Bucky Buckwalter
American basketball player, coach, and executive
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Morris B. "Bucky" Buckwalter (born November 22, 1933) is an American former professional basketball coach and executive. He played college basketball for the Utah Utes. Buckwalter served as an assistant coach and executive in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as well as a head coach in the American Basketball Association.
Buckwalter, c. 1967 | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | November 22, 1933 |
| Listed height | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) |
| Career information | |
| High school | La Grande (La Grande, Oregon) |
| College | Utah (1953–1956) |
| NBA draft | 1956: undrafted |
| Coaching career | 1959–1986 |
| Career history | |
Coaching | |
| 1959–1967 | Utah (assistant) |
| 1967–1972 | Seattle |
| 1972–1973 | Seattle SuperSonics (assistant) |
| 1973 | Seattle SuperSonics (interim) |
| 1974–1975 | Utah Stars |
| 1979–1986 | Portland Trail Blazers (assistant) |
Buckwalter grew up in La Grande, Oregon, and played high school basketball at La Grande High School. Buckwalter played college basketball at Utah, where his team advanced to the quarterfinals of the 1956 NCAA basketball tournament before losing to the eventual champions, the Bill Russell-led San Francisco Dons.[1]
Buckwalter served eight years as an assistant for the Utah Utes under head coach Jack Gardner.[2] In May 1967, he joined the Seattle Redhawks as head coach.[2]
He served briefly as head coach of the Seattle SuperSonics in 1972 (on an interim basis), and later served as the head coach of the Utah Stars of the ABA, replacing Joe Mullaney.[1]
While with the Stars, Buckwalter was known for signing Moses Malone out of high school. He was a scout for the Portland Trail Blazers when the team passed on Michael Jordan and selected Kentucky's Sam Bowie as the second pick in the 1984 NBA draft. He served as vice-president of Basketball Operations for the Portland Trail Blazers. In 1991, he won the NBA Executive of the Year Award, as the Blazers posted a league-best 63–19 record. He retired from the Blazers in 1997.[1]
Head coaching record
College
| Season | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Postseason | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Seattle Chieftains (Independent) (1967–1971) | |||||||||
| 1967–68 | Seattle | 14–13 | |||||||
| 1968–69 | Seattle | 20–8 | NCAA University Division first round | ||||||
| 1969–70 | Seattle | 15–10 | |||||||
| 1970–71 | Seattle | 12–14 | |||||||
| Seattle Chieftains (West Coast Athletic Conference) (1971–1972) | |||||||||
| 1971–72 | Seattle | 17–9 | 10–4 | 3rd | |||||
| Seattle: | 78–54 (.591) | ||||||||
| Total: | 78–54 (.591) | ||||||||
NBA/ABA
| 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 % |
