Dick Motta
Encyclopedia
John Richard "Dick" Motta (born September 3, 1931) is a former basketball
coach whose career in the National Basketball Association
(NBA) spanned 25 years, and he continues to rank among the NBA's all-time top 10 in coaching victories.
in 1968 after a six-year stint at Weber State University
. From 1970 to 1974 he led the Bulls to four straight seasons of 50 wins or more, winning the NBA Coach of the Year Award
in 1971.
, with whom he won an NBA Championship in 1978. After two more seasons with the Bullets, he became the first coach of the Dallas Mavericks
, whom he led to a 55-27 record in 1986–87
.Motta also served with the Sacramento Kings
and Denver Nuggets
before retiring in 1997.
, Motta got his coaching start in Grace, Idaho
, where he taught seventh grade and coached for two years before being drafted in the armed services. He once said in an interview that winning the 1959 Idaho state high school championship was his greatest thrill as a coach, even topping the NBA championship he won two decades later.
Motta holds the unique distinction of being one of the very few coaches in the NBA who never played either high school, college or pro basketball.
sportswriter and television sportscaster Dan Cook
.
During a KENS-TV
broadcast of the 1978 NBA Eastern Conference
semi-finals between the Washington Bullets
and the San Antonio Spurs
, Cook used the phrase in an attempt to encourage Spurs fans, as their team was down three games to one against the Bullets. Motta heard the broadcast and adopted his own rendition of the expression — "The 'opera
' isn't over 'til the fat lady sings" — to warn Bullets fans against braggadocio
.
The odds were against the underdog
Bullets, and sportswriters were forecasting a grim finale, so Motta rebounded with the upbeat ostinato
, "Wait for the fat lady!" The Bullets won the Eastern Conference against the Atlantic Division
Champion Philadelphia 76ers
, and went on to beat the Western Conference
Champion Seattle SuperSonics
four games to three for the 1978 NBA title.
The victory gave Washington, D.C.
area fans their first professional championship team in any sport since the Washington Redskins
won the National Football League
title in 1942. (The basketball team played its home games in nearby Landover, Maryland.) In Motta's second year as coach, the Bullets (now the Washington Wizards) had become only the third team to win the NBA championship in a seventh game on the road. That 1978 championship remains the franchise's only NBA championship to date.
After the climactic Game 7 victory to claim the title, Motta celebrated with his team wearing a beer-soaked The Opera Isn't Over 'Til The Fat Lady Sings t-shirt.
In a Nov. 5, 2003 interview in the Utah Statesman, the student newspaper of his alma mater Utah State University
, Motta said opera lovers were angry with him at first. "My wife said they were going to kill me when I said that." But that as time passed, Motta said, he was extended friendly invitations to a variety of events with "operatic" themes ranging from the Metropolitan Opera in New York to the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville.
. Motta now spends his summer mornings pouring orange juice for guests and discussing the local booming real estate market. He and Jan winter in Dallas, where their daughter Jodie and her family live.
Motta's son, Kip, was an assistant coach with the NBA's Seattle
, Portland
, Dallas
, and Denver
franchises from 1990–97. He later became principal of North Rich Elementary School and Rich Middle School in Randolph, Utah
.
Motta's other son Kirt teaches US and Utah history at a middle school in Sandy, Utah.
