Ronald L. Rothstein (born December 27, 1942) is an American former professional

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

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 ...

player, who has led many different

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

teams. He served as the first head coach for the

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

, and later coached 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 ...

. He has also coached in the

Women's National Basketball Association The Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) is a women's professional basketball league in the United States. The league comprises 13 teams (scheduled to expand to 15 in 2026). The WNBA is headquartered in Midtown Manhattan. The WNBA w ...

(WNBA). In 2007–08, he also filled in for

Pat Riley Patrick James Riley (born March 20, 1945) is an American professional basketball executive, former coach, and former player in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He has been the team president of the Miami Heat since 1995, and he also se ...

as an interim coach for the Heat.

Early life

Born in

Bronx, New York The Bronx ( ) is the northernmost of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It shares a land border with Westchester County, New York, West ...

, Rothstein graduated from Roosevelt High School of

Yonkers, New York Yonkers () is the List of municipalities in New York, third-most populous city in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York and the most-populous City (New York), city in Westchester County, New York, Westchester County. A centrally locate ...

in 1960 and played college basketball at the

University of Rhode Island The University of Rhode Island (URI) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Kingston, Rhode Island, United States. It is the flagship public research as well as the land-grant university of Rhode Island. The univer ...

for the

Rams In engineering, reliability, availability, maintainability and safety (RAMS)physical education Physical education is an academic subject taught in schools worldwide, encompassing Primary education, primary, Secondary education, secondary, and sometimes tertiary education. It is often referred to as Phys. Ed. or PE, and in the United Stat ...

. In 1966, Rothstein earned his master's in physical education from

Hunter College Hunter College is a public university in New York City, United States. It is one of the constituent colleges of the City University of New York and offers studies in more than one hundred undergraduate and postgraduate fields across five schools ...

Family

Rothstein is married with two children and four grandchildren.

Career

Rothstein began his coaching career in 1966 at Eastchester High School in

Eastchester, New York Eastchester is a town in southern Westchester County, New York, United States. The population was over 34,641 at the 2020 United States census over 32,363 at the 2010 census. There are two villages within the town: Bronxville and Tuckahoe. The ...

and would remain until 1976. During the summer of 1967, he was the athletic director at Camp Ma-Ho-Ge in

Bethel, New York Bethel is a Administrative divisions of New York#Town, town in Sullivan County, New York, United States. The population was estimated at 3,959 in 2020 United States census, 2020. The town received worldwide attention after it served as the locati ...

. He then became assistant coach at

NCAA Division III NCAA Division III (D-III) is the lowest division of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States. D-III consists of athletic programs at colleges and universities that do not offer athletic scholarships to student- ...

Upsala College for one season and then worked as head coach at New Rochelle High School of

New Rochelle, New York New Rochelle ( ; in ) is a Political subdivisions of New York State#City, city in Westchester County, New York, Westchester County, New York (state), New York, United States. It is a suburb of New York City, located approximately from Midtow ...

from 1976 to 1978. Rothstein returned to Eastchester High for the 1978–79 season and coached varsity basketball and physical education thru June 1983.Ron Rothstein Named Assistant Coach
/ref> In 1979, Rothstein signed as a scout for the

Atlanta 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 Southeast Division (NBA), Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), Easte ...

and was named assistant coach in July 1983. He was signed as an assistant for the

in 1986 before becoming the first coach in Heat history (1988). Rothstein coached the Heat for three seasons, never leading them to a winning record. Rothstein became a television commentator for the Pistons as well as for the

NBA on NBC Television broadcasts of the National Basketball Association (NBA) games produced by NBC Sports has aired on American broadcast network NBC under the ''NBA on NBC'' branding throughout three incarnations in its history. The NBA was first telev ...

all during the 1990–91 season. Detroit eventually hired him as their head coach for a season, but he was eventually fired. In 1993, he was hired as an assistant coach 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 ...

, where he stayed six seasons. In 2000, he was hired as head coach and general manager for the WNBA's

Miami Sol The Miami Sol were a professional women's basketball team that was based in Miami and entered the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) in 2000. They played their games at American Airlines Arena as the sister team to the Miami Heat of the ...

, where he stayed during the franchise's entire existence (2000–2003). In 2003, he was hired by the

Indiana Pacers The Indiana Pacers are an American professional basketball team based in Indianapolis. The Pacers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Central Division (NBA), Central Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), Ea ...

as an assistant coach. Rothstein would eventually return to the Heat as an assistant. On January 3, 2007, Rothstein was named as the interim head coach of the Miami Heat in place of

, who took a leave of absence for knee and hip surgery.ESPN - Riley to have surgery on right knee - NBA
/ref>

Head coaching record

NBA

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Miami Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

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Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

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WNBA

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References

External links

WNBA.com coach file: Ron Rothstein

NBA.com coach file: Ron Rothstein
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rothstein, Ron 1942 births Living people American basketball scouts American men's basketball coaches American men's basketball players American women's basketball coaches Atlanta Hawks assistant coaches Atlanta Hawks scouts Basketball coaches from New York (state) Cleveland Cavaliers assistant coaches Detroit Pistons assistant coaches Detroit Pistons head coaches High school basketball coaches in the United States Hunter College alumni Indiana Pacers assistant coaches Jewish American basketball coaches Miami Heat assistant coaches Miami Heat head coaches Miami Sol coaches People from Bronxville, New York Sportspeople from Eastchester, New York Rhode Island Rams men's basketball players Basketball players from Yonkers, New York Upsala Vikings men's basketball coaches Women's National Basketball Association executives 21st-century American Jews Jewish American basketball players 20th-century American sportsmen