Ron Rothstein

Ron Rothstein (Born December 27 1942 in Bronxville, New York) is an American professional basketball coach and former college basketball player, who has led many different NBA teams. He served as the first head coach for the Miami Heat, and later coached the Detroit Pistons. He has also coached in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). In 2007-08, he also filled in for Pat Riley as an interim coach for the Heat.

Rothstein played college ball at the University of Rhode Island where he was captain of the 1964 season. After that, he was a teacher and coach at Upsala College in New Jersey (1974-75) and Eastchester High School in New York. [http://www.nba.com/heat/news/rothstein_named_assistantcoach.html Ron Rothstein Named Assistant Coach] ] During the summer of 1967, he was the athletic director at Camp Ma-Ho-Ge in Bethel, New York. Though his teams have produced only moderate success in the NBA, Rothstein, has done well to manage teams with big egos and superstars. He is well respected in coaching, and it should be noted that his high school teams at Eastchester made up of players of only marginal ability were consistently the best in Westchecter County and New York State under his tenure in the late 1970s and early 80s. Rothstein, was also recently remembered as also touching the lives of thousands of students when was a Physical Ed. teacher. At a recent gathering of "EHS alumni" a significant number said, Coach Ron to be single biggest inluence in their life success.

In 1979, Rothstein signed as a scout for the Atlanta Hawks, eventually becoming an assistant coach there in 1983. He was signed as an assistant for the Detroit Pistons 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, and later for two seasons, head coach where he was fired. In 1993, he was hired as an assistant coach for the Cleveland Cavaliers, where he stayed six seasons. In 2000, he was hired as head coach and general manager for the WNBA's Miami Sol, where he stayed during the franchise's entire existence (2000-2003). In 2003, he was hired by the Indiana Pacers as an assistant coach, [ [http://www.insidehoops.com/ron-rothstein-080903.shtml Pacers hire Ron Rothstein] Retrieved June 27 2006] before returning to the Heat.

On January 3, 2007, Rothstein was named as the interim head coach of the Miami Heat in place of Pat Riley, who took a leave of absence for knee and hip surgery. [ [http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=2718720 ESPN - Riley to have surgery on right knee - NBA] ]

References

External links

* [http://www.wnba.com/coachfile/ron_rothstein/ WNBA.com coach file: Ron Rothstein]
* [http://www.nba.com/coachfile/ron_rothstein/ NBA.com coach file: Ron Rothstein]
* [http://assets.espn.go.com/media/apphoto/4830fd39-2904-4ac2-9c6d-651ed769e888.jpgRecent photo of Ron Rothstein - March 22, 2008]