| align="left" |CHI
| align="left" |
|82||33||49||.402|| align="center" |5th in West||—||—||—||—
| align="center" |Missed Playoffs
|-
| align="left" |CHI
| align="left" |
|82||39||43||.476|| align="center" |3rd in West||5||1||4||.200
| align="center" |Lost in Division Semifinals
|-
| align="left" |CHI
| align="left" |
|82||51||31||.622|| align="center" |2nd in Midwest||7||3||4||.429
| align="center" |Lost in Conf. Semifinals
|-
| align="left" |CHI
| align="left" |
|82||57||25||.695|| align="center" |2nd in Midwest||4||0||4||.000
| align="center" |Lost in Conf. Semifinals
|-
| align="left" |CHI
| align="left" |
|82||51||31||.622|| align="center" |2nd in Midwest||7||3||4||.429
| align="center" |Lost in Conf. Semifinals
|-
| align="left" |CHI
| align="left" |
|82||54||28||.659|| align="center" |2nd in Midwest||11||4||7||.364
| align="center" |Lost in Conf. Finals
|-
| align="left" |CHI
| align="left" |
|82||47||35||.573|| align="center" |1st in Midwest||13||7||6||.538
| align="center" |Lost in Conf. Finals
|-
| align="left" |CHI
| align="left" |
|82||24||58||.293|| align="center" |4th in Midwest||—||—||—||—
| align="center" |Missed Playoffs
|-
| align="left" |WSH
| align="left" |
|82||48||34||.585|| align="center" |2nd in Central||9||4||5||.444
| align="center" |Lost in Conf. Semifinals
|-
| align="left" |WSH
| align="left" |
|82||44||38||.537|| align="center" |2nd in Central||21||14||7||.667
| align="center" |Won NBA Championship
|-
| align="left" |WSH
| align="left" |
|82||54||28||.659|| align="center" |1st in Atlantic||19||9||10||.474
| align="center" |Lost in NBA Finals
|-
| align="left" |WSH
| align="left" |
|82||39||43||.476|| align="center" |3rd in Atlantic||2||0||2||.000
| align="center" |Lost in First Round
|-
| align="left" |DAL
| align="left" |
|82||15||67||.183|| align="center" |6th in Midwest||—||—||—||—
| align="center" |Missed Playoffs
|-
| align="left" |DAL
| align="left" |
|82||28||54||.341|| align="center" |5th in Midwest||—||—||—||—
| align="center" |Missed Playoffs
|-
| align="left" |DAL
| align="left" |
|82||38||44||.463|| align="center" |4th in Midwest||—||—||—||—
| align="center" |Missed Playoffs
|-
| align="left" |DAL
| align="left" |
|82||43||39||.524|| align="center" |2nd in Midwest||10||4||6||.400
| align="center" |Lost in Conf. Semifinals
|-
| align="left" |DAL
| align="left" |
|82||44||38||.537|| align="center" |3rd in Midwest||4||1||3||.250
| align="center" |Lost in First Round
|-
| align="left" |DAL
| align="left" |
|82||44||38||.537|| align="center" |3rd in Midwest||10||5||5||.500
| align="center" |Lost in Conf. Semifinals
|-
| align="left" |DAL
| align="left" |
|82||55||27||.671|| align="center" |1st in Midwest||4||1||3||.250
| align="center" |Lost in First Round
|-
| align="left" |SAC
| align="left" |
|54||16||38||.296|| align="center" |7th in Pacific||—||—||—||—
| align="center" |Missed Playoffs
|-
| align="left" |SAC
| align="left" |
|82||25||57||.305|| align="center" |7th in Pacific||—||—||—||—
| align="center" |Missed Playoffs
|-
| align="left" |SAC
| align="left" |
|25||7||18||.280|| align="center" |(fired)||—||—||—||—
| align="center" |—
|-
| align="left" |DAL
| align="left" |
|61||36||46||.439|| align="center" |5th in Midwest||—||—||—||—
| align="center" |Missed Playoffs
|-
| align="left" |DAL
| align="left" |
|82||26||56||.317|| align="center" |5th in Midwest||—||—||—||—
| align="center" |Missed Playoffs
|-
| align="left" |DEN
| align="left" |
|69||17||52||.246|| align="center" |5th in Midwest||—||—||—||—
| align="center" |Missed Playoffs
|-class="sortbottom"
| align="left" |Career
| ||1952||935||1017||.479|| ||126||56||70||.444
Basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...
coach whose career in the National Basketball Association
National Basketball Association
The National Basketball Association is the pre-eminent men's professional basketball league in North America. It consists of thirty franchised member clubs, of which twenty-nine are located in the United States and one in Canada...
(NBA) spanned 25 years, and he continues to rank among the NBA's all-time top 10 in coaching victories.
