wins rank 10th all time among NBA head coaches, and only four men-Pat Riley, Gregg Popovich, Jerry Sloan and George Karl--coached more games and had a better winning percentage than Adelman's .582.

Adelman's son David went on to follow in his father's footsteps, winning an NBA title as a Denver Nuggets assistant in 2023 and going 54-28 in his first campaign as head coach this season.

This story was originally published by Men's Journal on Jun 2, 2026, where it first appeared in the Sports section. Add Men's Journal as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

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This story was originally published June 1, 2026 at 5:24 PM.