 Van Breda Kolff, circa 1968 | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1922-10-28)October 28, 1922 Glen Ridge, New Jersey, U.S. |
| Died | August 22, 2007(2007-08-22) (aged 84) Spokane, Washington, U.S. |
| Listed height | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) |
| Listed weight | 185 lb (84 kg) |
| Career information | |
| High school | The Hill School (Pottstown, Pennsylvania) |
| College | Princeton (1942–1946) |
| Playing career | 1946–1950 |
| Position | Shooting guard /small forward |
| Number | 11, 17 |
| Coaching career | 1951–1994 |
| Career history | |
Playing | |
| 1946–1950 | New York Knicks |
Coaching | |
| 1951–1955 | Lafayette |
| 1955–1962 | Hofstra |
| 1962–1967 | Princeton |
| 1967–1969 | Los Angeles Lakers |
| 1969–1972 | Detroit Pistons |
| 1972–1973 | Phoenix Suns |
| 1973–1974 | Memphis Tams |
| 1974–1977 | New Orleans Jazz |
| 1977–1979 | New Orleans |
| 1979–1981 | New Orleans Pride |
| 1984–1988 | Lafayette |
| 1988–1994 | Hofstra |
| Career highlights | |
As coach:
| |
Stats at NBA.com  | |
| Stats atBasketball Reference | |
| Career coaching record | |
| College | 482–272 (.639) |
| NBA | 287–316 (.476) |
| WBL | 39–28 (.582) |
| Record atBasketball Reference | |
Willem Hendrik "Butch" (sometimes "Bill")[1]van Breda Kolff (October 28, 1922 – August 22, 2007) was an Americanbasketball player and coach. He played four seasons for theNew York Knicks before becoming a head coach atLafayette. Ultimately, he coached for eleven different teams in five classifications (NCAA, NBA, ABA,Women's Professional Basketball League,United States Basketball League). He reached the NCAA Final Four and two NBA Finals while winning a championship in four different conferences.
Butch was born inGlen Ridge, New Jersey, son of Dutch soccer playerJan van Breda Kolff. He gained an affection for basketball while growing up inMontclair. He attendedThe Hill School in Pottstown, Pennsylvania. He then attendedPrinceton University, where he played basketball forFranklin "Cappy" Cappon, andNew York University, where he also played basketball. He also played one season for thePrinceton soccer team in 1946 as amidfielder,[2] and was included in theNSCAAAll-America first team.[3]
Signed by theNew York Knicks in 1946, he spent four seasons playing as a professional. The New York Knicks played in theBasketball Association of America (BAA), which merged with some of the better teams of theNational Basketball League to form the National Basketball Association in (NBA) in 1949. In the four years (1946–50) van Breda Kolff played in the BAA and the NBA, heturned in a relatively unimpressive performance, shooting just .305 from the field, .669 from the line, and averaging 4.7 points in 175 contests. He was elected team captain of the Knicks.
After leaving the NBA in 1950, van Breda Kolff began a coaching career. He took over as head coach atLafayette College, where he remained from 1951 to 1955. He also coached soccer and lacrosse at Lafayette.[4] He then coached forHofstra University from 1955 to 1962, and Princeton from 1962 to 1967. He is one of four men to have coached both anNCAA final Four team (Princeton, 1965) and anNBA Finals squad (the Los Angeles Lakers,1968 and1969). (The others areLarry Brown,Jack Ramsay, andFred Schaus.)
Van Breda Kolff also spent time running a women's professional team and later coached a high school team inPicayune, Mississippi, where he taught world history after passing the National Teacher Examination.[5] "Coaching is coaching", he once told a reporter. "Give me 10 players who want to work and learn the game and I'm happy. I don't count the house."
