Tex Winter, innovative basketball coach, dead at 96
Tex Winter, the innovative “Triangle Offense” pioneer who assisted Phil Jackson on 11 NBA championship teams with the Chicago Bulls and Los Angeles Lakers, has died. He was 96. Kansas State University said Winter died Wednesday in Manhattan.
“Tex Winter was a basketball legend and perhaps the finest fundamental teacher in the history of our game,” said Bulls President John Paxson, a former player under Winter. “He was an innovator who had high standards for how basketball should be played and approached everyday. Those of us who were lucky enough to play for him will always respect his devotion to the game of basketball. His contributions to the Bulls organization will always be remembered.”
Winter published “The Triple-Post Offense” in 1962 and teamed with Jackson to use the system to great success with Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant. Winter assisted Jackson on championship teams with the Bulls in 1991, 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997 and 1998, and the Lakers in 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002 and 2009.
Inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2011, Winter spent more than six decades in coaching. He was 451-336 as a college head coach at Marquette (1951-53), Kansas State (1954-68), Washington (1969-72), Northwestern (197578) and Long Beach State (197883). He coached the Houston Rockets in 1972-74, going 51-78.
“Today is a sad day for not only Kansas State University but also the entire basketball world with the passing of Coach Winter,” K-State athletic director Gene Taylor said in a statement.