With Chicago Bulls 1968-1977
Motta was hired as head coach of the Chicago BullsChicago Bulls
The Chicago Bulls are an American professional basketball team based in Chicago, Illinois, playing in the Central Division of the Eastern Conference in the National Basketball Association . The team was founded in 1966. They play their home games at the United Center...
in 1968 after a six-year stint at Weber State University
Weber State University
Weber State University is a public university located in the city of Ogden in Weber County, Utah, USA. It was founded in 1889 and is a coeducational, publicly supported university offering professional, liberal arts and technical certificates, as well as associate, bachelor's and master's degrees...
. From 1970 to 1974 he led the Bulls to four straight seasons of 50 wins or more, winning the NBA Coach of the Year Award
NBA Coach of the Year Award
The National Basketball Association's Coach of the Year is an annual National Basketball Association award given since the 1962–63 NBA season. The winner receives the Red Auerbach Trophy, which is named in honor of the head coach who led the Boston Celtics to nine NBA Championships from 1956 to 1966...
in 1971.
With Washington Bullets (1977-80) & Dallas Mavericks (1980-87)
In 1976, Motta left the Bulls to coach the Washington BulletsWashington Wizards
The Washington Wizards are a professional basketball team based in Washington, D.C., previously known as Washington Bullets. They play in the National Basketball Association .-Early years:...
, with whom he won an NBA Championship in 1978. After two more seasons with the Bullets, he became the first coach of the Dallas Mavericks
Dallas Mavericks
The Dallas Mavericks are a professional basketball team based in Dallas, Texas. They are members of the Southwest Division of the Western Conference of the National Basketball Association , and the reigning NBA champions, having defeated the Miami Heat in the 2011 NBA Finals.According to a 2011...
, whom he led to a 55-27 record in 1986–87
1986-87 NBA season
-Statistics leaders:-Yearly awards:* Most Valuable Player: Magic Johnson, Los Angeles Lakers* Rookie of the Year: Chuck Person, Indiana Pacers* Defensive Player of the Year: Michael Cooper, Los Angeles Lakers...
.Motta also served with the Sacramento Kings
Sacramento Kings
The Sacramento Kings are a professional basketball team based in Sacramento, California, United States. They are currently members of the Western Conference of the National Basketball Association...
and Denver Nuggets
Denver Nuggets
The Denver Nuggets are a professional basketball team based in Denver, Colorado. They play in the National Basketball Association . They were founded as the Denver Rockets in 1967 as a charter franchise of the American Basketball Association, and became one of that league's more successful teams...
before retiring in 1997.
Early coaching career
After graduating from Utah State UniversityUtah State University
Utah State University is a public university located in Logan, Utah. It is a land-grant and space-grant institution and is accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities....
, Motta got his coaching start in Grace, Idaho
Grace High School
Grace High School is a high school in Grace, Idaho. The community has a strong agricultural base and the high school reflects that base in its curriculum. The school, with 21 faculty and 134 students, is accredited by the Northwest Association of Schools and Colleges.- Prestige :Grace High School...
, where he taught seventh grade and coached for two years before being drafted in the armed services. He once said in an interview that winning the 1959 Idaho state high school championship was his greatest thrill as a coach, even topping the NBA championship he won two decades later.
Motta holds the unique distinction of being one of the very few coaches in the NBA who never played either high school, college or pro basketball.
"The opera isn't over 'til the fat lady sings!"
Motta is sometimes erroneously credited with coining the celebrated phrase: The opera ain't over 'til the fat lady sings. In fact, the phrase was a witticism originated by San AntonioSan Antonio, Texas
San Antonio is the seventh-largest city in the United States of America and the second-largest city within the state of Texas, with a population of 1.33 million. Located in the American Southwest and the south–central part of Texas, the city serves as the seat of Bexar County. In 2011,...
sportswriter and television sportscaster Dan Cook
Dan Cook
Daniel John Cook, Jr. was a sports writer for the San Antonio Express-News, where he worked for 51 years. He is most notable for popularizing the phrase "the opera ain't over 'til the fat lady sings." Described as a "sports icon", Cook also was a sports anchor at San Antonio television station...
.
