Red Holzman in the 1970s
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Personal information | |
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Born |
Brooklyn, New York |
August 10, 1920
Died | November 13, 1998 New Hyde Park, New York |
(aged 78)
Listed height | 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) |
Listed weight | 175 lb (79 kg) |
Career information | |
High school |
Franklin K. Lane (New York City, New York) |
College | |
Playing career | 1945–1954 |
Position | Point guard |
Number | 10, 16 |
Career history | |
As player: | |
1945–1953 | Rochester Royals |
1953–1954 | Milwaukee Hawks |
As coach: | |
1954–1957 | Milwaukee / St. Louis Hawks |
1957–1967 | New York Knicks (assistant) |
1963–1967 | Leones de Ponce |
1967–1977 1978–1982 |
New York Knicks |
Career highlights and awards | |
As player:
As coach:
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Basketball Hall of Fame as coach |
As player:
As coach:
William "Red" Holzman (August 10, 1920 – November 13, 1998) was an NBA basketball player and coach probably best known as the head coach of the New York Knicks from 1967 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 Top 10 Coaches in NBA History.
Born in Brooklyn, New York in 1920, to Jewish immigrant parents, as the son of a Romanian mother and Russian father. Holzman grew up in that borough's Ocean Hill–Brownsville neighborhood and played basketball for Franklin K. Lane High School in the mid-1930s. He 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 for two years.
Holzman was discharged from the Navy in 1945 and subsequently joined the NBL Rochester Royals, which won the NBL championship in Holzman's first season. Holzman was Rookie of the Year in 1944–45. 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. Holzman stayed with the team through their move to the NBA and subsequent NBA championship in 1951. 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. 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.