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Van Breda Kolff's success in college attracted the attention of the NBA. The Lakers hired him in 1967, and in his first season guided the team to the NBA Finals, where they lost to the Boston Celtics in six games. In his second campaign for the Lakers, his team — withElgin Baylor,Jerry West, andWilt Chamberlain — notched a 55–27 record and reached the Finals again, albeit with a slow start that saw Chamberlain and van Breda Kolff bicker, right down to having local newspapers take sides (the coach had theTimes while Chamberlain had theHerald-Examiner); Chamberlain later called him the worst coach he ever had.[6]
Van Breda Kolff took tremendous flak for not allowing Chamberlain back in the game for the final minutes of Game 7 of the NBA Finals against Boston. Chamberlain picked up his fifth foul midway through the fourth quarter, and shortly thereafter asked out of the game with knee pain. With backup centerMel Counts in the game, the Lakers cut a seven-point deficit to two points. Chamberlain then motioned to van Breda Kolff that he was ready to go back in the game, to which van Breda Kolff told him "sit your big ass down" and "we don't need you." The Lakers lost by two points. On May 19, van Breda Kolff resigned before he could be fired by Lakers ownerJack Kent Cooke. Game 7 marked the last time he would coach an NBA team in a postseason game.[7][8]
Van Breda Kolff then went on to Detroit, where he coached the Pistons for just over two seasons. In 1970–71, he guided the team to a 45–37 mark, Detroit's first winning season in fifteen years. He left the team ten games into the next season, stating in a 1984Sports Illustrated article that he quit after being cursed at repeatedly by frustrated fans.[9] Van Breda Kolff coached the Phoenix Suns for the first seven games of the 1972–73 campaign before being fired and replaced byJerry Colangelo. He did a stint with Memphis of theAmerican Basketball Association in 1973–74. From 1974 to 1977, van Breda Kolff coached the New Orleans Jazz, taking over in the middle of the 1974–75 season and departing with a 14–12 record part way through the 1976–77 season.
While van Breda Kolff was coach, he pushed for New Orleans to relinquish the rights toMoses Malone in exchange for a #1 draft pick, and then traded that pick and two other #1s to the Lakers forGail Goodrich. Malone would later become a superstar but Goodrich suffered an Achilles' tendon injury that would end his career in 1979. The Jazz' #1 pick in 1979 (the first overall choice) was used by the Lakers to selectMagic Johnson. Breda Kolff left the NBA ranks for good in 1976, taking with him a career NBA coaching record of 266–253 and a .513 winning percentage. That also marked the year van Breda Kolff's son Jan entered the NBA, with theNew York Nets; he coached one game against his son's team.
While in New Orleans, van Breda Kolff also coached theNew Orleans Pride in theWomen's Professional Basketball League (WBL) from 1979 to 1981.[10]
In 1996, van Breda Kolff coached theTampa Bay Windjammers for the first six games of the 1996United States Basketball League (USBL) season.[11]
Van Breda Kolff often clashed with other strong egos. After leaving the Jazz, he remained in New Orleans and returned to the college coaching ranks with the University of New Orleans, where he spent two years. He worked as a tugboat salesman in 1982. In 1985, Lafayette, the team he had coached 30 years earlier, asked him to return.[12] Van Breda Kolff stayed four seasons at Lafayette before leaving to coach Hofstra once again. His second stint with the Flying Dutchmen lasted five seasons and ended after the 1993–94 season, which saw Hofstra win just nine games but also saw them go on a winning streak in the East Coast Conference tournament all the way to the final, which they won in what was Van Breda Kolff's final game as a head coach. In 28 years as a college coach, he compiled a 482–272 record.
He waa inducted into the Hofstra Athletics Hall of Fame in 2008.[13]
Van Breda Kolff died August 22, 2007, at a nursing home inSpokane, Washington, after a long illness.[14]
"All I know is life isn't much different than that game on the court", he said in an article in theNew York Daily News in the early 1980s. "If it's run right — with precision, with good, honest effort — it's a thing of beauty. I know what it looks like and that's what keeps me going."
His sonJan van Breda Kolff was also a basketball player and coach.