During a KENS-TV
KENS-TV
KENS is the CBS affiliate television station in San Antonio, Texas owned and operated by The Belo Corporation. Prior to late April 2010, KENS also managed UPN, later The CW, affiliate station KCWX through a local marketing agreement...
broadcast of the 1978 NBA Eastern Conference
Eastern Conference (NBA)
The Eastern Conference of the National Basketball Association is made up of fifteen teams, organized in three divisions of five teams each.The three division winners and the non-division winner with the best record are seeded 1 through 4 for the playoffs in order of their records, with all...
semi-finals between the Washington Bullets
Washington Wizards
The Washington Wizards are a professional basketball team based in Washington, D.C., previously known as Washington Bullets. They play in the National Basketball Association .-Early years:...
and the San Antonio Spurs
San Antonio Spurs
The San Antonio Spurs are an American professional basketball team based in San Antonio, Texas. They are part of the Southwest Division of the Western Conference in the National Basketball Association ....
, Cook used the phrase in an attempt to encourage Spurs fans, as their team was down three games to one against the Bullets. Motta heard the broadcast and adopted his own rendition of the expression — "The 'opera
Opera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
' isn't over 'til the fat lady sings" — to warn Bullets fans against braggadocio
Confidence
Confidence is generally described as a state of being certain either that a hypothesis or prediction is correct or that a chosen course of action is the best or most effective. Self-confidence is having confidence in oneself. Arrogance or hubris in this comparison, is having unmerited...
.
The odds were against the underdog
Underdog (competition)
An underdog is a person or group in a competition, frequently in electoral politics, sports and creative works, who is popularly expected to lose. The party, team or individual expected to win is called the favorite or top dog. In the rare case where an underdog wins, the outcome is an upset. These...
Bullets, and sportswriters were forecasting a grim finale, so Motta rebounded with the upbeat ostinato
Ostinato
In music, an ostinato is a motif or phrase, which is persistently repeated in the same musical voice. An ostinato is always a succession of equal sounds, wherein each note always has the same weight or stress. The repeating idea may be a rhythmic pattern, part of a tune, or a complete melody in...
, "Wait for the fat lady!" The Bullets won the Eastern Conference against the Atlantic Division
Atlantic Division (NBA)
The Atlantic Division is one of the three divisions in the Eastern Conference of the National Basketball Association . The division consists of five teams, the Boston Celtics, the New Jersey Nets, the New York Knicks, the Philadelphia 76ers and the Toronto Raptors...
Champion Philadelphia 76ers
Philadelphia 76ers
The Philadelphia 76ers are a professional basketball team based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They play in the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Basketball Association . Originally known as the Syracuse Nationals, they are one of the oldest franchises in the NBA...
, and went on to beat the Western Conference
Western Conference (NBA)
Below is a list of current Western Conference NBA team rosters.-Western Conference:There are a total of 15 teams in the Western Conference. The current leading team of the Western conference are the Dallas Mavericks....
Champion Seattle SuperSonics
Seattle SuperSonics
The Seattle SuperSonics were an American professional basketball team based in Seattle, Washington that played in the Pacific and Northwest Divisions of the National Basketball Association from 1967 until 2008. Following the 2007–08 season, the team relocated to Oklahoma City, and now plays as...
four games to three for the 1978 NBA title.
The victory gave Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
area fans their first professional championship team in any sport since the Washington Redskins
Washington Redskins
The Washington Redskins are a professional American football team and members of the East Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The team plays at FedExField in Landover, Maryland, while its headquarters and training facility are at Redskin Park in Ashburn,...
won the National Football League
National Football League
The National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...
title in 1942. (The basketball team played its home games in nearby Landover, Maryland.) In Motta's second year as coach, the Bullets (now the Washington Wizards) had become only the third team to win the NBA championship in a seventh game on the road. That 1978 championship remains the franchise's only NBA championship to date.
After the climactic Game 7 victory to claim the title, Motta celebrated with his team wearing a beer-soaked The Opera Isn't Over 'Til The Fat Lady Sings t-shirt.
What made the championship so great was that we weren’t supposed to win it. We came a long way. Most people didn’t give us a chance, but I felt all along we could. I really did.
