J.B. Bickerstaff joins small group of NBA coaches

Richie Adubato

Richie Adubato got three shots as an NBA interim coach, but landed just one full-time head coaching job over 16 seasons as a coach in the Association.

His first interim experience came when he was named to replace Dick Vitale in November 1979 and led the Detroit Pistons to a 12-58 record the rest of the 1979-80 season.

His next chance came a little more than a decade later, when he was called upon to step in for the fired John MacLeod in November 1989 and led the Dallas Mavericks to a 42-29 mark after the club had started 5-6. Dallas was swept in the first round of the playoffs and collapsed to just 50 wins over the next two seasons after Roy Tarpley‘s lifetime ban for drugs.

Adubato was fired after a 2-27 start in 1992-93.

His last NBA interim gig came in 1996-97, when he led the Orlando Magic to a 21-12 finish after Brian Hill was fired in February 1997. He got the Magic into the playoffs after taking over a 24-25 club, but they went down in a Game 5 loss at Miami in the first round.

Bob Hill

Bob Hill’s first head coaching experience in the NBA was as interim coach of the Knicks after Hubie Brown was fired in December 1986, taking the team to a 20-46 finish before he was subsequently let go.

In December 1990, Hill was named head coach of the Indiana Pacers, who had gone just 9-16 to open under Dick Versace. Hill got them to a .500 finish by leading the club to a 32-25 mark and they pushed the Celtics to five games before losing in the first round.

Hill’s last head coaching gig began in January 2006, when he replaced Bob Weiss with the Seattle SuperSonics. He took over a 13-17 team and went 22-30 the rest of the way missing the playoffs. He was fired after a 31-51 season in 2006-07.

Hill spent two-plus seasons as head coach of the Spurs from 1994-96, fired after a 3-15 start in 1996-97 despite taking the team to 121 wins over his first two seasons.