1. William "Red" Holzman was an American professional basketball player and coach.
15 Facts About Red Holzman
1. 2.
Red Holzman is best known as the head coach of the New York Knicks of the National Basketball Association from 1967 to 1977, and again from 1978 to 1982.
3.
In 1996, Red Holzman was named one of the Top 10 Coaches in NBA History.
4.
William "Red" Holzman was born on August 10,1920, in the Lower East Side of Manhattan in New York City, to Jewish immigrant parents, as the son of a Romanian mother and Russian father.
5.
Red Holzman attended the University of Baltimore and later the City College of New York, where he played for two years until graduation in 1942.
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Red Holzman joined the United States Navy in the same year, and played on the Norfolk, Virginia Naval Base team till he was discharged from the Navy in 1945.
7.
Red Holzman stayed with the team through their move to the NBA and subsequent NBA championship in 1951.
8.
In 1953, Red Holzman left the Royals and joined the Milwaukee Hawks as a player-coach, eventually retiring as a player in 1954 but continuing as the team's head coach.
9.
Red Holzman coached Leones de Ponce from 1963 to 1967, winning three consecutive championships from 1964 to 1966.
10.
In 1969, Red Holzman coached the Knicks to a then single-season NBA record 18-game win streak, breaking the 17-game record first set back in 1946.
11.
Red Holzman won his second NBA championship as the Knicks won the 1973 NBA Finals against the Lakers.
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Red Holzman was one of very few individuals to have won an NBA championship as both player and coach.
13.
In 1985, Red Holzman was elected into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.
14.
Red Holzman is a member of the International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame and the New York City Basketball Hall of Fame.
15.
Red Holzman lived with his wife in a home they bought in Cedarhurst, New York in the 1950s.