Bill Fitch
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born |
May 19, 1934 Davenport, Iowa |
| Nationality | American |
| Career information | |
| High school | Cedar Rapids (Cedar Rapids, Iowa) |
| College | Coe (1950–1954) |
| Coaching career | 1956–1998 |
| Career history | |
| As coach: | |
| 1956–1958 | Creighton (assistant) |
| 1958–1962 | Coe |
| 1962–1967 | North Dakota |
| 1967–1968 | Bowling Green |
| 1968–1970 | Minnesota |
| 1970–1979 | Cleveland Cavaliers |
| 1979–1983 | Boston Celtics |
| 1983–1988 | Houston Rockets |
| 1989–1992 | New Jersey Nets |
| 1994–1998 | Los Angeles Clippers |
| Career highlights and awards | |
William Charles "Bill" Fitch (born May 19, 1934) is an American former National Basketball Association (NBA) coach who had been successful in developing a number of teams into playoff contenders. Before entering the professional ranks, he coached college basketball at the University of Minnesota, Bowling Green State University, the University of North Dakota, and his alma mater, Coe College. Fitch's teams twice qualified for the NCAA tournament. He won the Chuck Daly Lifetime Achievement Award for the 2012–13 NBA season.
Fitch was a U.S. Marine Corps drill instructor, a fact that Larry Bird credited in his book Drive: The Story of My Life as an important reason for Bird's own strong work ethic.
During his 25-year pro coaching career, Fitch was often hired in an attempt to improve failing teams. Although Fitch currently ranks tenth among NBA coaches in all-time number of victories (with 944), he is also ranked second in all-time losses (with 1,106) behind Lenny Wilkens.
He was awarded as the NBA's Coach of the Year Award twice and he guided Bird, Kevin McHale, Robert Parish and the rest of the Boston Celtics to the 1981 NBA championship, defeating the Houston Rockets 4 games to 2 in the finals. From Boston, Fitch went on to coach the Rockets where he led a team featuring Hakeem Olajuwon and Ralph Sampson to the 1986 NBA Finals where they were defeated once again by Bird's Celtics, 4 games to 2, for the NBA championship. Fitch also coached the Cleveland Cavaliers from its inception in 1970 to 1979, as well as the New Jersey Nets and Los Angeles Clippers. In 1996 Fitch was named one of the NBA's Ten Greatest Coaches of All-Time.
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