Bob McAdoo’s list of honors keeps growing, and the latest one comes with a coaching twist.
The longtime Miami Heat assistant and Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Famer was announced Saturday as the winner of the 2026 Tex Winter Assistant Coach Lifetime Impact Award from the National Basketball Coaches Association.
“Bob McAdoo is one of the true giants of our game,”said J.B. Bickerstaff, Detroit Pistons coach and NBCA President.
“A Hall of Fame player, a champion, and an exceptional Coach, Bob has impacted generations of players through his knowledge, humility, and passion for teaching. His influence can be seen in the many players, coaches, and the Heat organization that he helped elevate throughout his coaching career.
Congratulations to Coach McAdoo on this well-deserved recognition.”
McAdoo has been on the Heat staff since 1995, when he joined Pat Riley’s coaching group. Since then, he has been part of an era that brought Miami three championships and helped establish the franchise among the NBA’s blue bloods.
“I am grateful, honored and humbled to have been selected by the NBCA Selection Committee for the 2026 Tex Winter Assistant Coach Lifetime Impact Award,” McAdoo said. “One never receives this type of award by oneself.
I’d like to thank my wife Patrizia and family for all their love and support. I will be forever grateful to Pat Riley who took me on as an assistant coach for a fantastic NBA journey together.
Thanks also to the Arison Family and the Heat organization who have made an impact on my life both professionally and personally.”
Before his coaching run in Miami, McAdoo built his reputation as a player with the Buffalo Braves and Los Angeles Lakers. He later linked up with Riley during the early 1980s with the famed “Showtime” Lakers. McAdoo has also been described as the first big man to excel as a perimeter shooter, and current stars like Kevin Durant and Chris Webber have said they modeled parts of their game after him.
In Other News...
Heat May Have Found The Exact Guard This Giannis Build Needs
The Heat have spent the early part of summer looking for more guard help around Giannis Antetokounmpo, and two rookies have already made a strong first impression in Las Vegas. Ryan Conwell and Jahmir Young each put up 19 points in their Summer League debuts, giving Miami a pair of backcourt options that fit the kind of developmental lane the franchise has long embraced.
Youngs path is especially worth watching because Miami has already moved him from a two-way deal to a standard contract, a sign the organization sees something worth keeping close. With roster flexibility still on hand and the Heats track record of turning undrafted players into real rotation pieces, there is at least a plausible opening for one or both guards to stick if they keep building on what they showed in Vegas. [Read more 🡒]
Heat Just Made Their Boldest All-In Move Yet
The Heat spent the last several years building around patience, development and the hope that the right star would eventually become available. On June 22, Miami made its biggest swing yet, finalizing a trade with Milwaukee that brings Giannis Antetokounmpo and Bobby Portis Jr. to South Florida, a move the team announced in a press release and framed as the kind of franchise-altering deal Pat Riley has long been willing to chase.
For Miami, the significance goes beyond the names coming in. The deal comes after Boston put forward a competing offer that was turned away, and it leaves the Heat with a dramatically different roster picture almost overnight. Rileys comments underscored the scale of the moment, but the real question now is how quickly Miami can turn this all-in bet into a team that fits around its newest centerpiece. [Read more 🡒]
Tyler Herro Saw The End Coming Before His Heat Exit Got Messier
Tyler Herros Heat tenure ended with plenty of noise, and the guard addressed the move this week in Las Vegas during NBA Summer League as he settled into life with the Milwaukee Bucks. The transition has given him a fresh start with his hometown team, a change of scenery that carries a different kind of meaning than a routine offseason deal.
Herro said he had been bracing for a move all summer, which made the eventual trade less of a shock than a confirmation of what he already sensed was coming. Even with the change in uniform, the backdrop around his exit still lingers, especially after the summer basketball incident involving former teammate Bam Adebayo added another layer to an already messy ending. [Read more 🡒]