Topic: Rick Adelman

Richard Leonard "Rick" Adelman (born June 16, 1946) is an American basketball coach and retired player. He was most recently the head coach of the NBA's Houston Rockets. He was hired five days after the firing of Jeff Van Gundy on May 18, 2007. He had previously served as head coach of the Golden State Warriors, the Portland Trail Blazers, and the Sacramento Kings.

Born in Lynwood, California, Adelman began his basketball career as a collegiate star 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 (now the Houston Rockets) in the 7th round. He played two seasons in San Diego before being taken by the expansion Trail Blazers in the 1970 expansion draft; he then played three seasons in Portland. He also played for the Chicago Bulls, New Orleans (now Utah) Jazz, and the Kansas City/Omaha (now Sacramento) Kings. He ended his playing career in 1975.

From 1977 through to 1983, Adelman coached at Chemeketa Community College in Salem, Oregon, after which he was 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 1989 season (when poor team chemistry resulted in the team having a losing record), 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.