Rick Adelman: A Players’ Coach, 1993

[Hall-of-Famer Rick Adelman passed last week at age 79. Several people in the know already have paid tribute to his basketball life well spent, which included seven seasons as an NBA player and 23 seasons as an NBA coach (career record 1,042-749). Here’s another remembrance, this one from Way Downtown before Adelman’s spectacular run as with the Sacramento Kings (1998-2006). It’s a profile of Adelman at the height of his six-season tenure as head coach of the Portland Trail Blazers (1988-1994). At the keyboard is Wayne Thompson, the long-time Blazers beat reporter for the Oregonian and a scribe who knew Adelman well. Because the profile runs a little long for contemporary tastes, I’ll stop the intro here. Except to add, Thompson’s cover story appeared in the February 1993 issue of the magazine Rip City. Here’s to Rick Adelman, one of the great NBA coaches.] **** Earlier this season, Portland Trail Blazers coach Rick Adelman earned 200 career coaching victories faster than any other…