Former Mavericks head coach Richie Adubato has died, according to a statement from his family over the weekend. He was 87.
Adubato compiled a 106-228 record at the Mavericks’ helm from 1989-93 after serving
as an assistant for head coaches Dick Motta and John Macleod starting in 1986. The New Jersey native was a head coach three times in the NBA; in Detroit, Dallas, and Orlando. With each club he inherited the head coaching spot after midseason firings of their previous coach, taking over for Dick Vitale with the Pistons in 1979 and Brian Hill with the Magic in 1996.
Dallas made the playoffs once in Adubato’s tenure, losing a first-round sweep to Portland in 1990. Adubato’s time as head coach overlapped with the beginning of some very lean times for the franchise, with the team having traded away forward Mark Aguirre the season before, and lost forward Roy Tarpley to suspension five games into Adubato’s second season in charge.
Adubato’s greatest professional coaching successes came in the WNBA, where he coached the New York Liberty to Finals appearances in 1999, 2000, and 2002, guiding the team to the Eastern Conference finals in 2001. He also coached the Washington Mystics from 2005-07. After his coaching career ended he was the Orlando Magic’s radio color analyst from 2015-20.
