1. Dean Peter "the Dream" Meminger was an American basketball player and coach.
19 Facts About Dean Meminger
1. 2.
Dean Meminger played college basketball for Marquette where he was the NIT MVP in 1970 and a Consensus first-team All-American in 1971.
3.
Dean Meminger later played professionally in the NBA for six seasons, winning the NBA championship with the New York Knicks in 1973.
4.
Dean Meminger was born in Walterboro, South Carolina, and came to Harlem, New York, with his family as a seventh-grader.
5.
Dean Meminger starred at Rice High School in New York City as well as making a name for himself on the playgrounds at West 135th Street.
6.
Dean Meminger attended Marquette University, where he played for coach Al McGuire with the then-Warriors.
7.
Dean Meminger helped Marquette win the 1970 National Invitational Tournament.
8.
In that season, Dean Meminger helped the Knicks win their second-ever NBA championship.
9.
Dean Meminger was hired as the head coach of the New York Stars in the Women's Professional Basketball League in June 1979.
10.
Dean Meminger was coaxed to head west, leaving Capistran behind, when he signed up to coach the San Francisco Pioneers in what would be the league's final season.
11.
In 1982, Dean Meminger was hired to coach the Albany Patroons in the Continental Basketball Association.
12.
Dean Meminger was dismissed for his combative style with his players and replaced by his former Knicks teammate and friend Phil Jackson.
13.
Dean Meminger convinced Jackson to let him try out for the team, but he was unable to resurrect his career on the court.
14.
Dean Meminger next coached the USBL's Long Island Knights in 1987, coaching the likes of Micheal Ray Richardson, Steve Burtt and Geoff Huston, an experience that according to him "almost sent me to the cuckoo's nest".
15.
Dean Meminger's son goes by the same name and is a news reporter and anchor for NY1 News.
16.
On November 22,2009, Dean Meminger was rescued from a fire in the Bronx in New York City.
17.
Dean Meminger recovered and would remain active in local basketball events.
18.
Dean Meminger had battled drug addiction for decades and was living in Baltimore, Maryland.
19.
Dean Meminger was in Harlem to receive a community award when he was found dead in his room at the Casablanca Hotel in Harlem on August 23,2013.