May 29, 2023
He is in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame as both a player and a coach as well as for being an assistant coach with the 1992 Olympic “Dream Team.” He played in the NBA for four teams over 15 years and was a nine-time All-Star and would later be named one of the 50 greatest players in NBA history. Before ending his playing career, he took on the role of player-coach with two different teams. As a full-time coach, he guided the Seattle Supersonics -- winning a championship in 1978-79 -- and then the Cleveland Cavaliers, the Atlanta Hawks, the Toronto Raptors, and the New York Knicks. In the midst of all that, he also coached the U.S. men's basketball team to a gold medal at the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta. He also served for nine years as vice president of the National Basketball Players Association, served as president of the NBA Coaches Association, held a number of jobs in the Supersonics’ front office, and served as a game analyst on basketball television broadcasts. He also wrote an autobiography called, "Unguarded: My Forty Years Surviving in the NBA."