Rick Adelman, the 11th head coach in Rockets history, is in his third season with the team.
With the Rockets ending the year surprisingly in the thick of playoff contention, Rockets owner Leslie Alexander said Thursday he was going to extend the contract of Rockets coach Rick Adelman in the coming weeks.
Adelman, whose winning percentage with the Rockets is better than any coach in franchise history, had gone into his third season with the Rockets in the final guaranteed of year of his contract, with the Rockets intending to address his contract situation in the off-season.
“I’m going to pick up his option,” Alexander said. “We’re going to do it soon, relatively soon.
“I think he’s done a terrific job. He’s taken a team that has lost two key starters and he melded the team and he’s won. That’s what we want here. He’s very self-effacing. He only cares about — which I love — is the team and winning.”
Alexander did not have a precise timetable for making the move, but said it would be done by the All Star break. He had not told Adelman of his plans.
“I didn’t know anything about that,” Adelman said. “I figured it would play itself out and we’d see how we did. I said at the start of the year I thought we had two really good years with everything that went on. I was always concerned more about my assistant coaches and what their situation is because their contracts are up at the end of the year.
“I’ve been doing this a long time. Sometimes you keep your job for whatever reasons and sometimes you lose a job for no reason. If the team does well, things take care of themselves. I’ve always told players that. If we do well as a team, people will all get more credit.”
The Rockets went into Thursday’s game 19-13, seventh in the Western Conference. In his three seasons with the Rockets, Adelman had gone 127-69 despite frequent injuries to Yao Ming and Tracy McGrady. He is 879-550 in 19 seasons as an NBA coach, moving to 11th in career coaching victories and taking two teams to the NBA Finals.
The Rockets advance to the conference semifinals last season for the first time since 1997. In his first season with the Rockets, the Rockets had a 22-game winning streak, the second longest in NBA history, despite losing Yao Ming for the season 12 games into the streak.
“It’s well-deserved, very much well-deserved,” Rockets center and co-captain Chuck Hayes said. “For him to come in and lead this organization and the teams he’s had since he’s been here has been great. The first year, we went on a winning streak. The second year, we advanced to the second round of the playoffs and take the champions to seven games. This year what we’re doing with team, how everybody was doubting us, he has taken the guys he has and make us play as a team and win, he is well deserving of them picking up his option.”
Alexander said that he had decided to pick up the option on Adelman’s contract based on his coaching, but also praised how Adelman handled Tracy McGrady’s comeback attempt and the team’s eventual decision to try to grant McGrady’s trade request.
“When I read his comments all t he time, I couldn’t help but think this is the truth. There is nothing that was in any way protective or trying to obfuscate. He was just saying what was the reality. He wants as a coach to win every night and Tracy wasn’t ready to participate in that.”
McGrady, granted a leave of absence on Monday, likely will not be back. Alexander had decided to make Adelman will be.
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