Rudy Tomjanovich was moved to tears by his latest award, only because he had no idea it was coming or that he was even under consideration.
The Basketball Hall of Fame inductee and two-time NBA champion coach with the Houston Rockets was announced Sunday as this year’s recipient of the Chuck Daly Lifetime Achievement Award, presented by the National Basketball Coaches Association.
“The great thing about this award is it came to me out of the blue. I had no idea that I was up for this,” Tomjanovich said in Boston on Sunday, when the award was presented before Game 2 of the NBA Finals. “I happened to be with my son up in Houston when I got the call … and I got emotional. My son kept asking, ‘Are you OK? Are you OK?’”
Tomjanovich assured his son after hanging up with NBCA President Rick Carlisle that all was fine.
“And then I did cry,” Tomjanovich said.
The NBCA came up with the Daly award to honor those who “set a standard for integrity, competitive excellence and tireless promotion of NBA basketball.” Carlisle pointed out that Daly and Tomjanovich had plenty of parallels: Both coached back-to-back NBA champions, both coached the U.S. to Olympic gold and both are held in the highest regard in the coaching world.
Prior recipients are Rick Adelman (2023), Mike Fratello (2022), Larry Brown (2021), Del Harris (2020), Frank Layden (2019), Doug Moe (2018), Al Attles and Hubie Brown (2017), K.C. Jones and Jerry Sloan (2016), Dick Motta (2015), Bernie Bickerstaff (2014), Bill Fitch (2013), Pat Riley (2012), Lenny Wilkens (2011), Jack Ramsay and Tex Winter (2010), and Tommy Heinsohn (2009).
“Both Chuck and Rudy are guys that were beloved, unconditionally respected within the coaching profession and guys that were able to get the very, very best out of a wide range of different kind of players,” said Carlisle, the longtime NBCA president and coach of the Indiana Pacers. “They were so great, made so many people feel special and made the players that they coached feel special.”
STREAK CONTINUES. BARELY
Boston’s Al Horford got a 3-pointer to fall with 5.1 seconds left in the first quarter of Game 2 of the NBA Finals, keeping a unique streak alive for the Celtics.
It is now 98 games and counting — every game so far this season, including playoffs — that Boston has made at least one 3-pointer in the opening quarter of games. The Celtics were 0 for 8 from deep against Dallas on Sunday night before Horford connected.
Boston has made a 3-pointer in the first quarter in 200 of its last 201 games, going back to the 2022 NBA Finals against Golden State. The exception came in the Celtics’ season-ending loss to Miami in Game 7 of last year’s Eastern Conference finals.
CELEB WATCH
The Boston Bruins were back at TD Garden on Sunday night.
Bruins stars David Pastrnak, Jeremy Swayman and Charlie McAvoy were all at Game 2 of the NBA Finals between Boston and Dallas, the NBA said.
Other celebs at the game included former New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick, three-time Olympic gymnastics gold medalist Aly Raisman, Duke coach Jon Scheyer and Jason Terry — who played for both the Celtics and the Mavericks, helping Dallas win a title in 2011.
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