The Miami HEAT announced today that former head coach and long-time assistant Ron Rothstein has retired from coaching and will join the HEAT Broadcast team and serve as a Corporate Liaison. The HEAT also announced that long-time assistant and Hall of Famer Bob McAdoo will become a pro scout and serve as a Community Liaison.
“Both Ron and Bob were instrumental in the success of the HEAT and their contributions to our three championships cannot be overstated,” said HEAT President Pat Riley. “They are HEAT lifers and I’m happy that they will continue to be an important part of the organization as they evolve into their new roles within the HEAT family.”
“I want to thank Ron and Bob for their guidance, wisdom and dedication that they provided to me when I took over as head coach,” said HEAT Head Coach Erik Spoelstra. “I especially want to thank them for all their hard work and support these past six seasons. They were a huge part of all our team success. Moving forward, having their great basketball minds just down the hall will continue to be invaluable.”
Rothstein, with over 40 years of experience in the game of basketball, will join the HEAT broadcast team and bring his vast knowledge of the game to the Sun Sports studio. For Rothstein, it marks a return to the broadcasting field in which he previously served as a color commentator for the Detroit Pistons during the 1991-92 NBA season. He will also serve the South Florida community in his additional role as Corporate Liaison. Rothstein, an original HEAT employee who has served the organization for 16 years in various capacities, became the organization’s first head coach on July 12, 1988 and guided them for three seasons, increasing the team’s victory total each year. During his 26 years on an NBA bench, his teams made 18 postseason appearances, highlighted by three NBA championships, six Eastern Conference championships, six NBA Finals appearances, nine Eastern Conference Finals appearances and nine divisional championships.
McAdoo, a former NBA MVP and Hall of Famer, will take his 33 years of combined NBA experience, 19 as a coach (all with the HEAT) and 14 as a player, into the world of player personnel and scouting where he will serve as one of the lead scouts under HEAT Vice President, Player Personnel Chet Kammerer. In his new role, McAdoo’s duties will include scouting on the NBA, college and international levels. Generally considered one of the greatest shooting big men in league history, the five-time NBA All-Star captured three consecutive scoring titles from 1973-74 through 1975-76 and was named NBA Rookie of the Year in 1973. In 1982, he was a member of Pat Riley’s first championship team in Los Angeles and later played professionally in Italy where his teams went on to win the Italian Championship three times and the European Championship twice. In 2008, he was named as one of the 50 most influential personalities in European Club Basketball over the last half century and in 2014 he was named the best foreign player to play in European Basketball. In addition to his role as scout, McAdoo will also serve in the capacity of Community Liaison.
