Richie Adubato, who coached the Dallas Mavericks, Detroit Pistons and Orlando Magic of the NBA, and the WNBA’s New York Liberty and Washington Mystics, has died, his family announced late last week on social media. He was 87.
Adubato’s greatest success as a head coach came during his time patrolling the sideline for the Liberty from 1999 through 2004. He led the team to the WNBA Finals in 1999, 2000 and 2002, and he holds the franchise record for games coached with 178. His 100 career wins with the Liberty rank second in franchise history, behind only Sandy Brondello, who has 107.
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“With deep gratitude, we remember the legacy of Richie Adubato, who guided the Liberty to 3 WNBA Finals appearances and set a standard of excellence that still inspires our organization today,” the Liberty wrote in a post on X.
“Let’s remember him as the funny, smart, energetic, genuinely warm human being he always was,” his daughter, Beth, wrote on Facebook.
Adubato too charge of the Liberty after 19 seasons as an assistant or head coach in the NBA. Although he guided the team to the WNBA Finals or conference finals every year from 1999 through 2002, a championship eluded him. Under Adubato, the Liberty lost in the Finals twice to the Houston Comets and once against the Los Angeles Sparks.
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As a coach, Adubato was known for his toughness with referees and his fierce loyalty to his players. Among his most prominent players in New York were Hall of Famers Teresa Weatherspoon, Rebecca Lobo — who missed much of his tenure due to injury — and Becky Hammon, the three-time WNBA championship head coach of the Las Vegas Aces.
Hammon told The Athletic in 2023 that when she entered the league as an undrafted rookie in 1999, she believed the Liberty planned to cut her before Adubato intervened.
“Richie Adubato was like, ‘We’re not cutting her — I don’t know what we’re gonna do with her, but we’re not cutting her,’” she said.
Prior to his time in the WNBA, Adubato came up in the same New Jersey coaching tree that produced figures such as Dick Vitale and Hubie Brown. Adubato worked under both as an assistant, serving on Vitale’s coaching staff with the Pistons in the late 1970s and Brown’s staff with the New York Knicks in the early ’80s.
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He spent much of his NBA career as an assistant coach, but he also had stints as the interim head coach of the Pistons and Magic. From 1989 to 1993, Adubato was head coach of the Mavericks. In four-plus seasons in Dallas, he coached 334 games and compiled a 106-228 record, making one playoff appearance before being fired in 1993 after a 2-27 start.
From 2005 to 2020, he worked as a radio analyst for the Orlando Magic.
“Richie’s legacy lives on in every story and lesson he shared,” the team said in a statement shared on social media. “(He was) a coach who turned the gym into a place of connection and joy, impacting countless lives with warmth, humor and unforgettable spirit.”
This article originally appeared in The Athletic.
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Orlando Magic, Detroit Pistons, Dallas Mavericks, New York Liberty, NBA, WNBA, WNBA Finals
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