Don Chaney

In his first season, the Rockets went 45-37 and finished 5th in the Western Conference.

They met the Seattle Supersonics in the First Round but lost in four games.

The next year saw them finish 41-41 and finish as the eight seed in the West and a four-game loss to the Los Angeles Lakers in the first round.

The third season under Chaney was a tough battle.

Donald Ray Chaney (born March 22, 1946) is an American former professional basketball player and coach, most notable for winning two championships as a player on the Boston Celtics, and winning NBA Coach of The Year while leading the Houston Rockets.

Donald Ray Chaney was born on March 22, 1946, in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

He attended Mckinley High School where he excelled in basketball.

Chaney played basketball in college for the University of Houston, where he was a teammate of future Basketball Hall-of-Famer Elvin Hayes.

Chaney played all 40 minutes of the famed "Game of the Century" at the Astrodome.

Chaney is the only Boston Celtic who played with both Bill Russell (1956–1969) and Larry Bird (1979–1992).

In that year's 1968 NBA draft, Chaney became the first-round pick (12th overall) of the Boston Celtics; he was also drafted by the Houston Mavericks of the American Basketball Association.

Chaney became a champion with the Boston Celtics during his rookie year, in 1969.

On February 28, 1973, Chaney set a career high in points score with 32, in a win over the Golden State Warriors.

He would also help the Celtics toward winning the 1974 NBA Finals.

Chaney played in the ABA for one year with the Spirits of St. Louis from 1975–1976.

Chaney had a short two season stint with the Los Angeles Lakers from 1976–1977.

Chaney was widely known for his defensive skills, appearing on NBA all-defensive teams five times during his career.

He was also known for providing notable numbers in minutes off the bench.

Chaney returned to the Boston Celtics in 1977.

Chaney went 9-12 to lead the team to an ultimate finish of 31-51 and a tie for fourth place in the Pacific Division, which actually was their best finish since 1978.

After his playing career ended, Chaney became an assistant coach for the Detroit Pistons in 1980.

On March 13, 1985, Chaney was hired by the Los Angeles Clippers, replacing Jim Lynam with 21 games left in the 1984-85 season.

It was noted at the time that he was just the twelfth African American head coach in the NBA (of the twelve, ten were former players, and five had played for the Celtics).

The 1985 season would be the first with Chaney as head coach for a full season, which saw them draft Benoit Benjamin as the third pick that year.

Chaney believed that Benjamin could eventually become a "better offensive player than Ewing".

The team, composed of veteran players and fresh rookies, went 32-50.

In a Western Conference with eight playoff spots for twelve teams, the Clippers finished three games short of a playoff spot.

In 1986, Chaney nearly came to blows with Benjamin.

During a pregame shoot-around, Benjamin showed up late and then sat on the side of the court rather than participate in practice.

Chaney called Benjamin and stated that if he was one of his teammates and say he would kick him in the behind before deciding that he probably should kick him right now, although the crowd around Chaney helped calm him down.

His second full season was a disaster.

However, a tremendous March carried them mightily, as they lost only once in 15 games that month before they finished with 52 wins, the first time they had won 50 games since 1986.

They finished 5th in the conference and met the Lakers in the First Round.

On April 22, 1987, he was fired to be replaced by Gene Shue.

The Rockets had made the postseason the past four seasons but hadn't made it past the second round since 1987.

On June 13, 1988, Chaney was hired by the Houston Rockets as head coach to replace Bill Fitch, who had been fired one week ago.

The Rockets played at .500 ball for the first half of the season but found themselves in a bind when Hakeem Olajuwon suffered an bone fracture in his right eye in January 1991 that saw him miss 25 games.

By the All-Star Game break, the Rockets were 27-21.

Wracked with injuries, the Clippers had a 12-game losing streak in the first eighteen games of the season and did not reach ten wins until the 54th game of the season.

They closed the season out on a 14-game losing streak to finish 12-70, which at the time made them the holder of the second-worst record for a season in NBA history.