— Dick Motta http://www.nba.com/wizards/news/When_Washington_Went_to_the_Opera.html
In a Nov. 5, 2003 interview in the Utah Statesman, the student newspaper of his alma mater Utah State University
Utah State University
Utah State University is a public university located in Logan, Utah. It is a land-grant and space-grant institution and is accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities....
, Motta said opera lovers were angry with him at first. "My wife said they were going to kill me when I said that." But that as time passed, Motta said, he was extended friendly invitations to a variety of events with "operatic" themes ranging from the Metropolitan Opera in New York to the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville.
Personal life
Dick Motta and his wife Janice now operate a bed and breakfast, the Blue Bird Inn, across from the shores of Bear Lake in Fish Haven, IdahoFish Haven, Idaho
Fish Haven is an unincorporated community along the shores of Bear Lake in Bear Lake County, Idaho, United States. The town was founded by Mormon pioneers in 1864. Among the earliest settlers were Hugh Findlay and Henry Howell. It is right on the border of Idaho and Utah....
. Motta now spends his summer mornings pouring orange juice for guests and discussing the local booming real estate market. He and Jan winter in Dallas, where their daughter Jodie and her family live.
Motta's son, Kip, was an assistant coach with the NBA's Seattle
Seattle SuperSonics
The Seattle SuperSonics were an American professional basketball team based in Seattle, Washington that played in the Pacific and Northwest Divisions of the National Basketball Association from 1967 until 2008. Following the 2007–08 season, the team relocated to Oklahoma City, and now plays as...
, Portland
Portland Trail Blazers
The Portland Trail Blazers, commonly known as the Blazers, are an American professional basketball team based in Portland, Oregon. They play in the Northwest Division of the Western Conference in the National Basketball Association . The Trail Blazers originally played their home games in the...
, Dallas
Dallas Mavericks
The Dallas Mavericks are a professional basketball team based in Dallas, Texas. They are members of the Southwest Division of the Western Conference of the National Basketball Association , and the reigning NBA champions, having defeated the Miami Heat in the 2011 NBA Finals.According to a 2011...
, and Denver
Denver Nuggets
The Denver Nuggets are a professional basketball team based in Denver, Colorado. They play in the National Basketball Association . They were founded as the Denver Rockets in 1967 as a charter franchise of the American Basketball Association, and became one of that league's more successful teams...
franchises from 1990–97. He later became principal of North Rich Elementary School and Rich Middle School in Randolph, Utah
Randolph, Utah
Randolph is a city in Rich County, Utah, in the United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 464. It is the county seat of Rich County. Randolph had the highest percentage of people of any city in the country vote for George W...
.
Motta's other son Kirt teaches US and Utah history at a middle school in Sandy, Utah.
Coaching record
|-| align="left" |CHI
Chicago Bulls
The Chicago Bulls are an American professional basketball team based in Chicago, Illinois, playing in the Central Division of the Eastern Conference in the National Basketball Association . The team was founded in 1966. They play their home games at the United Center...
| align="left" |
|82||33||49||.402|| align="center" |5th in West||—||—||—||—
| align="center" |Missed Playoffs
|-
| align="left" |CHI
| align="left" |
|82||39||43||.476|| align="center" |3rd in West||5||1||4||.200
| align="center" |Lost in Division Semifinals
1970 NBA Playoffs
The 1970 NBA Playoffs was the postseason tournament of the National Basketball Association's 1969-1970 season. The tournament concluded with the Eastern Division champion New York Knicks defeating the Western Division champion Los Angeles Lakers, four games to three in the NBA Finals...
|-
| align="left" |CHI
| align="left" |
|82||51||31||.622|| align="center" |2nd in Midwest||7||3||4||.429
| align="center" |Lost in Conf. Semifinals
1971 NBA Playoffs
The 1971 NBA Playoffs was the postseason tournament of the National Basketball Association's 1970-1971 season. The tournament concluded with the Western Conference champion Milwaukee Bucks defeating the Eastern Conference champion Baltimore Bullets, four games to none in the NBA Finals.Led by...
