Charles Stanley Albeck (May 17, 1931 – March 25, 2021) was an American professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

coach. Albeck coached for several teams in the

American Basketball Association The American Basketball Association (ABA) was a major men's professional basketball league from 1967 to 1976. The ABA ceased to exist with the American Basketball Association–National Basketball Association merger in 1976, leading to four A ...

(ABA) and

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball sports league, league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues i ...

(NBA), including the

Denver Rockets Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the United ...

, the San Diego Conquistadors, (often subbing for an absent

Wilt Chamberlain Wilton Norman Chamberlain (; August 21, 1936 – October 12, 1999) was an American professional basketball player who played as a center. Standing at tall, he played in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for 14 years and is widely reg ...

), the

Cleveland Cavaliers The Cleveland Cavaliers (often referred to as the Cavs) are an American professional basketball team based in Cleveland. The Cavaliers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference (NBA), Ea ...

, the

San Antonio Spurs The San Antonio Spurs are an American professional basketball team based in San Antonio. The Spurs compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Southwest Division. The team plays its home ...

, the

New Jersey Nets New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator ...

, and the

Chicago Bulls The Chicago Bulls are an American professional basketball team based in Chicago. The Bulls compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division. The team was founded on Januar ...

Early life

Albeck was born in

Chenoa, Illinois Chenoa is a city in McLean County, Illinois, United States. The population was 1,695 at the 2020 census. The city is located at the intersections of Interstate 55, Historic Route 66, and U.S. Route 24. Founded in 1854 by Mathew T. Scott, C ...

, on May 17, 1931. He attended Chenoa High School in his hometown. He subsequently obtained a bachelor's degree at

Bradley University Bradley University is a private university in Peoria, Illinois. Founded in 1897, Bradley University enrolls 5,400 students who are pursuing degrees in more than 100 undergraduate programs and more than 30 graduate programs in five colleges. The ...

in 1955 and his master's at

Michigan State University Michigan State University (Michigan State, MSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the fi ...

in 1957.''Who's Who in the World'' 1987–1988 edition. p. 14

Coaching career

Albeck began his coaching at

Adrian College Adrian College is a private liberal arts college in Adrian, Michigan. The college offers bachelor's degrees in 92 academic majors and programs. The 100 acre (0.40 km2) campus contains newly constructed facilities along with historic buildi ...

Adrian, Michigan Adrian is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan and the county seat of Lenawee County. The population was 20,645 at the 2020 census. Adrian lies in Michigan's 7th congressional district. History Adrian was founded on June 18, 1826 by Addison ...

. His next head coaching job was at

Northern Michigan University Northern Michigan University (Northern Michigan, Northern or NMU) is a public university in Marquette, Michigan. It was established in 1899 by the Michigan Legislature as Northern State Normal School. In 1963, the state designated Northern a uni ...

. Albeck was head coach at the

University of Denver The University of Denver (DU) is a private research university in Denver, Colorado. Founded in 1864, it is the oldest independent private university in the Rocky Mountain Region of the United States. It is classified among "R1: Doctoral Univ ...

from 1968 to 1970. He was the head coach of the

during most of the 1970–1971 season. The Rockets had begun the season under head coach Joe Belmont, but Belmont was fired after the team lost 10 of its first 13 games. Albeck replaced Belmont as the Rockets' head coach.Remember the ABA: Denver Rockets
/ref> The Rockets went 27–44 under Albeck to finish the season with a record of 30 wins and 54 losses. They tied the

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for fourth place in the Western Division (28 games behind the

Indiana Pacers The Indiana Pacers are an American professional basketball team based in Indianapolis. The Pacers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division. The Pacers were first est ...

) and on April 1, 1971 lost a one-game playoff to the Chaparrals, 115–109, to determine who would advance into the ABA Western Division semifinals. During the season Denver's average home attendance dropped to 4,139 fans per game from 6,281 the year before. One week after the playoff loss, on April 8, 1971, Albeck was replaced by

Alex Hannum Alexander Murray Hannum (July 19, 1923 – January 18, 2002) was a professional basketball player and coach. Hannum coached two National Basketball Association (NBA) teams and one American Basketball Association (ABA) team to league championships ...

as Denver's head coach. Hannum resigned as coach of the San Diego Rockets to become the Rockets' head coach, general manager and president. Albeck then became player personnel director for the Rockets. During the 1972–1973 season Albeck was an assistant coach for the San Diego Conquistadors under head coach K.C. Jones. Albeck also served as director of player personnel for the Conquistadors. During most of the 1973–74 season, he served under 'Qs' head coach Wilt Chamberlain. Chamberlain missed a few games, during which Albeck filled in as the Conquistadors' head coach, winning all of them. Albeck was an assistant coach for the

Kentucky Colonels The Kentucky Colonels were a member of the American Basketball Association for all of the league's nine years. The name is derived from the historic Kentucky colonels. The Colonels won the most games and had the highest winning percentage of ...

during the 1974–1975 season in which the team won the 1975 ABA Championship. He returned as an assistant coach with the Colonels during their final season in 1975–1976. Albeck served as assistant coach of the Los Angeles Lakers from 1976 until 1979. He went on to become head coach of the

from 1979 to 1980. He was the

' head coach for three seasons from 1980 to 1983. During his tenure, he won NBA Coach of the Month in March 1983. After the Spurs job, Albeck was the head coach of the

from 1983 until 1985. Albeck subsequently served as head coach of the

for one season. He and general manager

Jerry Krause Jerome Richard Krause (April 6, 1939 – March 21, 2017) was an American sports scout and executive who was the general manager of the Chicago Bulls in the National Basketball Association (NBA) from 1985 to 2003. His tenure with the B ...

