William "Red" Holzman (August 10, 1920 – November 13, 1998) 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 ...

player and

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Co ...

. He is best known as the

head coach A head coach, senior coach or manager is a professional at training and developing athletes. They typically hold a more public profile and are paid more than other coaches. In some sports, the head coach is instead called the "manager", as in assoc ...

of the New York Knicks of 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 ...

(NBA) from 1967 to 1977, and again from 1978 to 1982. Holzman helped lead the Knicks to two

NBA championship The NBA Finals is the annual championship series of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The Eastern and Western Conference champions play a best-of-seven game series to determine the league champion. The team that wins the series is awa ...

s in 1970 and 1973, and was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1986. In 1996, Holzman was named one of the

Top 10 Coaches in NBA History The 50 Greatest Players in NBA History, also referred to as NBA's 50th Anniversary All-Time Team, were chosen in 1996 to honor the 50th anniversary of the founding of the National Basketball Association (NBA). It was the third anniversary team ...

Early career

Holzman was born in the Lower East Side of Manhattan in New York City, on August 10, 1920, to Jewish immigrant parents, as the son of a Romanian mother and Russian father. He grew up in Brooklyn's Ocean Hill– Brownsville neighborhood and played basketball for Franklin K. Lane High School in the mid-1930s. He attended the

University of Baltimore The University of Baltimore (UBalt, UB) is a public university in Baltimore, Maryland. It is part of the University System of Maryland. UBalt's schools and colleges provide education in business, law, public affairs, and the applied arts and sc ...

and later the City College of New York, where he played for two years until graduation in 1942. Holzman joined the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

in the same year, and played on the Norfolk, Virginia

Naval Base A naval base, navy base, or military port is a military base, where warships and naval ships are docked when they have no mission at sea or need to restock. Ships may also undergo repairs. Some naval bases are temporary homes to aircraft that u ...

team till he was discharged from the Navy in 1945.

Professional career

After the Navy, Holzman joined the NBL

Rochester Royals The Sacramento Kings are an American professional basketball team based in Sacramento, California. The Kings compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Western Conference Pacific Division. The Kings are the oldest ...

, which won the NBL championship in Holzman's first season, and he was named

Rookie A rookie is a person new to an occupation, profession, or hobby. In sports, a ''rookie'' is a professional athlete in their first season (or year). In contrast with a veteran who has experience and expertise, a rookie is usually inexperienced ...

of the Year in 1944–45. In 1945–46 and 1947–48 he was on the NBL's first All League team; in the interim year he was on its second team. Holzman stayed with the team through their move to the NBA and subsequent NBA championship in 1951. In 1953, Holzman left the Royals and joined the

Milwaukee 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 ...

as a player-coach, eventually retiring as a player in 1954 but continuing as the team's head coach.

Coaching career

During the 1956–1957 season, Holzman led the Hawks (then in

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...

) to 19 losses during their first 33 games, and was subsequently fired. He then became a scout for the New York Knicks for the next ten years, till 1967, whereupon he became the team's head coach for the most part until 1982. Holzman's former player,

Willis Reed Willis Reed Jr. (born June 25, 1942) is an American retired basketball player, coach and general manager. He spent his entire professional playing career (1964–1974) with the New York Knicks. In 1982, Reed was inducted into the Naismith Me ...

, replaced him as Knicks head coach in 1977, but Holzman returned near the start of the 1978–1979 season. During this 15-year span as Knicks' coach, Holzman won a total of 613 games, including two NBA championships in 1970 and 1973. In 1969, Holzman coached the Knicks to a then single-season NBA record 18-game win streak, breaking the 17-game record first set back in 1946. For his efforts leading up to the Knicks' 1970 championship win, Holzman was named the

NBA Coach of the Year The National Basketball Association's Coach of the Year is an annual National Basketball Association (NBA) award given since the 1962–63 NBA season. The winner receives the Red Auerbach Trophy, which is named in honor of the head coach who led ...

for that year. He won his second NBA championship as the Knicks won the

1973 NBA Finals The 1973 NBA World Championship Series was the championship series of the 1972–73 National Basketball Association (NBA) season, and the culmination of that season's playoffs. The Eastern Conference champion New York Knicks defeated the Weste ...

