Stan Albeck obit

 

Stan Albeck, longtime NBA coach, dies at 89 in hospice care

He was not on the list.

SAN ANTONIO (AP) — Stan Albeck, the former San Antonio, Cleveland, New Jersey and Chicago head coach during a long NBA career, died Thursday in hospice care at son John’s home. He was 89.

John Albeck told the San Antonio Express-News his father entered hospice care Thursday after having a stroke March 14. He also had a stroke in 2001 while an assistant coach with the Toronto Raptors.

Albeck coached the ABA’s Denver Rockets in 1970-71, then directed the Cleveland Cavaliers in 1979-80, San Antonio from 1980-83, the New Jersey Nets from 1983-85 and the Chicago Bulls in 1985-86 — with Michael Jordan in his second season.

He took San Antonio to consecutive Western Conference Finals in 1982 and 1983. The Spurs had a moment of silence to honor Albeck before their game against the Los Angeles Clippers on Thursday night.

“Coach Albeck wasn’t just important to the Spurs, he was what I call a lifer,” Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. “People like myself don’t come close to loving the game as he did, and his whole family did. They participated in so many ways and followed him so many places.

“He would come to games, he would talk to players, talk to us as coaches. He always had a smile for us, a suggestion or two — because he’s a coach. … He is somebody we always respected and he brought a bright light to wherever he was.”

Albeck grew up in Chenoa, Illinois, and starred at Bradley. He got his first head coaching job at Adrian College in Michigan in 1956, and spent 14 seasons as a college head coach at Adrian, Northern Michigan and the University of Denver before joining the Rockets’ staff in 1970.

Albeck was inducted into the Bradley University Sports Hall of Fame in 1981 and the San Antonio Sports Hall of Fame in 2014.

Albeck began his coaching at Adrian College in Adrian, Michigan. His next head coaching job was at Northern Michigan University. Albeck was head coach at the University of Denver from 1968 to 1970. He was the head coach of the Denver Rockets during most of the 1970–1971 season. The Rockets had begun the season under head coach Joe Belmont, but Belmont was fired after the team lost 10 of its first 13 games. Albeck replaced Belmont as the Rockets' head coach. The Rockets went 27–44 under Albeck to finish the season with a record of 30 wins and 54 losses. They tied the Texas Chaparrals for fourth place in the Western Division (28 games behind the Indiana Pacers) and on April 1, 1971 lost a one-game playoff to the Chaparrals, 115–109, to determine who would advance into the ABA Western Division semifinals. During the season Denver's average home attendance dropped to 4,139 fans per game from 6,281 the year before. One week after the playoff loss, on April 8, 1971, Albeck was replaced by Alex Hannum as Denver's head coach. Hannum resigned as coach of the San Diego Rockets to become the Rockets' head coach, general manager and president. Albeck then became player personnel director for the Rockets. During the 1972–1973 season Albeck was an assistant coach for the San Diego Conquistadors under head coach K.C. Jones. Albeck also served as director of player personnel for the Conquistadors. During most of the 1973–74 season, he served under 'Ques' head coach Wilt Chamberlain. Chamberlain missed a few games, during which Albeck filled in as the Conquistadors' head coach, winning all of them.

Albeck was an assistant coach for the Kentucky Colonels during the 1974–1975 season in which the team won the 1975 ABA Championship. He returned as an assistant coach with the Colonels during their final season in 1975–1976. Albeck served as assistant coach of the Los Angeles Lakers from 1976 until 1979.