J.B. Bickerstaff joins small group of NBA coaches
By Phil Watson
Bob Bass
The list of coaches to be hired during midseason in both the ABA and NBA includes Bob Bass, the only coach to take over in midseason twice in the ABA and also a member of the three-time club in the NBA.
Bass was elevated to head coach of the San Antonio Spurs three times, all during his long tenure as the team’s general manager. He was hired as GM in June 1979 and held the job until May 1994.
His first stint as interim coach of the Spurs in the NBA came when he fired Doug Moe and replaced him to finish the 1979-80 season, going 8-8 before losing a first-round series to the Houston Rockets two games to one.
In 1983-84, he replaced Morris McHone in December of that season, taking the team to a 26-25 record the rest of the way but missing the playoffs after an 11-20 start under McHone.
Bass led the Spurs to a 26-18 finish in 1991-92 following Larry Brown‘s resignation before San Antonio was swept 3-0 in the first round of the playoffs.
But Bass also took over the coaching reins of The Floridians in the ABA in 1970-71, coaching the final 36 games at a 19-17 club before they were bounced 4-2 in the first round of the playoffs. He replaced Tom Nissalke as head coach in San Antonio in December 1974 while the Spurs were will in the ABA, going 33-23 before taking a six-game loss to the Indiana Pacers in the first round.
Phil Johnson
Phil Johnson became the second three-timer in the club when he was named head coach of the Kansas City Kings in November 1984, taking over for Jack McKinney, who resigned after a 1-8 start. Johnson guided the team to a 30-43 mark the rest of the way but missed the playoffs.
His first midseason takeover was in November 1973, when he was named the permanent replacement for Bob Cousy with the Kansas City-Omaha Kings (same team, different name). The Kings had gone 6-18 under Cousy and interim coach Draff Young before hiring Johnson, then a Chicago Bulls assistant. They were 27-31 the rest of the season, finishing last in the Midwest.
But Johnson was Coach of the Year in 1974-75, leading the Kings to the franchise’s first playoff berth since 1967.
Johnson’s second interim gig was a one-and-done with the Bulls after the firing of Jerry Sloan in February 1982 before general manager Rod Thorn took over for the rest of the season. Johnson rejoined Sloan in Utah in 1989 ad spent parts of 22 seasons as an assistant with the Jazz.