immediately butted heads over issues including his refusal to put

Phil Jackson Philip Douglas Jackson (born September 17, 1945) is an American former professional basketball player, coach, and executive. A power forward, Jackson played 12 seasons in the NBA, winning NBA championships with the New York Knicks in 1970 and ...

on his coaching staff, not benching

Quintin Dailey Quintin "Q" Dailey (January 22, 1961 – November 8, 2010) was an American professional basketball player. A 6'3" guard who played collegiately at the University of San Francisco, he later went on to a career in the NBA, playing for the Chicago ...

for conduct issues, and most of all, not following the minutes restrictions set once

Michael Jordan Michael Jeffrey Jordan (born February 17, 1963), also known by his initials MJ, is an American businessman and former professional basketball player. His biography on the official NBA website states: "By acclamation, Michael Jordan is the g ...

returned from injury. His exit from Chicago raised eyebrows around the NBA as his replacement, Doug Collins, had been hired by general manager Jerry Krause just 2 months beforehand as a scout. The hire of Collins was kept a secret from Albeck, who was "stunned" by the move and felt that there was "a lack of respect, dignity and sensitivity". At the time of his dismissal, he had the fourth-best record among active NBA coaches. His all-time coaching percentages was .535 in his 7 years as a head coach in the NBA. Albeck went on to serve as head coach for

, his alma mater, from 1986 through 1991. During his tenure, the team finished the 1988 regular season in first place. They were also champions of the Missouri Valley Conference tournament and advanced to the NCAA tournament that same year. Albeck was a member of the

Sigma Chi Sigma Chi () International Fraternity is one of the largest North American fraternal literary societies. The fraternity has 244 active (undergraduate) chapters and 152 alumni chapters across the United States and Canada and has initiated more tha ...

Fraternity A fraternity (from Latin ''frater'': "brother"; whence, "brotherhood") or fraternal organization is an organization, society, club or fraternal order traditionally of men associated together for various religious or secular aims. Fraternity in ...

, as well as a Significant Sig and a member of their Significant Sig Hall of Fame. After serving as an assistant coach for the

Atlanta Hawks The Atlanta Hawks are an American professional basketball team based in Atlanta. The Hawks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Southeast Division. The team plays its home games at ...

, Albeck was an assistant coach for the

Toronto Raptors The Toronto Raptors are a Canadian professional basketball team based in Toronto. The Raptors compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference (NBA), Eastern Conference Atlantic Division (NBA) ...

. He suffered a debilitating stroke in December 2001, approximately half an hour before a home game against the

Miami Heat The Miami Heat are an American professional basketball team based in Miami. The Heat compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Southeast Division. The club plays its home games at FT ...

. This left him partially paralyzed and forced him to retire. He remained in rehabilitation until his death. He often attended games at

AT&T Center AT&T Center is a list of indoor arenas, multi-purpose indoor arena on the east side of San Antonio, Texas, United States. It is the home of the San Antonio Spurs of the National Basketball Association. The arena seats 18,418 for basketball, and ...

with his son.

Personal life

Albeck married Phyllis L. Mann in 1952. Together, they had five children. They remained married until her death in 2017. Shortly after being placed in hospice care, Albeck died March 25, 2021, at the age of 89. He had suffered a stroke two weeks prior to his death.

Head coaching record

NBA

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SAS SAS or Sas may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * ''SAS'' (novel series), a French book series by Gérard de Villiers * ''Shimmer and Shine'', an American animated children's television series * Southern All Stars, a Japanese rock ba ...

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first round First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1). First or 1st may also refer to: * World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement Arts and media Music * 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and rec ...

, - , align="left" ,

CHI Chi or CHI may refer to: Greek *Chi (letter), the Greek letter (uppercase Χ, lowercase χ); Chinese * ''Chi'' (length) (尺), a traditional unit of length, about ⅓ meter * Chi (mythology) (螭), a dragon * Chi (surname) (池, pinyin: ''chí ...

, align="left" , , 82, , 30, , 52, , .366, , align="center" , 4th in Central, , 3, , 0, , 3, , .000 , align="center" , Lost in

, -class="sortbottom" , align="left" , Career , , , 574, , 307, , 267, , .535, , , , 44, , 18, , 26, , .409 Source:

References

External links

BasketballReference.com: Stan Albeck

{{DEFAULTSORT:Albeck, Stan 1931 births 2021 deaths Adrian Bulldogs men's basketball coaches American Basketball Association executives American expatriate basketball people in Canada American men's basketball coaches American men's basketball players Atlanta Hawks assistant coaches Basketball coaches from Illinois Basketball players from Illinois Bradley Braves men's basketball coaches Bradley Braves men's basketball players Chicago Bulls head coaches Cleveland Cavaliers head coaches College men's basketball head coaches in the United States Denver Pioneers men's basketball coaches Denver Rockets head coaches Guards (basketball) Kentucky Colonels coaches Los Angeles Lakers assistant coaches Michigan State University alumni New Jersey Nets assistant coaches New Jersey Nets head coaches Northern Michigan Wildcats men's basketball coaches People from Chenoa, Illinois San Antonio Spurs head coaches San Diego Conquistadors coaches San Diego Conquistadors executives Toronto Raptors assistant coaches