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Red Holzman

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Red Holzman
Holzman in the 1970s
Personal information
Born(1920-08-10)August 10, 1920
New York City, U.S.
DiedNovember 13, 1998(1998-11-13) (aged 78)
New Hyde Park, New York, U.S.
Listed height5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)
Listed weight175 lb (79 kg)
Career information
High schoolFranklin K. Lane (New York City)
College
Playing career1945–1954
PositionPoint guard
Number10, 16
Coaching career1953–1982
Career history
As player:
1945–1953Rochester Royals
1953–1954Milwaukee Hawks
As coach:
1953–1957Milwaukee / St. Louis Hawks
1963–1967Leones de Ponce
1967–1977,
1978–1982		New York Knicks
Career highlights and awards
As player:

As coach:

Career BAA & NBA playing statistics
Points2,166 (6.1 ppg)
Rebounds344 (1.5 rpg)
Assists721 (2.0 apg)
Stats at NBA.com Edit this at Wikidata
Stats at Basketball Reference Edit this at Wikidata
Career coaching record
NBA696–603 (.536)
Record at Basketball Reference Edit this at Wikidata
Basketball Hall of Fame

William "Red" Holzman (August 10, 1920 – November 13, 1998) was an American professional basketball player and coach. He is best known as the head coach of the New York Knicks of the National Basketball Association (NBA) from 1967 to 1977, and again from 1978 to 1982. Holzman helped lead the Knicks to two NBA championships in 1970 and 1973, and was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1986.

In 1996, Holzman was named one of the Top 10 Coaches in NBA History.[1]

Early life

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William "Red" Holzman was born on August 10, 1920, in the Lower East Side of Manhattan in New York City,[2][3][4] to Jewish immigrant parents, as the son of a Romanian mother and Russian father.[5][6] He grew up in Brooklyn's Ocean Hill–Brownsville neighborhood[3] and played basketball for Franklin K. Lane High School in the mid-1930s.

College career

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Holzman attended the University of Baltimore and later the City College of New York, where he played for two years until graduation in 1942. Holzman joined the United States Navy in the same year, and played on the Norfolk, Virginia Naval Base team till he was discharged from the Navy in 1945.[4]

Professional career

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Rochester Royals (1945–1953)

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Holzman in 1950, when playing for the Rochester Royals.

After the Navy, Holzman joined the NBL Rochester Royals, which won the NBL championship in Holzman's first season, and he was named Rookie of the Year in 1944–45.[7] In 1945–46 and 1947–48 he was on the NBL's first All League team; in the interim year he was on its second team.[8] Holzman stayed with the team through their move to the NBA and subsequent NBA championship in 1951.

Milwaukee Hawks (1953–1954)

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In 1953, Holzman left the Royals and joined the Milwaukee Hawks as a player-coach, eventually retiring as a player in 1954 but continuing as the team's head coach.[3][4]

Coaching career

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Milwaukee / St. Louis Hawks (1953–1957)

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During the 1956–1957 season, Holzman led the Hawks (then in St. Louis, Missouri) to 19 losses during their first 33 games, and was subsequently fired.[3][4]

Leones de Ponce (1963–1967)

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Holzman coached Leones de Ponce from 1963 to 1967, winning three consecutive championships from 1964 to 1966.

New York Knicks (1967–1977, 1978–1982)

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After being fired by the Hawks, Holzman then became a scout for the New York Knicks for the next ten years, till 1967, whereupon he became the team's head coach for the most part until 1982.[3] Holzman's former player, Willis Reed, replaced him as Knicks head coach in 1977, but Holzman returned near the start of the 1978–1979 season. During this 15-year span as Knicks' coach, Holzman won a total of 613 games, including two NBA championships in 1970 and 1973.[3]

In 1969, Holzman coached the Knicks to a then single-season NBA record 18-game win streak, breaking the 17-game record first set back in 1946. For his efforts leading up to the Knicks' 1970 championship win, Holzman was named the NBA Coach of the Year for that year. He won his second NBA championship as the Knicks won the 1973 NBA Finals against the Lakers.[9] He was one of very few individuals to have won an NBA championship as both player and coach. As a coach, his final record was 696 wins and 604 losses. At the time of his retirement in 1982, he had the second most career victories as a head coach in NBA history.[10]

Post-playing career

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In 1985, Holzman was elected into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. The New York Knicks have retired the number 613 in his honor, equaling the number of wins he accumulated as their head coach.[3] He is also a member of the International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame[10] and the New York City Basketball Hall of Fame.