against the Lakers. He was one of very few individuals to have won an NBA championship as both player and coach. As a coach, his final record was 696 wins and 604 losses. At the time of his retirement in 1982, he had the second most career victories as a head coach in NBA history. In 1985, Holzman was elected into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. The New York Knicks have retired the number 613 in his honor, equaling the number of wins he accumulated as their head coach. He is also a member of the

International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame The International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame ( he, יד לאיש הספורט היהודי, translit=Yad Le'ish HaSport HaYehudi) was opened July 7, 1981 in Netanya, Israel. It honors Jewish athletes and their accomplishments from anywhere arou ...

. Holzman lived with his wife in a home they bought in

Cedarhurst, New York Cedarhurst is a village in the Town of Hempstead in Nassau County, on the South Shore of Long Island, in New York, United States. The population was 6,592 at the 2010 census. The Incorporated Village of Cedarhurst is located in the region of ...

in the 1950s. Following his lengthy NBA coaching career, Holzman was diagnosed with

leukemia Leukemia ( also spelled leukaemia and pronounced ) is a group of blood cancers that usually begin in the bone marrow and result in high numbers of abnormal blood cells. These blood cells are not fully developed and are called ''blasts'' or ...

and died at

Long Island Jewish Medical Center Long Island Jewish Medical Center (LIJMC or LIJ) is a clinical and academic hospital within the Northwell Health system. It is a 807-bed, non-profit tertiary care teaching hospital serving the greater New York metropolitan area. The campus is ...

New Hyde Park, New York New Hyde Park is a village in the Towns of Hempstead and North Hempstead in Nassau County, on Long Island, in New York, United States. It is the anchor community of the Greater New Hyde Park area. The population was 9,712 at the 2010 census. ...

in 1998. In 2000 a clock tower was erected in his honor at the intersection of Central Avenue and Cedarhurst Avenue in Cedarhurst as part of “Operation Downtown,” a project started by Nassau County presiding officer

Bruce Blakeman Bruce Arthur Blakeman (born October 2, 1955) is an American attorney and politician currently serving as the 10th County Executive of Nassau County, New York. He was elected in the 2021 election, defeating Democratic incumbent Laura Curran. He ...

and mayor Andy Parise.

Career statistics

BAA/NBA

Regular season

Playoffs

*Source:
Basketball Reference
'

College

*''Source

'

Head coaching record

, - , style="text-align:left;",

, style="text-align:left;", , 26, , 10, , 16, , .385, , style="text-align:center;", 4th Western, , —, , —, , —, , — , style="text-align:center;", Missed playoffs , - , style="text-align:left;",

, style="text-align:left;", , 72, , 26, , 46, , .361, , style="text-align:center;", 4th Western, , —, , —, , —, , — , style="text-align:center;", Missed playoffs , - , style="text-align:left;",

St. Louis 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 ...

, style="text-align:left;", , 72, , 33, , 39, , .458, , style="text-align:center;", 3rd Western, , 8, , 4, , 4, , .500 , style="text-align:center;", Lost in Western Division Finals , - , style="text-align:left;",

, style="text-align:left;", , 33, , 14, , 19, , .424, , style="text-align:center;", —, , —, , —, , —, , — , style="text-align:center;", — , - , style="text-align:left;", New York Knicks , style="text-align:left;", , 45, , 28, , 17, , .622, , style="text-align:center;", 3rd in Eastern, , 6, , 2, , 4, , .333 , style="text-align:center;", Lost in Eastern Division Semifinals , - , style="text-align:left;", New York Knicks , style="text-align:left;", , 82, , 54, , 28, , .659, , style="text-align:center;", 3rd in Eastern, , 10, , 6, , 4, , .600 , style="text-align:center;", Lost in Eastern Division Finals , - ! style="background:#FDE910;" , style="text-align:left;", New York Knicks , style="text-align:left;", , 82, , 60, , 22, , .732, , style="text-align:center;", 1st in Eastern, , 19, , 12, , 7, , .632 , style="text-align:center;", Won

NBA Championship The NBA Finals is the annual championship series of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The Eastern and Western Conference champions play a best-of-seven game series to determine the league champion. The team that wins the series is awa ...

