Hall Of Fame Celtics Coach Bill Fitch Dies At 89
BOSTON (CBS) -- Bill Fitch, who coached the Boston Celtics to an NBA title in 1981, died Wednesday at the age of 89.
Fitch coached the Celtics from 1979-83, amassing a 242-86 record during the regular season and a 26-16 record in the playoffs. He spent 25 years as a head coach in the NBA and won 944 games, which is the 11th most all-time.
Fitch won Coach of the Year twice; in 1975-76 with the Cleveland Cavaliers and in his first season in Boston, when he led the Celtics to a 61-21 record in 1979-80. The Celtics had won just 29 games the season before Fitch arrived.
Larry Bird's arrival certainly helped the team's turnaround, but Fitch let his rookie star take over the team -- and the NBA. Boston lost to the 76ers in the Conference Finals in Fitch's first season, but after adding Kevin McHale and Robert Parish to the mix, the Celtics went on to defeat the Houston Rockets in the NBA Finals the following season.
The Celtics released the following statement on Fitch's passing:
Coming off of a 29-win season in 1979, the Celtics had experienced the two worst seasons in the team's history. But a promising rookie named Larry Bird was set to arrive, and Red Auerbach knew the franchise was at a critical crossroads. He decided to hire Bill Fitch as the head coach, and as was so often the case, Red made the right call. Fitch's deep knowledge of the game, toughness, and dry wit made him a perfect fit for Boston and the Celtics. Fitch had already built a reputation as a turnaround artist, and his ability to get the best out of his players paid immediate dividends as Fitch orchestrated what was at the time the best turnaround in NBA history, vaulting to a 61-21 record. An offseason trade brought Robert Parish and rookie Kevin McHale to Boston, and they paired with Bird and Cedric Maxwell to form a dominant frontcourt that Fitch led to the Celtics' 14th banner in 1981 and established a foundation for the team's brilliant championship run in the 1980s. His record in four years as head coach of the Celtic was a stellar 242-86, a .738 winning percentage. Fitch was enshrined in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2019. The Celtics family mourns his loss as we celebrate his legacy.
Fitch retired in 1998, and was inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 2019.