Bob MacKinnon
His second stint as interim coach of the old New Jersey Nets placed Bob MacKinnon, who spent 12 seasons in the NBA and one in the ABA as a coach and executive after 13 seasons as head coach at Canisius College in Buffalo.
MacKinnon’s first stint as an interim coach was a seven-game stint in 1977 with the Buffalo Braves, after he as general manager had fired Tates Locke before hiring Joe Mullaney after the team went 3-4 under MacKinnon.
MacKinnon went 12-35 after Kevin Loughery resigned as coach of the Nets in 1980-81 and had a 10-29 mark in 1987-88 between Dave Wohl (2-13) and Willis Reed (7-21).
Gene Littles
While Gene Littles never played in the NBA, he had a solid six-year career as a defensive-minded point guard in the ABA, including helping the Kentucky Colonels to an ABA title in his final season in 1974-75.
But Littles spent 16 seasons in the NBA as a coach, including three short-season stints. He replaced George Karl with the Cavaliers to close the 1985-86 season, going 4-11, and was 11-31 in 1989-90 after Dick Harter was fired by the Charlotte Hornets.
Littles got one full season as Charlotte’s head coach before he was let go after a 26-56 campaign.
His last shot as an interim coach was in the 1994-95 season, when he was 3-13 with the Denver Nuggets following the firing of Dan Issel before general manager Bernie Bickerstaff took over the club.