Ronald L. Rothstein (born December 27, 1942) is an American former 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 and

college basketball In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athleti ...

player, who has led many different NBA teams. He served as the first head coach for 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 ...

, and later coached the

Detroit Pistons The Detroit Pistons are an American professional basketball team based in Detroit. The Pistons compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division and play their home games at L ...

. He has also coached in the

Women's National Basketball Association The Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) is an American professional basketball league. It is composed of twelve teams, all based in the United States. The league was founded on April 22, 1996, as the women's counterpart to the Natio ...

(WNBA). In 2007-08, he also filled in for

Pat Riley Patrick James Riley (born March 20, 1945) is an American professional basketball executive, former coach, and former player in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He has been the team president of the Miami Heat since 1995, and he also se ...

as an interim coach for the Heat.

Early life

Born in Bronxville, New York, Rothstein graduated from Roosevelt High School of

Yonkers, New York Yonkers () is a city in Westchester County, New York, United States. Developed along the Hudson River, it is the third most populous city in the state of New York, after New York City and Buffalo. The population of Yonkers was 211,569 as en ...

in 1960 and played college basketball at the

University of Rhode Island The University of Rhode Island (URI) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Kingston, Rhode Island, United States. It is the flagship public research as well as the land-grant university of the state of Rhode Isla ...

for the Rams. At Rhode Island, Rothstein was team captain as a senior and graduated in 1964 with a degree in

physical education Physical education, often abbreviated to Phys Ed. or P.E., is a subject taught in schools around the world. It is usually taught during primary and secondary education, and encourages psychomotor learning by using a play and movement explorat ...

. In 1966, Rothstein earned his master's in physical education from Hunter College.

Family

Ron Rothstein has a wife, Olivia, two children, Dana and David, and four grandchildren, Lucas, Hailey, Aidan, and Ava Jade.

Career

Rothstein began his coaching career in 1966 at Eastchester High School in

Eastchester, New York Eastchester is a town in southern Westchester County, New York, United States. The population was over 34,641 at the 2020 United States census over 32,363 at the 2010 census. There are two villages within the town: Bronxville and Tuckahoe. The ...

and would remain until 1976. During the summer of 1967, he was the athletic director at Camp Ma-Ho-Ge in

Bethel, New York :''This is the article about the Sullivan County, New York town. For the Dutchess County, New York hamlet, see Bethel, Pine Plains'' Bethel is a town in Sullivan County, New York, United States. The population was estimated at 4,255 in 2010. The ...

. He then became assistant coach at

NCAA Division III NCAA Division III (D-III) is a division of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States. D-III consists of athletic programs at colleges and universities that choose not to offer athletic scholarships to their st ...

Upsala College Upsala College (UC) was a private college affiliated with the Swedish-American Augustana Synod (later the Augustana Evangelical Lutheran Church) and located in East Orange in Essex County, New Jersey in the United States. Upsala was founded in ...

for one season and then worked as head coach at

New Rochelle High School New Rochelle High School (NRHS) is a public high school in New Rochelle, New York. It is part of the City School District of New Rochelle and is the city's sole public high school. Its student body represents 60 countries from around the world. I ...

of New Rochelle, New York from 1976 to 1978. Rothstein returned to Eastchester High for the 1978–79 season and coached varsity basketball and physical education thru June 1983.Ron Rothstein Named Assistant Coach
/ref> In 1979, Rothstein signed as a scout 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 ...

and was named assistant coach in July 1983. He was signed as an assistant for the

in 1986 before becoming the first coach in Heat history (1988). Rothstein coached the Heat for three seasons, never leading them to a winning record. Rothstein became a television commentator for the Pistons as well as for the NBA on NBC all during the 1990-91 season. Detroit eventually hired him as their head coach for a season, but he was eventually fired. In 1993, he was hired as an assistant coach for the Cleveland Cavaliers, where he stayed six seasons. In 2000, he was hired as head coach and general manager for the WNBA's Miami Sol, where he stayed during the franchise's entire existence (2000–2003). In 2003, he was hired by the Indiana Pacers as an assistant coach. Rothstein would eventually return to the Heat as an assistant. On January 3, 2007, Rothstein was named as the interim head coach of the Miami Heat in place of

, who took a leave of absence for knee and hip surgery.ESPN - Riley to have surgery on right knee - NBA
/ref>

Head coaching record

NBA

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Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 at ...

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Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at t ...

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MIA Mia, MIA, or M.I.A. may refer to: Music Artists * M.I.A. (rapper) (born 1975), English rapper and singer * M.I.A. (band), 1980s punk rock band from Orange County, California * MIA., a German rock/pop band formed in 1997 * Mia (singer) (born 1983) ...

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References

External links

WNBA.com coach file: Ron Rothstein

NBA.com coach file: Ron Rothstein
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rothstein, Ron 1942 births Living people American basketball scouts American men's basketball coaches American men's basketball players American women's basketball coaches Atlanta Hawks assistant coaches Atlanta Hawks scouts Basketball coaches from New York (state) Basketball players from New York (state) Cleveland Cavaliers assistant coaches Detroit Pistons assistant coaches Detroit Pistons head coaches High school basketball coaches in the United States Hunter College alumni Indiana Pacers assistant coaches Jewish American sportspeople Jewish men's basketball players Miami Heat assistant coaches Miami Heat head coaches Miami Sol coaches People from Bronxville, New York Rhode Island Rams men's basketball players Sportspeople from Yonkers, New York Upsala Vikings men's basketball coaches Women's National Basketball Association executives 21st-century American Jews