Thomas Edward Nissalke (July 7, 1932 – August 22, 2019) was an American professional basketball coach in the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball 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 in the United St ...

and American Basketball Association. He coached several teams in both leagues, and had an overall coaching record of 371–508.

Coaching career

After a season with the

Dallas Chaparrals The Dallas Chaparrals were a charter member of the American Basketball Association (ABA). The team moved to San Antonio, Texas for the 1973–74 season and were renamed the San Antonio Spurs. The Spurs joined the National Basketball Association ...

(where he won ABA coach of the Year), Nissalke moved to the NBA with the Sonics for one season. He returned to the team, now in San Antonio, in 1973, bringing with him "a patterned, deliberate offense to San Antonio". During his tenure, the "Iceman" George Gervin had arrived from the Virginia Squires and was the center of the team. Though Nissalke's club was successful, he was fired in the beginning of the 1974–75 ABA season. Nissalke, who is a graduate of Florida State University, first got his start in coaching on the high school-prep level at the Wayland Academy in

Beaver Dam, Wisconsin Beaver Dam is a city in Dodge County, Wisconsin, United States, along Beaver Dam Lake and the Beaver Dam River. The population was 16,708 at the 2020 census, making it the largest city primarily located in Dodge County. It is the principal city ...

. He later worked his way onto the college ranks at the

University of Wisconsin A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, ...

and

Tulane Tulane University, officially the Tulane University of Louisiana, is a private research university in New Orleans, Louisiana. Founded as the Medical College of Louisiana in 1834 by seven young medical doctors, it turned into a comprehensive pub ...

High School Coaching Career

Nissalke started his coaching career at Wayland Academy as the varsity boys basketball coach when he was hired by Ray Patterson (basketball), his former coach. Nissalke coached there from 1957 until 1962 when he went on to the college ranks, thus advancing his career. He finished with an overall record of 49–41 at Wayland. 1957–58 Overall record 6–12 Conference record 5–9 1958–59 Overall record 13–5 1959–60 Overall record 9–9 1960–61 Overall record 12–5 Conference record 12–2 (conference champions) 1961–62 Overall record 9–10

Early pro coaching career

Nissalke then went to Utah with the ABA's

Stars A star is an astronomical object comprising a luminous spheroid of plasma held together by its gravity. The nearest star to Earth is the Sun. Many other stars are visible to the naked eye at night, but their immense distances from Earth ma ...

, but the club folded, surprisingly, at mid-season in the ABA's last hurrah in 1975–76. According t
Remember the ABA
he has the final game ball in his closet.

Later pro coaching career

Nissalke succeeded Johnny Egan as Houston Rockets head coach on April 20, 1976. He received another Coach of the Year in the NBA in 76–77). He later served in a similar capacity with the

Utah Jazz The Utah Jazz are an American professional basketball team based in Salt Lake City. The Jazz compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference (NBA), Western Conference, Northwest Division (NBA), ...

and Cleveland Cavaliers before retiring in 1985. Nissalke holds the rare distinction of being named "Coach of the Year" in both the NBA and the ABA. He was also the commissioner of the short-lived National Basketball League in Canada in 1993–94. He had a combined coaching record of 371–508 (248–391 in NBA and 123–117 in ABA), with an 11–20 playoff record. He went 105–91 with the Chaparrals/Spurs, 13–32 with the Sonics, 18–26 with the Utah Stars, 124–122 with the Rockets, 60–124 with the Jazz, and 51–113 with the Cavaliers. He made it out of the first round of the playoffs just once, in 1977.

Other Professional

Nissalke's entrepreneurial activities included developing and owning several health clubs throughout Texas in addition to co-owning a successful bar and restaurant, Green Street in Salt Lake City, Utah for over twenty years. After his coaching career, Nissalke took on revamping the YMCA of Utah and served as Chairman of the Board and later interim CEO. The YMCA had its most successful fundraising campaigns during his tenure.

Olympic Coaching

Nissalke was the coach of

Puerto Rico Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and unincorporated ...

at the

1976 Summer Olympics Events January * January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 11 – The 1976 P ...

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple ...

, finishing in 9th place with a 2–5 record. Nissalke's squad came close to upsetting the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

, losing by a 94–93 score.

Head coaching record

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Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

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Family life and personal

In January 2006, his wife of 46 years, Nancy, who also was a native of Madison, Wisconsin, died, succumbing to

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal b ...

. Together they had two children and two granddaughters. On August 22, 2019, Nissalke died at his home in Salt Lake City, Utah.

References

External links

BasketballReference.com: Tom Nissalke
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nissalke, Tom 1932 births 2019 deaths American expatriate basketball people in Canada American men's basketball coaches American men's basketball players Basketball coaches from Wisconsin Basketball players from Wisconsin BSN coaches Charlotte Hornets assistant coaches Cleveland Cavaliers head coaches Continental Basketball Association coaches Dallas Chaparrals head coaches Denver Nuggets assistant coaches Florida State Seminoles men's basketball players High school basketball coaches in the United States Houston Rockets head coaches National Basketball Association broadcasters San Antonio Spurs head coaches Seattle SuperSonics head coaches Sportspeople from Madison, Wisconsin Tulane Green Wave men's basketball coaches Utah Jazz head coaches Utah Stars coaches Wisconsin Badgers men's basketball coaches