Dick Motta

At 92 years old, Dick Motta has this physical status:

John Richard Motta (born September 3, 1931) is an American former basketball coach whose career in the National Basketball Association (NBA) spanned 25 years, and he continues to rank among the NBA's all-time top 10 in coaching victories.

Personal life

After being fired by the Denver Nuggets, Motta retired from coaching. He returned to his native Utah, where he and his wife Jan opened a bed and breakfast, The Bluebird Inn, at Bear Lake on the border of Utah and Idaho.

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Early coaching career

After graduating from Utah State University in Logan, Motta began teaching seventh grade and coached for two years before being drafted in the armed services, then returned to Grace High School in Grace, Idaho, where he taught seventh grade and coached for two years before being sent back. In an interview with him, he once said that winning the state championship (AA) at Grace in 1959 was his most thrilling work as a coach, as well as winning the NBA championship, which he captured two decades later.

In Ogden, Utah, Motta coached at Weber State. Weber State has won three Big Sky Conference championships (1965, 1966, 1968), under the direction of Motta and assistant coach Phil Johnson.

NBA coaching career

Motta was hired as head coach of the Chicago Bulls in 1968 after a six-year stint at Weber State. Johnny Kerr, who had coached the team to two playoff appearances despite subparices of 33-48 and 29-53, respectively, was fired. Motta was the team's coach for eight seasons as well as 656 games. From 1970 to 1974, he led the Bulls to four straight 50 win seasons, winning the NBA Coach of the Year Award in 1971. However, this did not translate to playoff triumph, as the Bulls had just one playoff series (1974) in that time. Nonetheless, they advanced to the Conference Finals in the 1974-75 season, defeating the Kansas City Kings to play the Golden State Warriors, losing in 7 games in 7 games. In 1975–76, the team defeated the NBA in an NBA-worst 24–58 record. Ed Badger was eventually fired by him on August 25, 1976.

Motta's two-year deal with the Bulls gave him two years to discuss with the Washington Bullets. On May 28, 1976, he left the Bulls to replace K. C. Jones in a similar role with the Bullets. The Bullets defeated the Cavaliers in the First Round of the First Round in his first season, defeating them in six games to the Houston Rockets. The next year was the pinnacle of the team and Motta's careers. They were 44-38, but they went all the way to the 1978 NBA Finals, where they defeated the Seattle SuperSonics in seven games to win the NBA championship. While winning the Atlantic Division last year, the team went 54-28. This was not only their sixth division title in eight years, but it was also their last division championship before 2017. The Bullets advanced to the 1979 NBA Finals, but they had to face the entire seven games in both the Semifinals and the Conference Finals, nearly blowing a 3-1 series lead to the Atlanta Hawks and having to come back from a 3-1 series defeat to the San Antonio Spurs in the conference finals. They met the Seattle SuperSonics once more in the Finals this year. Game 1 was 97-97, but the Bullets won the NBA championship after four games. The Bullets went 39-43 last year, though they qualified for a playoff spot. In two games, the Philadelphia 76ers were defeated. Despite having one year left on his deal, he resigned as head coach on May 27, 1980. If he didn't get any head coaching positions from other teams, he had an agreement to honor the remaining year by joining the Bullets front office as a special advisor to general manager Bob Ferry. Gene Shue took over Gene Shue's place.

Motta is sometimes credited with coining the term 'til the fat lady sings.' In fact, Ralph Carpenter, the first recorded use of the term, was confirmed by Texas Tech sports information director Ralph Carpenter, as reported in the Dallas Morning News on 10 March 1976.

KENS Sports anchor Dan Cook used the word during a KENS-TV broadcast of the 1978 NBA Eastern Conference semi-finals between the Washington Bullets and the San Antonio Spurs in an attempt to inspire Spurs fans as their team was down three games to one against the Bullets. Motta watched the show and opted for his own word — "The 'opera' isn't about 'til the fat lady sings" — to warn Bullets fans against braggadocio.

The odds were against the underdog Bullets and sportswriters were forecasting a bleak end, so Motta resurgent with the upbeat ostinato, "Wait for the fat lady." The Bullets won the Eastern Conference against the Philadelphia 76ers, then went on to defeat the Western Conference Champion Seattle SuperSonics four games to three for the 1978 NBA title.

Fans in Washington, D.C., were given their first professional championship team in any sport since the Washington Redskins won the NFL championship in 1942. (The Bullets were only the third team to win the NBA championship in Motta's second year as coach in a seventh game on the road). The 1978 championship was the franchise's only NBA championship.

After the climactic Game 7 win to win the title, Motta celebrated with his team wearing a beer-soaked The Opera Isn't Dead Til The Fat Lady Sings T-shirt.'

Opera enthusiasts were outraged with him at first in a Nevada Statesman, Utah State University's student newspaper. "When I said that they were going to murder me." However, Motta said that as time went, he had been extended friendly invitations to a number of "operatic" performances, ranging from the Metropolitan Opera in New York to the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville.

Motta was the first head coach of the Dallas Mavericks, who was hired by the team on July 16, 1980. His first team, who finished last in the league, was 15-67. They didn't lose as many games as they did before losing 60 games in 1992. The Mavericks of Motta gradually rose in finish, from 6th in the first season to fourth in the Midwest Division by the third year. For the first time, his fourth season (1983-84) marked a new high for the team, going 43-39 while qualifying for the playoffs for the first time. They defeated the Seattle SuperSonics in the First Round to advance to the Semifinals, where they lost to the Los Angeles Lakers in five games. After a 44-38 record, the Mavs returned to the playoffs this year, but they lost to the Portland Trail Blazers in the First Round. After a 44-38 year career and defeating the Utah Jazz in the First Round, the Lakers lost their second year to the Lakers in the Semifinals the following year. The next season was Motta's last season as the team went 55-27 and finished 2nd in the Western Conference, winning their first Midwest Division title (the Mavericks had never win a division title in 20 seasons). However, they lost in the First Round in four games to the SuperSonics. Motta resigned on May 20.

Motta was hired by the Sacramento Kings in the middle of the season on January 4, 1990, swapping Jerry Reynolds, who had led the team to a 7-21 record. The Kings were guided by Motta to a 16-38 record and a 23-59 finish. The Kings went 25-57 in the Pacific Division this season, finishing last. Motta was fired on Christmas Eve 1991 after a 7-18 start.

Dallas hired him back as the team's coach on May 17, 1994, replacing Quinn Buckner, who went 13-69. With a 36-46 record, Motta led the team to a 23-game improvement. His second and final season was less fruitful, going 26-56. On May 1, 1996, he was reassigned from his head coach position.

Motta was fired by the Denver Nuggets on November 26, 1996, after Bernie Bickerstaff had been off to a 4-9 start. The Nuggets went into a tailspin after losing 26 of their final 30 games to finish 21-61 and 12th in the Western Conference, defeating the Nuggets. Motta was fired on April 21, 1997.

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