Dick Motta

John Richard Motta (born September 3, 1931) is an American former basketball coach whose career in the National Basketball Association (NBA) spanned 25 years.

John Richard Motta was born on September 3, 1931, in Midvale, Utah.

He attended Jordan High School in Sandy, Utah, where he excelled in basketball.

Motta attended Utah State University in Logan, Utah.

Motta started coaching at Grace High School in Grace, Idaho, where he taught seventh grade and coached for two years before being drafted in the armed services, then returned.

He once said in an interview that winning the state championship (AA) at Grace in 1959 was his greatest thrill as a coach, even topping the NBA championship he won two decades later.

From 1960 to 1968, Motta was the head basketball coach at Weber State University in Ogden, Utah.

Under the direction of Motta and assistant coach Phil Johnson, Weber State won three Big Sky Conference championships (1965, 1966, 1968).

Motta was hired as head coach of the Chicago Bulls in 1968 after a six-year stint at Weber State.

He replaced Johnny Kerr, who had led the team to two playoff appearances despite subpar records of 33-48 and 29-53, respectively.

Motta coached the team for eight seasons, coaching 656 games.

From 1970 to 1974 he led the Bulls to four consecutive 50-win seasons, winning the NBA Coach of the Year Award in 1971.

It did not translate to playoff success, as the Bulls won just one playoff series (1974) in that span.

However, they advanced to the Western Conference Finals in the 1974-75 season, beating the Kansas City Kings to play the Golden State Warriors, which they lost in seven games.

The team went an NBA-worst 24–58 in 1975–76.

He was eventually replaced by Ed Badger on August 25, 1976.

Motta had two years left on his contract with the Bulls who allowed him to negotiate with the Washington Bullets.

He left the Bulls to succeed K. C. Jones in a similar capacity with the Bullets on May 28, 1976.

In his first season, the Bullets went 48-34 while advancing to the Semifinals again after beating the Cavaliers in the First Round, although they lost to the Houston Rockets in six games.

The next year was the pinnacle for the team and Motta's career.

Motta is sometimes erroneously credited with coining the celebrated phrase: The opera ain't over 'til the fat lady sings. In fact, the first recorded use of the phrase was by Texas Tech sports information director Ralph Carpenter, as reported in the Dallas Morning News on 10 March 1976.

Motta coached the Washington Bullets to the 1978 NBA Championship, and he won the 1971 NBA Coach of the Year Award with the Chicago Bulls.

They went 44-38, but they advanced all the way to the 1978 NBA Finals, where they beat the Seattle SuperSonics in seven games to win the NBA championship.

The following year, the team went 54-28 while winning the Atlantic Division.

During a KENS-TV broadcast of the 1978 NBA Eastern Conference semi-finals between the Washington Bullets and the San Antonio Spurs, KENS Sports anchor Dan Cook used the phrase in an attempt to encourage Spurs fans, as their team was down three games to one against the Bullets.

The Bullets went to the 1979 NBA Finals, although they had to fight the full seven games in both the Semifinals and the conference finals, as they nearly blew a 3-1 series lead to the Atlanta Hawks in the Semifinals and having to come back from a 3-1 series deficit from the San Antonio Spurs in the Eastern Conference Finals.

In the Finals that year, they played the Seattle SuperSonics once again.

The Bullets won Game 1 at home 99–97, but the SuperSonics won the following four games to win the NBA championship.

It is the last time the team has reached the NBA Finals.

The following year, the Bullets went 39-43, although they qualified for a playoff berth.

They were beaten by the Philadelphia 76ers in two games.

He resigned as head coach on May 27, 1980 despite having one year left on his contract.

He had an agreement to honor that remaining year by joining the Bullets front office as a special consultant to general manager Bob Ferry if he didn't get any head coaching appointments from other teams.

He was succeeded by Gene Shue.

Motta is eighth all-time with 1,952 games as coach, while ranking 13th in wins and fourth in losses; he has the most wins of eligible coaches not currently inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame.

In 25 seasons as a coach, he reached the postseason fourteen times.

Known as a strict disciplinarian with high expectations for his players, Motta developed a reputation for putting together well-conditioned, tough, physical teams.

He was known for his eccentric personality and fiery temper, which included infamously throwing his jacket at a referee, kicking a basketball into the stands and throwing a dollar bill onto the court and demanding it to play after a GM traded one of his players for cash considerations.

He retired from coaching in 1997 and ran a bed and breakfast with his wife in Bear Lake, Idaho.

This was not only their sixth division title in eight years, it was also their last division title until 2017.