| Legend | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | Games played | FG% | Field-goal percentage | ||
| FT% | Free-throw percentage | APG | Assists per game | ||
| PPG | Points per game | Bold | Career high | ||
| Year | Team | GP | FG% | FT% | APG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1946–47 | New York | 16 | .206 | .647 | .4 | 1.6 |
| 1947–48 | New York | 44 | .276 | .617 | .7 | 4.1 |
| 1948–49 | New York | 59 | .317 | .671 | 2.4 | 7.0 |
| 1949–50 | New York | 56 | .329 | .716 | 1.4 | 3.7 |
| Career | 175 | .305 | .669 | 1.5 | 4.7 | |
| Year | Team | GP | FG% | FT% | APG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1947 | New York | 5 | .219 | .538 | .8 | 4.2 |
| 1948 | New York | 3 | .375 | .714 | .7 | 7.3 |
| 1949 | New York | 6 | .375 | .826 | 1.2 | 8.2 |
| 1950 | New York | 1 | .000 | .000 | .0 | .0 |
| Career | 15 | .318 | .720 | .9 | 6.1 | |
| Season | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Postseason | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lafayette Leopards(Middle Three Conference)(1951–1955) | |||||||||
| 1951–52 | Lafayette | 15–9 | 1st | ||||||
| 1952–53 | Lafayette | 13–12 | |||||||
| 1953–54 | Lafayette | 17–10 | |||||||
| 1954–55 | Lafayette | 23–3 | NIT First Round | ||||||
| Hofstra Flying Dutchmen(Middle Atlantic Conference)(1955–1962) | |||||||||
| 1955–56 | Hofstra | 22–4 | NCAA College Division Regional Runner-up | ||||||
| 1956–57 | Hofstra | 11–15 | |||||||
| 1957–58 | Hofstra | 15–8 | |||||||
| 1958–59 | Hofstra | 20–7 | |||||||
| 1959–60 | Hofstra | 23–1 | |||||||
| 1960–61 | Hofstra | 21–4 | |||||||
| 1961–62 | Hofstra | 24–4 | NCAA College Division Regional Runner-up | ||||||
| Princeton Tigers(Ivy League)(1962–1967) | |||||||||
| 1962–63 | Princeton | 19–6 | 11–3 | T–1st | NCAA University Division First Round | ||||
| 1963–64 | Princeton | 20–9 | 12–2 | 1st | NCAA University Division Regional Fourth Place | ||||
| 1964–65 | Princeton | 23–6 | 13–1 | 1st | NCAA University Division Third Place | ||||
| 1965–66 | Princeton | 16–7 | 9–5 | 4th | |||||
| 1966–67 | Princeton | 25–3 | 13–1 | 1st | NCAA University Division Regional Third Place | ||||
| Princeton: | 103–31 | 58–12 | |||||||
| New Orleans Privateers(Sun Belt Conference)(1977–1979) | |||||||||
| 1977–78 | New Orleans | 21–6 | 8–2 | 2nd | |||||
| 1978–79 | New Orleans | 11–16 | 3–7 | 5th | |||||
| New Orleans: | 32–22 | 11–9 | |||||||
| Lafayette Leopards(East Coast Conference)(1984–1988) | |||||||||
| 1984–85 | Lafayette | 15–13 | |||||||
| 1985–86 | Lafayette | 14–15 | |||||||
| 1986–87 | Lafayette | 16–13 | |||||||
| 1987–88 | Lafayette | 19–10 | 1st | ||||||
| Lafayette: | 132–85 | ||||||||
| Hofstra Flying Dutchmen(East Coast Conference)(1988–1994) | |||||||||
| 1988–89 | Hofstra | 14–15 | |||||||
| 1989–90 | Hofstra | 13–15 | |||||||
| 1990–91 | Hofstra | 14–14 | |||||||
| 1991–92 | Hofstra | 20–9 | |||||||
| 1992–93 | Hofstra | 9–18 | |||||||
| 1993–94 | Hofstra | 9–20 | |||||||
| Hofstra: | 215–134 | ||||||||
| Total: | 482–272 | ||||||||
National champion Postseason invitational champion | |||||||||
| Regular season | G | Games coached | W | Games won | L | Games lost | W–L % | Win–loss % |
| Playoffs | PG | Playoff games | PW | Playoff wins | PL | Playoff losses | PW–L % | Playoff win–loss % |
| Team | Year | G | W | L | W–L% | Finish | PG | PW | PL | PW–L% | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Los Angeles | 1967–68 | 82 | 52 | 30 | .634 | 2nd in Western | 15 | 10 | 5 | .667 | Lost inNBA Finals |
| Los Angeles | 1968–69 | 82 | 55 | 27 | .671 | 1st in Western | 18 | 11 | 7 | .611 | Lost inNBA Finals |
| Detroit | 1969–70 | 82 | 31 | 51 | .378 | 7th in Eastern | – | – | – | – | Missed Playoffs |
| Detroit | 1970–71 | 82 | 45 | 37 | .549 | 4th in Midwest | – | – | – | – | Missed Playoffs |
| Detroit | 1971–72 | 10 | 6 | 4 | .600 | (resigned) | – | – | – | – | – |
| Phoenix | 1972–73 | 7 | 3 | 4 | .429 | (fired) | – | – | – | – | – |
| Memphis (ABA) | 1973–74 | 84 | 21 | 63 | .250 | 4th in Eastern | – | – | – | – | Missed Playoffs |
| New Orleans | 1974–75 | 66 | 22 | 44 | .333 | 5th in Central | – | – | – | – | Missed Playoffs |
| New Orleans | 1975–76 | 82 | 38 | 44 | .463 | 4th in Central | – | – | – | – | Missed Playoffs |
| New Orleans | 1976–77 | 26 | 14 | 12 | .538 | (fired) | – | – | – | – | – |
| Career | 603 | 287 | 316 | .476 | 33 | 21 | 12 | .636 |