Per multiple accounts, former Boston Celtics Hall of Fame head coach Bill Fitch has passed away at age 89, confirmed by Fitch’s daughter Marcy Ann Coville by way of Indiana Pacers coach Rick Carlisle. Via Substack’s Marc Stein, Carlisle said “I am sad to announce that NBA Hall of Famer Bill Fitch passed away Wednesday evening … He died peacefully surrounded by his loving family in Lake Conroe, Texas.”
A 25-year coaching veteran in a league that is as unforgiving to that profession as any, Fitch helmed the Cleveland Cavaliers, Boston Celtics, Houston Rockets, New Jersey (now Brooklyn) Nets, and Los Angeles Clippers, winning a title with the Celtics in 1981, and Coach of the Year twice, once with Cleveland (1975-76) and once with Boston (1979-80).
He was inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 2019 and before that, was awarded the National Basketball Coaches Association’s Chuck Daly Lifetime Achievement Award in 2013.
Hall of Famer Bill Fitch, twice Coach of the Year and a champion with Boston in 1981 as Larry Bird’s first NBA coach, has died at age 89.
Fitch’s passing was confirmed by daughter Marcy Ann Coville via Indiana's Rick Carlisle, who broke into coaching under Fitch in New Jersey. pic.twitter.com/IsTcCDOAMR
— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) February 3, 2022
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