{"id":79758,"date":"2025-11-16T05:11:36","date_gmt":"2025-11-16T09:11:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alofokedeportes.com\/en\/sin-categoria\/richie-adubato-passes-away-nba-and-wnba-basketball-legend-at-87-years-old-2\/"},"modified":"2025-11-16T05:11:36","modified_gmt":"2025-11-16T09:11:36","slug":"richie-adubato-passes-away-nba-and-wnba-basketball-legend-at-87-years-old-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alofokedeportes.com\/en\/wnba\/richie-adubato-passes-away-nba-and-wnba-basketball-legend-at-87-years-old-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Richie Adubato Passes Away: NBA and WNBA Basketball Legend at 87 Years Old"},"content":{"rendered":"

Richie Adubato, Legendary Basketball Coach, Passes Away<\/h2>\n\nThe basketball world mourns the loss of Richie Adubato, a coach with a four-decade career in the NBA and WNBA. Adubato, who left an indelible mark on the sport, passed away at the age of 87, according to his family.\n\nAdubato coached iconic teams such as the Dallas Mavericks, Orlando Magic, New York Liberty, and Washington Mystics. His legacy extends through multiple seasons and notable achievements.\n\nLet’s remember him as the fun, intelligent, energetic, and genuinely warm human being he always was.\n\nBeth Adubato, Richie’s daughter\n\nThe news of the death was announced by his family on Friday through social media. His daughter, Beth, shared a moving message remembering her father.\n\nDuring his time with the Liberty, Adubato led the team to the WNBA Finals on three occasions (1999-2004), coaching future stars like Teresa Weatherspoon and Becky Hammon. Even today, he holds the record for most games coached with 178 and is second in wins (100) with the Liberty, only surpassed by Sandy Brondello.\n\n\n

With deep gratitude, we remember the legacy of Richie Adubato, who guided the Liberty to 3 WNBA Finals appearances and established a standard of excellence that still inspires our organization today.<\/p>Statement from the New York Liberty Team<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

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Richie Adubato, a longtime NBA and WNBA coach, has passed away at 87 years old. Adubato coached the Mavericks, Magic, Liberty and Mystics during his career. pic.twitter.com\/24j27jF81R<\/a><\/p>\u2014 NBA History (@NBAHistory) May 10, 2024<\/a><\/blockquote>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\nIn addition to his time with the Liberty, Adubato also coached the Washington Mystics for two and a half seasons (2005-2007).\n\nIn 1997, Adubato was the interim coach of the Magic, after having been an assistant for several years. He also served as the team’s radio analyst from 2005 to 2020.\n\n\n

The DeVos family and the Orlando Magic mourn the passing of Richie Adubato.<\/p>Statement from the Orlando Magic team<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\nThe Orlando Magic team expressed their sadness at the loss of Adubato, highlighting his positive impact on the sport.\n\nAdubato was also interim coach in Detroit during the 1979-80 season and later coach in Dallas from 1989 to 1993.\n\n\n

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Our hearts are with the Adubato family during this difficult time. We are deeply saddened to learn of the passing of Richie Adubato. Richie’s legacy lives on in every story and lesson he shared – a coach who turned the gym into a place of connection and joy, impacting countless lives with warmth, humor, and unforgettable spirit. pic.twitter.com\/9J5rY67P1b<\/a><\/p>\u2014 Orlando Magic (@OrlandoMagic) May 10, 2024<\/a><\/blockquote>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\nBefore his NBA career, Adubato spent 18 years coaching basketball in high schools and colleges in New Jersey.","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Richie Adubato, Legendary Basketball Coach, Passes Away The basketball world mourns the loss of Richie Adubato, a coach with a four-decade career in the NBA and WNBA. Adubato, who left an indelible mark on the sport, passed away at the age of 87, according to his family. Adubato coached iconic teams such as the Dallas […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":79759,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[43],"tags":[718,103,10146,382],"class_list":{"0":"post-79758","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-wnba","8":"tag-coach","9":"tag-nba","10":"tag-richie-adubato","11":"tag-wnba"},"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alofokedeportes.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79758","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alofokedeportes.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alofokedeportes.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alofokedeportes.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alofokedeportes.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=79758"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alofokedeportes.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79758\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alofokedeportes.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/79759"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alofokedeportes.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=79758"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alofokedeportes.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=79758"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alofokedeportes.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=79758"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}