, - , style="text-align:left;", New York Knicks , style="text-align:left;", , 82, , 52, , 30, , .634, , style="text-align:center;", 1st in Eastern, , 12, , 7, , 5, , .583 , style="text-align:center;", Lost in Conference Semifinals , - , style="text-align:left;", New York Knicks , style="text-align:left;", , 82, , 48, , 34, , .585, , style="text-align:center;", 2nd in Eastern, , 16, , 9, , 7, , .563 , style="text-align:center;", Lost in NBA Finals , - ! style="background:#FDE910;" , style="text-align:left;", New York Knicks , style="text-align:left;", , 82, , 57, , 25, , .695, , style="text-align:center;", 2nd in Eastern, , 17, , 12, , 5, , .706 , style="text-align:center;", Won

, - , style="text-align:left;", New York Knicks , style="text-align:left;", , 82, , 49, , 33, , .598, , style="text-align:center;", 2nd in Eastern, , 12, , 5, , 7, , .417 , style="text-align:center;", Lost in

Conference Finals Conference Finals may refer to: * NBA Conference Finals, National Basketball Association * NHL Conference Finals The National Hockey League (NHL) Conference Finals are the Eastern Conference and Western Conference championship series of the NHL. ...

, - , style="text-align:left;", New York Knicks , style="text-align:left;", , 82, , 40, , 42, , .488, , style="text-align:center;", 3rd in Eastern, , 3, , 1, , 2, , .333 , style="text-align:center;", Lost in First Round , - , style="text-align:left;", New York Knicks , style="text-align:left;", , 82, , 38, , 44, , .463, , style="text-align:center;", 4th in Eastern, , —, , —, , —, , — , style="text-align:center;", Missed playoffs , - , style="text-align:left;", New York Knicks , style="text-align:left;", , 82, , 40, , 42, , .488, , style="text-align:center;", 3rd in Eastern, , —, , —, , —, , — , style="text-align:center;", Missed playoffs , - , style="text-align:left;", New York Knicks , style="text-align:left;", , 68, , 25, , 43, , .368, , style="text-align:center;", 4th in Eastern, , —, , —, , —, , — , style="text-align:center;", Missed playoffs , - , style="text-align:left;", New York Knicks , style="text-align:left;", , 82, , 39, , 43, , .476, , style="text-align:center;", 4th in Eastern, , —, , —, , —, , — , style="text-align:center;", Missed playoffs , - , style="text-align:left;", New York Knicks , style="text-align:left;", , 82, , 50, , 32, , .610, , style="text-align:center;", 3rd in Eastern, , 2, , 0, , 2, , .000 , style="text-align:center;", Lost in First Round , - , style="text-align:left;", New York Knicks , style="text-align:left;", , 82, , 33, , 49, , .402, , style="text-align:center;", 5th in Eastern, , —, , —, , —, , — , style="text-align:center;", Missed playoffs , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:left;", Career , , , 1300, , 696, , 604, , .535, , , , 105, , 58, , 47, , .552 *''Source
Basketball Reference
'

Publications

* * * * * * * *

References

External links

*
Biography of Red Holzman

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Holzman, Red 1920 births 1998 deaths All-American college men's basketball players American men's basketball players American people of Romanian-Jewish descent American people of Russian-Jewish descent Baltimore Bees men's basketball players Basketball coaches from New York (state) Basketball players from New York City BSN coaches Deaths from cancer in New York (state) CCNY Beavers men's basketball players Deaths from leukemia International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame inductees Jewish American sportspeople Jewish men's basketball players Milwaukee Hawks players Milwaukee Hawks head coaches Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame inductees National Basketball Association championship-winning head coaches New York Knicks assistant coaches New York Knicks head coaches People from Cedarhurst, New York Player-coaches Rochester Royals players Sportspeople from Brooklyn Sportspeople from Nassau County, New York St. Louis Hawks head coaches Point guards United States Navy personnel of World War II 20th-century American Jews