Bernard Tyrone Bickerstaff (born February 11, 1944) is an American

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

coach and front office executive, currently serving as the Senior Basketball Advisor for the

Cleveland Cavaliers The Cleveland Cavaliers, often referred to as the Cavs, are an American professional basketball team based in Cleveland. The Cavaliers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Central Division (NBA), Central Divis ...

. As a coach, he previously worked as the head coach for the NBA's Seattle SuperSonics,

Denver Nuggets The Denver Nuggets are an American professional basketball team based in Denver. The Nuggets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Northwest Division (NBA), Northwest Division of the Western Conference (NBA), W ...

, Washington Bullets/Wizards, Charlotte Bobcats, and

Los Angeles Lakers The Los Angeles Lakers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Lakers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division (NBA), Pacific Division of the Western Conference (NBA ...

. He has also been an assistant for the

Portland Trail Blazers The Portland Trail Blazers (colloquially known as the Blazers) are an American professional basketball team based in Portland, Oregon. The Trail Blazers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Northwest Division (N ...

Chicago Bulls The Chicago Bulls are an American professional basketball team based in Chicago. The Bulls compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Central Division of the Eastern Conference. The team was founded on January 16 ...

, and Cavaliers. He has served in numerous other NBA front office positions, and has been a consultant for the

Harlem Globetrotters The Harlem Globetrotters is an American Exhibition game, exhibition basketball team. They combine athleticism, theater, entertainment, and comedy in their style of play. Over the years, they have played more than 26,000 exhibition games in 124 ...

Early years

Bickerstaff was born in Benham, Kentucky, where his father and grandfather worked in the

coal mines Coal mining is the process of resource extraction, extracting coal from the ground or from a mine. Coal is valued for its Energy value of coal, energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to Electricity generation, generate electr ...

. He often had to endure open racism. He attended East Benham High School, where he was the starting

point guard The point guard (PG), also called the one or the point, is one of the Basketball positions, five positions in a regulation basketball game. A point guard has perhaps the most specialized role of any position and is usually the shortest player ...

of the

team. After graduating in 1961, Bickerstaff moved to Cleveland where he had relatives, with the idea of joining the

Army An army, ground force or land force is an armed force that fights primarily on land. In the broadest sense, it is the land-based military branch, service branch or armed service of a nation or country. It may also include aviation assets by ...

, but he instead accepted a

scholarship to play for Rio Grande College. The racial tension he experienced during his time playing there made him leave school early and head back to Cleveland to work in a

steel mill A steel mill or steelworks is an industrial plant for the manufacture of steel. It may be an integrated steel works carrying out all steps of steelmaking from smelting iron ore to rolled product, but may also be a plant where steel semi-fini ...

. However, the difficult working conditions prompted him to accept a second opportunity to play

college basketball College basketball is basketball that is played by teams of Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. In the Higher education in the United States, United States, colleges and universities are governed by collegiate athle ...

at the

University of San Diego The University of San Diego (USD) is a Private university, private Catholic Church, Catholic research university in San Diego, California, United States. Chartered in 1949 as the independent San Diego College for Women and San Diego University ...

from 1964 to 1966. As a senior, he was named team captain and MVP, when the Toreros finished 17–11 and went on to play at the Small College Regional Playoffs. He is a member of the

Kappa Alpha Psi Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc. () is a List of African-American fraternities, historically African American Fraternities and sororities, fraternity. Since the fraternity's founding on January 5, 1911, at Indiana University Bloomington, it has n ...

fraternity.

Professional career

After finishing his college eligibility, Bickerstaff was hired by his coach

Phil Woolpert Philipp D. Woolpert (December 15, 1915 – May 5, 1987) was an American basketball coach, best known as the head coach of the University of San Francisco Dons in the 1950s. He led them to consecutive national championships in 1955 Biograph ...

to serve as an assistant for the 1968–69 season. After three seasons at 25 years old, he was named the head coach of the

after Woolpert's abrupt resignation, keeping this position for the next four years. In 1972–1973 his team finished 19–9 and his four-year overall record was 54–49. In 1973, Bickerstaff was hired as an assistant for the

Washington Bullets The Washington Wizards are an American professional basketball team based in Washington, D.C. The Wizards compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference. The team plays i ...

by then coach K. C. Jones and was a part of the 1978 Bullets NBA Championship. He left the team after 12 seasons to become head coach of the Seattle SuperSonics.

Lenny Wilkens Leonard Randolph Wilkens (born October 28, 1937) is an American former professional basketball player and coach in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He has been inducted three times into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, fi ...

