(born 1945), winningest National Basketball Association coach of 1980s, born in Schenectady, N.Y.; ended decade with highest win percentage for both regular season and play-offs; with superstars Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, the Los Angeles Lakers won four NBA titles in his first eight seasons as head coach (1981–82, 1984–85, 1986–87, 1987–88), also three more Western Conference championships (1982–83, 1983–84, 1988–89); helped develop crowd-pleasing offense, switched team leadership from Kareem to Magic in 1986, in 1987 improved defense by public “guarantee” of back-to-back titles, the first for any team in 19 years; played for San Diego, Los Angeles, Phoenix 1967–76; in 1977 joined broadcast team for Lakers; assistant coach Lakers 1979–81; retired from coaching 1990; returned to coach N.Y. Knicks 1991; author, ‘Show Time: Inside the Lakers' Breakthrough Season' (1988).