Bill Fitch

William Charles Fitch (May 19, 1932 – February 2, 2022) was an American professional basketball coach in the National Basketball Association (NBA).

William Charles Fitch was born on May 19, 1932, in Davenport, Iowa.

He attended Wilson in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, where he excelled in basketball.

Fitch attended Coe College from 1950 to 1954.

Fitch was an assistant coach at Creighton from 1956 to 1958.

Fitch coached Coe from 1958 to 1962.

Fitch led North Dakota to three NCAA Division II men's basketball tournaments, including a Final Four appearance in 1966.

At Fitch's only season with Bowling Green, the Falcons reached the 1968 NCAA University Division basketball tournament after winning the Mid-American Conference title with an 18–7 record and 10–2 in conference play.

In Fitch's two seasons at Minnesota, Fitch coached the Golden Gophers to 12–12 and 13–11.

Fitch was the first head coach hired by the expansion Cleveland Cavaliers on March 19, 1970, for their inaugural 1970–71 season.

In that season, the Cavaliers went 15–67.

By this point, the team had a clear leader in its #1 draft pick from 1971, Austin Carr.

He had become the leading scorer for the team, but a serious knee injury curtailed Cleveland's hopes for a playoff berth.

His fifth season (1974–75) resulted in marked improvement as the Cavs won 40 games while finishing third, their first season without a last-place finish.

The following season of 1975–76 was the pinnacle of his career with Cleveland.

The team, now fabled as "The Miracle of Richfield", was led by team captain Carr, scoring small forward Campy Russell, shooting guard Bobby "Bingo" Smith, and a supporting cast of largely unknown players such as starting center Jim Chones, and an aging Nate Thurmond.

The team won 49 games (a team record for 13 seasons) and the Central Division title.

They defeated the Washington Bullets in seven games to advance to the Conference Finals, where they were defeated in six games by the Boston Celtics, with Chones being sidelined by a broken foot in practice two days before the conference finals.

After a 30–52 record for the 1978–79 season, he resigned on May 21, 1979.

On May 23, 1979, Fitch was hired by the Boston Celtics, taking over for Dave Cowens, who had coached them to a 29–53 record as a player-coach the previous season.

His first season in 1979–80 was also the first for Larry Bird.

A former drill instructor in the U. S. Marine Corps, the coach was lauded by Bird for his intense practices and discipline.

Fitch helped lead the Celtics to 61 wins along with an Atlantic Division title.

In the playoffs that year, the Celtics were defeated in the Conference Finals to the Philadelphia 76ers in five games.

Fitch won his second Coach of the Year Award after the season.

In his second season, the Celtics drafted Kevin McHale and acquired Robert Parish, both through a trade with the Golden State Warriors.

Fitch's team won 62 games along with a second Atlantic title.

He developed multiple teams into playoff contenders and won an NBA championship with the Boston Celtics in 1981.

Before entering the professional ranks, he coached college basketball at the University of Minnesota, Bowling Green State University, the University of North Dakota, and his alma mater, Coe College.

Fitch's teams twice qualified for the NCAA tournament.

The Cavaliers did not have a season as bad as that one until the 1981–82 season, which also garnered 15 wins.

The team gradually rose in wins for the next two years, winning 32 in his third season, although they slipped slightly the following year.

In his first four years, they finished last each time in the Central Division.

They went on to beat the Houston Rockets in six games to win the 1981 NBA Finals, Boston's first title since 1976.

Fitch led the Celtics to a third consecutive Atlantic Division title in 1981–82 while winning 63 games, although the team lost in the Conference Finals to the 76ers in seven games.

The Cavaliers did not win another playoff series until 1992.

Fitch was awarded the NBA Coach of the Year Award at the end of the season.

Fitch led the team to two more playoff berths, although they did not win either series.

He won the Chuck Daly Lifetime Achievement Award in 2013, and was elected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2019.

Christopher Gerhman Protrayed him in Winning Time.