, who had been elevated from coach to GM in 1985, hired Bickerstaff for the head coaching position to replace himself. Bickerstaff was head coach of the Sonics from 1985 to 1990, with the team reaching the Western Conference Finals in 1987. Bickerstaff was the

' president and general manager from 1990 to 1997. It was he who fired popular head coach

Doug Moe Douglas Edwin Moe (born September 21, 1938) is an American former professional basketball player and coach. As a head coach with the Denver Nuggets in the National Basketball Association (NBA), he was named the NBA Coach of the Year in 1988. Ea ...

in late 1990; he had gone 432–357 as a coach for Denver. Bickerstaff also coached the team from 1994 to 1996. In 1997,

Wes Unseld Westley Sissel Unseld Sr. (March 14, 1946June 2, 2020) was an American professional basketball player, coach and executive. He spent his entire National Basketball Association (NBA) career with the Baltimore/Capital/Washington Bullets. Unseld ...

hired Bickerstaff to coach the Bullets, making the playoffs for the first time since 1988 and becoming the league's all-time 34th-winningest coach. After parting ways with the team in

1999 1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons. Events January * January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers. * January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...

, he had a two-year stint with the

International Basketball League The International Basketball League (IBL) was a semi-professional men's basketball league featuring teams from the West Coast of the United States. In 2010 the Albany Legends became the first team in the Northeastern United States to join. The ...

's St. Louis Swarm. Bickerstaff was twice named IBL Coach of the Year. In 2003, Bickerstaff was hired by

Ed Tapscott Edmond A. Tapscott III (born June 11, 1953) is an American sports executive and former basketball coach. He is the former interim management, interim head coach of the National Basketball Association, NBA's Washington Wizards. Coaching Tapscott ...

to become the expansion Charlotte Bobcats' first head coach and general manager. Bickerstaff was hired by the

in 2012–13 as an assistant coach to Mike Brown. On November 9, 2012, Bickerstaff was named interim head coach of the Lakers after Brown was fired after 5 games, going 1–4 in those games. Three days later, the Lakers signed former Knicks coach

Mike D'Antoni Michael Andrew D'Antoni (born May 8, 1951) is an American-Italian professional basketball coach and former player who most recently served as a coaching advisor for the New Orleans Pelicans of the National Basketball Association (NBA). While h ...

as their official head coach, although D'Antoni's on-court debut was delayed as he recovered from knee-replacement surgery. Bickerstaff continued to coach the Lakers in D'Antoni's absence, ending his stint with a 4–1 record, the highest winning percentage in Lakers' history, albeit in only five games. He continued with the team as an assistant coach, but was fired after the season. In the summer of 2013, Bickerstaff became an assistant coach with the

.Bernie Bickerstaff completes Mike Brown's staff: Cleveland Cavaliers Insider
/ref> The following year, he moved up to the Cavaliers' front office, serving as a senior advisor. As a member of the Cavaliers front office, he was part of Cleveland's 2016 NBA Championship team.

Head coaching record

NBA

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Awards and accolades

* In 1987, he received the Horace Mann Award for Leadership and was also named the 1987 Sports Person of the Year, presented by the New York Pro-Am Basketball Association. * In 1995, he was inducted into the

's Hall of Fame. * Inducted into the West Coast Conference's inaugural Hall of Honor. * In 2010, he was inducted into the John McClendon Minority Athletics Administrators Hall of Fame. * In 2011, he was named a Kappa Legend and Icon in Sports. * In 2012, he was inducted into the Breitbard Hall of Fame. * His hometown of Benham, Kentucky, named a street – Bernard Bickerstaff Boulevard – in his honor. * In 2014, he was awarded the NBA's Chuck Daly Lifetime Achievement Award.

Personal life

Bickerstaff also worked as a TV and radio analyst with the

Washington Wizards The Washington Wizards are an American professional basketball team based in Washington, D.C. The Wizards compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference. The team plays i ...

San Antonio Spurs The San Antonio Spurs are an American professional basketball team based in San Antonio. The Spurs compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southwest Division (NBA), Southwest Division of the Western Conference (NBA ...

, NBA.com and the Sporting News Radio. His son, J. B. Bickerstaff, is the head coach of the

Detroit Pistons The Detroit Pistons are an American professional basketball team based in Detroit. The Pistons compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Central Division (NBA), Central Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), East ...

. His wife Eugenia is retired. He has two other sons, Bernard Jr. and Tim, and two daughters, Cydni and Robin.

References

External links

BasketballReference.com: Bernie Bickerstaff

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bickerstaff, Bernie 1944 births Living people African-American basketball coaches African-American sports executives and administrators American men's basketball coaches American men's basketball players American sports executives and administrators Basketball coaches from Kentucky Basketball players from Kentucky Baloncesto Superior Nacional coaches Charlotte Bobcats head coaches Charlotte Hornets executives Chicago Bulls assistant coaches Cleveland Cavaliers assistant coaches Denver Nuggets head coaches International Basketball League (1999–2001) coaches Los Angeles Lakers assistant coaches Los Angeles Lakers head coaches NBA executives People from Harlan County, Kentucky Portland Trail Blazers assistant coaches San Diego Toreros men's basketball coaches San Diego Toreros men's basketball players Seattle SuperSonics head coaches University of Rio Grande alumni Washington Bullets assistant coaches Washington Bullets head coaches Point guards 21st-century American sportsmen 21st-century African-American sportsmen 20th-century American sportsmen 20th-century African-American sportsmen