Personal life

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Holzman lived with his wife in a home they bought in Cedarhurst, New York in the 1950s. Following his lengthy NBA coaching career, Holzman was diagnosed with leukemia and died at Long Island Jewish Medical Center in New Hyde Park, New York in 1998.[3] In 2000, a clock tower was erected in his honor at the intersection of Central Avenue and Cedarhurst Avenue in Cedarhurst as part of “Operation Downtown,” a project started by Nassau County presiding officer Bruce Blakeman and mayor Andy Parise.

Career statistics

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BAA/NBA

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Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game
 FG%  Field goal percentage  3P%  3-point field goal percentage  FT%  Free throw percentage
 RPG  Rebounds per game  APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game
 BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game  Bold  Career high
 †  Won an NBA championship

Regular season

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Year Team GP MPG FG% FT% RPG APG PPG
1948–49 Rochester 60 – .326 .611 – 2.5 9.1
1949–50 Rochester 68 – .330 .686 – 2.9 8.2
1950–51† Rochester 68 – .326 .726 2.2 2.2 7.3
1951–52 Rochester 65 16.4 .280 .718 1.6 1.8 4.1
1952–53 Rochester 46 8.5 .255 .711 .9 .8 2.2
1953–54 Milwaukee 51 12.7 .330 .658 .9 1.5 3.8
Career 358 13.0 .317 .682 1.5 2.0 6.1

Playoffs

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Year Team GP MPG FG% FT% RPG APG PPG
1949 Rochester 4 – .450 .833 – 3.3 10.3
1950 Rochester 2 – .333 .500 – .0 3.5
1951† Rochester 14 – .408 .676 1.4 1.4 6.1
1952 Rochester 6 10.8 .200 .167 1.0 .3 1.2
1953 Rochester 2 7.0 .200 .250 .5 .5 1.5
Career 28 9.9 .386 .596 1.2 1.3 5.1

College

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Year Team GP PPG
1940–41 CCNY 21 10.9
1941–42 CCNY 18 12.5
Career 39 11.6

Head coaching record

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Legend
Regular season G Games coached W Games won L Games lost W–L % Win–loss %
Playoffs PG Playoff games PW Playoff wins PL Playoff losses PW–L % Playoff win–loss %
Team Year G W L W–L% Finish PG PW PL PW–L% Result
Milwaukee Hawks 1953–54 26 10 16 .385 4th Western — — — — Missed playoffs
Milwaukee Hawks 1954–55 72 26 46 .361 4th Western — — — — Missed playoffs
St. Louis Hawks 1955–56 72 33 39 .458 3rd Western 8 4 4 .500 Lost in Western Division finals
St. Louis Hawks 1956–57 33 14 19 .424 — — — — — —
New York Knicks 1967–68 45 28 17 .622 3rd in Eastern 6 2 4 .333 Lost in Eastern Division semifinals
New York Knicks 1968–69 82 54 28 .659 3rd in Eastern 10 6 4 .600 Lost in Eastern Division finals
New York Knicks 1969–70 82 60 22 .732 1st in Eastern 19 12 7 .632 Won NBA Championship
New York Knicks 1970–71 82 52 30 .634 1st in Eastern 12 7 5 .583 Lost in Conference semifinals
New York Knicks 1971–72 82 48 34 .585 2nd in Eastern 16 9 7 .563 Lost in NBA Finals
New York Knicks 1972–73 82 57 25 .695 2nd in Eastern 17 12 5 .706 Won NBA Championship
New York Knicks 1973–74 82 49 33 .598 2nd in Eastern 12 5 7 .417 Lost in Conference finals
New York Knicks 1974–75 82 40 42 .488 3rd in Eastern 3 1 2 .333 Lost in First round
New York Knicks 1975–76 82 38 44 .463 4th in Eastern — — — — Missed playoffs
New York Knicks 1976–77 82 40 42 .488 3rd in Eastern — — — — Missed playoffs
New York Knicks 1978–79 68 25 43 .368 4th in Eastern — — — — Missed playoffs
New York Knicks 1979–80 82 39 43 .476 4th in Eastern — — — — Missed playoffs
New York Knicks 1980–81 82 50 32 .610 3rd in Eastern 2 0 2 .000 Lost in First round
New York Knicks 1981–82 82 33 49 .402 5th in Eastern — — — — Missed playoffs
Career 1300 696 604 .535 105 58 47 .552