|-
| align="left" |CHI
| align="left" |
|82||57||25||.695|| align="center" |2nd in Midwest||4||0||4||.000
| align="center" |Lost in Conf. Semifinals
1972 NBA Playoffs
The 1972 NBA Playoffs was the postseason tournament of the National Basketball Association's 1971–72 season. The tournament concluded with the Western Conference champion Los Angeles Lakers defeating the Eastern Conference champion New York Knicks, four games to one in the NBA Finals...
|-
| align="left" |CHI
| align="left" |
|82||51||31||.622|| align="center" |2nd in Midwest||7||3||4||.429
| align="center" |Lost in Conf. Semifinals
1973 NBA Playoffs
The 1973 NBA Playoffs was the postseason tournament of the National Basketball Association's 1972-1973 season. The tournament concluded with the Eastern Conference champion New York Knicks defeating the Western Conference champion Los Angeles Lakers, four games to one in the NBA Finals. The Knicks...
|-
| align="left" |CHI
| align="left" |
|82||54||28||.659|| align="center" |2nd in Midwest||11||4||7||.364
| align="center" |Lost in Conf. Finals
1974 NBA Playoffs
The 1974 NBA Playoffs was the postseason tournament of the National Basketball Association's 1973-1974 season. The tournament concluded with the Eastern Conference champion Boston Celtics defeating the Western Conference champion Milwaukee Bucks, four games to three in the NBA Finals...
|-
| align="left" |CHI
| align="left" |
|82||47||35||.573|| align="center" |1st in Midwest||13||7||6||.538
| align="center" |Lost in Conf. Finals
1975 NBA Playoffs
The 1975 NBA Playoffs was the postseason tournament of the National Basketball Association's 1974-1975 season. The tournament concluded with the Western Conference champion Golden State Warriors defeating the Eastern Conference champion Washington Bullets, four games to none in the NBA Finals...
|-
| align="left" |CHI
| align="left" |
|82||24||58||.293|| align="center" |4th in Midwest||—||—||—||—
| align="center" |Missed Playoffs
|-
| align="left" |WSH
Washington Wizards
The Washington Wizards are a professional basketball team based in Washington, D.C., previously known as Washington Bullets. They play in the National Basketball Association .-Early years:...
| align="left" |
|82||48||34||.585|| align="center" |2nd in Central||9||4||5||.444
| align="center" |Lost in Conf. Semifinals
1977 NBA Playoffs
The 1977 NBA Playoffs was the postseason tournament of the National Basketball Association's 1976-1977 season. The tournament concluded with the Western Conference champion Portland Trail Blazers defeating the Eastern Conference champion Philadelphia 76ers four games to two in the Finals. It was...
|-
| align="left" |WSH
| align="left" |
|82||44||38||.537|| align="center" |2nd in Central||21||14||7||.667
| align="center" |Won NBA Championship
1978 NBA Finals
-Series summary:Bullets win series 4-3-Game 1:The Bullets, behind Kevin Grevey's 27 and Elvin Hayes's 21 points, held a 19-point lead in the fourth quarter at the Seattle Center Coliseum. But, the Sonics staged a comeback in front of the home crowd, led by "instant offense" guard Fred Brown...
|-
| align="left" |WSH
| align="left" |
|82||54||28||.659|| align="center" |1st in Atlantic||19||9||10||.474
| align="center" |Lost in NBA Finals
1979 NBA Finals
The 1979 NBA World Championship Series at the conclusion of the 1978-79 season were won by the Seattle SuperSonics defeating the Washington Bullets 4 games to 1. The series was a rematch of the 1978 NBA Finals which the Washington Bullets had won 4-3...
|-
| align="left" |WSH
| align="left" |
|82||39||43||.476|| align="center" |3rd in Atlantic||2||0||2||.000
| align="center" |Lost in First Round
1980 NBA Playoffs
The 1980 NBA Playoffs were the postseason tournament of the National Basketball Association's 1979-1980 season. The tournament concluded with the Western Conference champion Los Angeles Lakers defeating the Eastern Conference champion Philadelphia 76ers four games to two in the Finals...
