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Horace Albert Brightman (September 22, 1923 – June 10, 1992) was an American professional basketball player and coach. Brightman played for the
Boston Celtics The Boston Celtics ( ) are an American professional basketball team based in Boston. The Celtics compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Atlantic Division. Founded in 1946 as one of t ...
of the
Basketball Association of America The Basketball Association of America (BAA) was a professional basketball league in North America, founded in 1946. Following its third season, 1948–49, the BAA absorbed most of National Basketball League (NBL) and rebranded as the National Ba ...
during the 1946–47 season. He served as a player-coach for the Seattle Athletics of the
Pacific Coast Professional Basketball League The Pacific Coast Professional Basketball League was a professional basketball league with teams from the Pacific Northwest in the United States and Canada. The league existed for two seasons, 1946-47 and 1947-48. Teams Three teams played in both ...
during the 1947–48 season. Brightman was the head coach of the Seattle Redhawks from 1948 to 1956. He took the team to national prominence and attained a 180–68 record. Brightman unexpectedly left his role following an altercation with UCLA Bruins coach
John Wooden John Robert Wooden (October 14, 1910 – June 4, 2010) was an American basketball coach and player. Nicknamed the Wizard of Westwood, he won ten National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) national championships in a 12-year period as head ...
during a 1956 game and struggled to return to the collegiate ranks. He had brief stints as a head coach in the American Basketball League and the
American Basketball Association The American Basketball Association (ABA) was a major men's professional basketball league from 1967 to 1976. The ABA ceased to exist with the ABA–NBA merger, American Basketball Association–National Basketball Association merger in 1976, ...
during the 1960s before retiring permanently from coaching. Brightman spent the rest of his life as an apartment manager until his death in 1992.


Early life

Brightman was born in Eureka, California. He attended Woodrow Wilson Classical High School in Long Beach, California. Brightman averaged a city-record 22.7 points per game and was selected as the California Interscholastic Federation Player of the Year in 1941. He had a short stint playing baseball as a catcher with the Cleveland Indians organisation as a 17-year-old before his career was ended when he injured his shoulder.


Playing career

Brightman played college basketball for Morris Harvey College (now University of Charleston) during the 1945–46 season. He averaged 22 points per game. Brightman played 58 games for the
Boston Celtics The Boston Celtics ( ) are an American professional basketball team based in Boston. The Celtics compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Atlantic Division. Founded in 1946 as one of t ...
of the
Basketball Association of America The Basketball Association of America (BAA) was a professional basketball league in North America, founded in 1946. Following its third season, 1948–49, the BAA absorbed most of National Basketball League (NBL) and rebranded as the National Ba ...
(BAA) during the league's inaugural 1946–47 season. He averaged 9.8 points per game and was the first Celtics player to score 20 points in a regular season game. Brightman relocated to Seattle with his wife after making a visit there to see his parents. He joined the Seattle Athletics of the
Pacific Coast Professional Basketball League The Pacific Coast Professional Basketball League was a professional basketball league with teams from the Pacific Northwest in the United States and Canada. The league existed for two seasons, 1946-47 and 1947-48. Teams Three teams played in both ...
as a player-coach. Brightman was the team's leading scorer and only All-League selection; the league went defunct in 1948. From 1950 to 1952, Brightman played for the Madigan Generals, an independent semiprofessional basketball team.


Coaching career


Seattle Chieftains

On August 21, 1948, Brightman was hired by Seattle University as head coach of the Chieftains basketball team. He recorded 12–14 and 12–17 records during his first two seasons. Brightman saw an improvement when he recruited the O'Brien twins,
Johnny Johnny is an English language personal name. It is usually an affectionate diminutive of the masculine given name John, but from the 16th century it has sometimes been a given name in its own right for males and, less commonly, females. Varia ...
and Eddie, after playing them in a semiprofessional baseball game in Wichita, Kansas, in 1950. Brightman and the O'Briens led the Chieftains to a 90–17 record in three seasons and turned the team into a nationally recognised program. The Chieftains notably defeated the
Harlem Globetrotters The Harlem Globetrotters are an American exhibition basketball team. They combine athleticism, theater, and comedy in their style of play. Created in 1926 by Tommy Brookins in Chicago, Illinois, the team adopted the name ''Harlem'' because of i ...
84–81 in a 1952 game. Brightman was ahead of his time by eschewing the methodical pace used by most collegiate teams and encouraging his players to perform at an ultra-fast tempo. He did not create scouting reports about his opponents. Brightman's teams made four appearances in the NCAA tournament and one in the
National Invitation Tournament The National Invitational Tournament (NIT) is a men's college basketball tournament operated by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). Played at regional sites and traditionally at Madison Square Garden (Final Four) in New York City ...
(NIT). At the age of 29, he became the youngest collegiate coach to achieve 100 wins. On March 19, 1956, the Chieftains played the UCLA Bruins in the
1956 NCAA basketball tournament The 1956 NCAA basketball tournament involved 25 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA college basketball. It began on March 12, 1956, and ended with the championship game on March 24 on North ...
. The game was a physical affair that involved frequent fouling of Chieftains players by the Bruins. Brightman, upset over the Bruins' treatment of his players, confronted Bruins head coach,
John Wooden John Robert Wooden (October 14, 1910 – June 4, 2010) was an American basketball coach and player. Nicknamed the Wizard of Westwood, he won ten National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) national championships in a 12-year period as head ...
, on the sidelines with a "wordy battle." The Chieftains lost 94–70; Brightman was reported as trying to start a fight with Wooden after the game. Three days later, Brightman abruptly resigned from his $8,000 per year role as Seattle's head basketball and baseball coach. He denied any link to his incident with Wooden but instead indicated that he had secured a deal to coach a semiprofessional baseball team in Canada. It was revealed years later that Brightman had not resigned but had been provided with "an opportunity to resign"; he never revealed the reason for his departure. Elgin Baylor, who was to join the Chieftains the following season, alleged that Brightman was drunk during the game and forced to resign. Brightman amassed a 180–68 record during his eight seasons with the Chieftains.


