Bob McAdoo spent much of his playing career putting points on the scoreboard. His second basketball career was built around helping others succeed.
The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Famer has been named the 2026 recipient of the Tex Winter Assistant Coach Lifetime Impact Award, the National Basketball Coaches Association announced Saturday. The honor recognizes McAdoo’s 19 seasons as an assistant with the Miami Heat and his influence on generations of players and coaches.
McAdoo joined Pat Riley’s coaching staff in Miami in 1995 and remained on the Heat bench through several different eras of the franchise. He worked under Riley, Stan Van Gundy and Erik Spoelstra while becoming one of the organization’s most trusted teachers.
His specialty was working with frontcourt players and helping scorers become more efficient. During his time in Miami, McAdoo coached and mentored a long list of stars that included Alonzo Mourning, Shaquille O’Neal, Chris Bosh, LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Tim Hardaway and Ray Allen.
The results followed.
Miami reached the NBA Finals five times during McAdoo’s coaching tenure and won championships in 2006, 2012 and 2013. His teams made the playoffs in 16 of his 19 seasons and won at least 50 games nine times. McAdoo coached more than 1,500 regular-season and playoff games, finishing with an overall record of 880-630.
Detroit Pistons coach and NBCA president J.B. Bickerstaff described McAdoo as one of basketball’s most important figures, pointing to his ability to connect with players while sharing the knowledge he accumulated during his own Hall of Fame career.
McAdoo credited Riley for giving him an opportunity to begin coaching and also thanked the Arison family, the Heat organization and his family for supporting him throughout his career. He said the award reflected the help he received from the people around him rather than something he accomplished alone.
Long before he became a fixture on Miami’s bench, McAdoo was one of the NBA’s most dominant offensive players.
The Buffalo Braves selected him with the second overall pick in the 1972 NBA Draft. He won Rookie of the Year in 1973 before capturing three consecutive scoring titles from 1974 through 1976. McAdoo was named the league’s Most Valuable Player in 1975 after averaging 34.5 points per game.
He was also selected to five straight All-Star Games and later won two championships as a member of the Los Angeles Lakers in 1982 and 1985. McAdoo finished his 14-year NBA career with 18,787 points and averages of 22.1 points and 9.4 rebounds per game.
His career did not end when he left the NBA. McAdoo continued playing professionally in Italy, winning back-to-back EuroLeague championships with Olimpia Milano in 1987 and 1988. He was eventually recognized as one of the 50 greatest contributors in EuroLeague history.
McAdoo was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2000 and was selected for the NBA’s 75th Anniversary Team in 2021.
The Tex Winter Award recognizes assistant coaches whose careers represent innovation, integrity, loyalty and excellence. It is named after the Hall of Fame coach best known for helping develop and teach the triangle offense used by championship teams in Chicago and Los Angeles.
McAdoo joins a list of previous winners that includes Maurice Cheeks, Hank Egan, Brendan Malone, Ron Adams, Bill Bertka and former Heat assistant Ron Rothstein. The recipient is selected by a committee of respected NBA coaches and executives.
For McAdoo, the award recognizes a side of his basketball legacy that was often less visible than his scoring titles and MVP trophy.
He arrived in Miami as one of the greatest shooting big men the league had seen. He spent the next 19 seasons passing that knowledge along—and helping turn the Heat into one of the NBA’s most successful organizations.