Publications

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  • Holzman, Red (1970). The Red Holzman Pro Basketball Guide 70-71. Aurora Publishers. OCLC 423856.
  • Holzman, Red (1971). The Knicks. Dodd, Mead & Co. ISBN 978-0-396-06342-1.
  • Holzman, Red; Lewin, Leonard (1973). Holzman's Basketball: Winning Strategy and Tactics (1st ed.). The Macmillan Company. ISBN 978-0-0255-3500-8.
  • Holzman, Red (1974). Defense! Defense!. Warner Paperback Library. ISBN 978-0-446-78498-6.
  • Holzman, Red (1980). A View from the Bench (1st ed.). W. W. Norton & Company. ISBN 978-0-393-33623-8.
  • Holzman, Red (1987). Red on Red: The Autobiography of Red Holzman. Bantam Books. ISBN 978-0-553-27316-8.
  • Holzman, Red (1991). Holzman on Hoops: The Man Who Led the Knicks Through Two World Championships Tells It Like It Was. Taylor Publishing Company. ISBN 978-0-878-33745-3.
  • Holzman, Red; Lewin, Leonard (1993). My Unforgettable Season 1970 (1st ed.). Tor Books. ISBN 978-0-312-85453-9.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Top 10 Coaches in NBA History". NBA.com. Archived from the original on July 5, 2018. Retrieved March 14, 2008.
  2. ^ Holzman, Red; Frommer, Harvey (1987). Red on Red. Bantam Books. p. 6. ISBN 9780553052251. Retrieved August 9, 2021.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h Berkow, Ira (November 15, 1998). "Red Holzman, Hall of Fame Coach, Dies at 78". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved August 7, 2020.
  4. ^ a b c d "Holzman, William | Encyclopedia.com". www.encyclopedia.com. Retrieved October 5, 2019.
  5. ^ Othello Harris, George Kirsch; Claire Nolte (April 2000). Encyclopedia of Ethnicity and Sports in the United States. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 222. ISBN 0-313-29911-0.
  6. ^ Blevins, David (2012). The Sports Hall of Fame Encyclopedia: Baseball, Basketball, Football, Hockey, Soccer. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 452. ISBN 978-0-8108-6130-5.
  7. ^ Dimitry, Steve (1998). "Extinct Sports Leagues: National Basketball League (1937–1949)". Archived from the original on August 18, 2005.
  8. ^ "Steve Dimitry's NBL Web Site". Archived from the original on August 18, 2005. Retrieved October 25, 2009.
  9. ^ Dadhania, Vivek (May 10, 2019). "On This Date: Knicks win the 1973 NBA Finals". Knicks Film School. Retrieved December 21, 2019.
  10. ^ a b "William "Red" Holzman". www.jewishsports.net. Retrieved August 8, 2020.

Further reading

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  • Zachter, Mort (2019). Red Holzman: The Life and Legacy of a Hall of Fame Basketball Coach. Sports Publishing. ISBN 978-1-683-58288-5.
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