Coaching hiatus

Brightman applied for coaching positions at other colleges but was overlooked because he had failed to obtain a college degree. He was hired as a television host on Channel 13 in Seattle six weeks after leaving Seattle University and became a local television celebrity. Brightman started on weekday afternoon shows before being moved to early morning programming including hosting a pre-dawn cooking show titled ''Al's Cellar Café''. Brightman left the job by late 1956 and moved to Long Beach, California, to run a restaurant and then worked at a
Douglas Aircraft Company The Douglas Aircraft Company was an American aerospace manufacturer based in Southern California. It was founded in 1921 by Donald Wills Douglas Sr. and later merged with McDonnell Aircraft in 1967 to form McDonnell Douglas; it then operated as ...
plant. He unsuccessfully applied for the head coaching position of the Washington State Cougars in 1958 but was beaten by his former Madigan Generals teammate,
Marv Harshman Marvel Keith Harshman (October 4, 1917 – April 12, 2013) was a college basketball coach, a head coach for forty years in the state of Washington at Pacific Lutheran University, Washington State University, and the University of Washington. ...
. The loss motivated Brightman to attain a bachelor's degree in English from Long Beach State University.


Return to coaching

Brightman coached basketball at Garden Grove High School and sold automobiles to make an income while earning his degree. He was named head coach for the
San Francisco Saints The San Francisco Saints were a traveling amateur basketball team composed of Chinese Americans that was formed in the 1950s and entered in the Amateur Athletic Union. The team was founded by Father Donal F. Forrester, who was serving as pastor a ...
of the American Basketball League (ABL) for the 1961–62 season. Brightman returned to Long Beach the following season to coach the
Long Beach Chiefs The Long Beach Chiefs were an American basketball team based in Honolulu, Hawaii (1961–62) and Long Beach, California (1962–63) that was a member of the American Basketball League. History The American Basketball League played one full sea ...
before the ABL folded at the end of 1962. He stated in an interview after losing his position: "I have died every year for six years since I left the Chieftains." Brightman coached high school and Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) basketball until 1967. He was appointed head coach for the Anaheim Amigos of the
American Basketball Association The American Basketball Association (ABA) was a major men's professional basketball league from 1967 to 1976. The ABA ceased to exist with the ABA–NBA merger, American Basketball Association–National Basketball Association merger in 1976, ...
(ABA) for the 1967–68 season. He was fired after attaining a 12–24 record.


Later life

Brightman never coached basketball again. He was a longtime operator of a California resort owned by Chuck Connors who was his teammate on the Boston Celtics. Brightman relocated to
Maitland, Florida Maitland is a suburban city in Orange County, Florida, United States, part of the Greater Orlando area. The population was 19,543 at the 2020 census. The area's history is exhibited at the Maitland Historical Museum; the city also hosts the Mai ...
, in 1971 and worked for a property management business for two years. He moved to Portland, Oregon, and spent the remainder of his working life managing apartment houses. Brightman was diagnosed with
pancreatic cancer Pancreatic cancer arises when cell (biology), cells in the pancreas, a glandular organ behind the stomach, begin to multiply out of control and form a Neoplasm, mass. These cancerous cells have the malignant, ability to invade other parts of t ...
in 1992. He died on June 10 of that year at the age of 68. Brightman was survived by his wife and seven children.


Legacy

Brightman was inducted into the Seattle University Athletics Hall of Fame in 2011.


BAA career statistics


Regular season


Head coaching record


College


ABA

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References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Brightman, Al 1923 births 1992 deaths American men's basketball players Anaheim Amigos coaches Basketball coaches from California Basketball players from California Boston Celtics players Charleston Golden Eagles men's basketball players Deaths from liver cancer Forwards (basketball) Long Beach State Beach men's basketball players Seattle Redhawks men's basketball coaches Sportspeople from Eureka, California Wilson Classical High School alumni