|-
| align="left" |DAL
Dallas Mavericks
The Dallas Mavericks are a professional basketball team based in Dallas, Texas. They are members of the Southwest Division of the Western Conference of the National Basketball Association , and the reigning NBA champions, having defeated the Miami Heat in the 2011 NBA Finals.According to a 2011...
| align="left" |
|82||15||67||.183|| align="center" |6th in Midwest||—||—||—||—
| align="center" |Missed Playoffs
|-
| align="left" |DAL
| align="left" |
|82||28||54||.341|| align="center" |5th in Midwest||—||—||—||—
| align="center" |Missed Playoffs
|-
| align="left" |DAL
| align="left" |
|82||38||44||.463|| align="center" |4th in Midwest||—||—||—||—
| align="center" |Missed Playoffs
|-
| align="left" |DAL
| align="left" |
|82||43||39||.524|| align="center" |2nd in Midwest||10||4||6||.400
| align="center" |Lost in Conf. Semifinals
1984 NBA Playoffs
The 1984 NBA Playoffs was the postseason tournament of the National Basketball Association's 1983-84 season. This was the first postseason allowing sixteen teams to qualify, a format that is still in use as of 2011...
|-
| align="left" |DAL
| align="left" |
|82||44||38||.537|| align="center" |3rd in Midwest||4||1||3||.250
| align="center" |Lost in First Round
1985 NBA Playoffs
The 1985 NBA Playoffs was the postseason tournament of the National Basketball Association's 1984-85 season. The tournament concluded with the Western Conference champion Los Angeles Lakers defeating the Eastern Conference champion Boston Celtics, four games to two, in the NBA Finals...
|-
| align="left" |DAL
| align="left" |
|82||44||38||.537|| align="center" |3rd in Midwest||10||5||5||.500
| align="center" |Lost in Conf. Semifinals
1986 NBA Playoffs
The 1986 NBA Playoffs was the postseason tournament of the National Basketball Association's 1985-86 season. The tournament concluded with the Eastern Conference champion Boston Celtics defeating the Western Conference champion Houston Rockets, four games to two, in the NBA Finals. The Celtics won...
|-
| align="left" |DAL
| align="left" |
|82||55||27||.671|| align="center" |1st in Midwest||4||1||3||.250
| align="center" |Lost in First Round
1987 NBA Playoffs
The 1987 NBA Playoffs was the postseason tournament of the National Basketball Association's 1986-1987 season. The tournament concluded with the Western Conference champion Los Angeles Lakers defeating the Eastern Conference champion Boston Celtics four games to two in the Finals...
|-
| align="left" |SAC
Sacramento Kings
The Sacramento Kings are a professional basketball team based in Sacramento, California, United States. They are currently members of the Western Conference of the National Basketball Association...
| align="left" |
|54||16||38||.296|| align="center" |7th in Pacific||—||—||—||—
| align="center" |Missed Playoffs
|-
| align="left" |SAC
| align="left" |
|82||25||57||.305|| align="center" |7th in Pacific||—||—||—||—
| align="center" |Missed Playoffs
|-
| align="left" |SAC
| align="left" |
|25||7||18||.280|| align="center" |(fired)||—||—||—||—
| align="center" |—
|-
| align="left" |DAL
| align="left" |
|61||36||46||.439|| align="center" |5th in Midwest||—||—||—||—
| align="center" |Missed Playoffs
|-
| align="left" |DAL
| align="left" |
|82||26||56||.317|| align="center" |5th in Midwest||—||—||—||—
| align="center" |Missed Playoffs
|-
| align="left" |DEN
Denver Nuggets
The Denver Nuggets are a professional basketball team based in Denver, Colorado. They play in the National Basketball Association . They were founded as the Denver Rockets in 1967 as a charter franchise of the American Basketball Association, and became one of that league's more successful teams...
| align="left" |
|69||17||52||.246|| align="center" |5th in Midwest||—||—||—||—
| align="center" |Missed Playoffs
|-class="sortbottom"
| align="left" |Career
| ||1952||935||1017||.479|| ||126||56||70||.444