'Forever grateful': Former Cavs coach Mike Fratello receives lifetime achievement award
Former Cavaliers coach Mike Fratello was named the 2022 recipient of the Chuck Daly Lifetime Achievement Award by the National Basketball Coaches Association, it was announced Sunday.
Fratello, 75, was hired by the Cavs in 1993 and spent six seasons in Cleveland, compiling a 248-212 record with four playoff appearances.
The third former Cavs coach honored with the award, Fratello joins past winners Lenny Wilkens (2011) and Bill Fitch (2013). Cavs senior basketball advisor Bernie Bickerstaff, the father of current coach J.B. Bickerstaff, received it in 2014.
Fratello’s time as an NBA head coach began in 1983 as he posted a 667-548 (.549) regular-season record, which also included stints with the Atlanta Hawks and Memphis Grizzlies. His teams finished .500 or better in 13 of his 16 seasons and reached the playoffs 11 times. Fratello’s 667 victories and 1,215 games coached ranked 17th all-time when he left the Grizzlies in 2006.
Fratello also coached the Ukraine National Team from 2011-14. In FIBA Eurobasket 2013, Ukraine ranked last among 24 competing national teams, but Fratello led them to a surprising sixth-place finish, earning the country its first automatic bid into the FIBA World Cup in 2014.
Fratello has worked for NBC, TNT and NBA TV, along with television networks of the Cavs, Los Angeles Clippers, Miami Heat, Brooklyn Nets and Detroit Pistons. He still occasionally appears on Cavs’ pregame and postgame broadcasts on Bally Sports Ohio.
In 1990, Fratello joined play-by-play man Marv Albert for the first of Fratello’s three seasons as the lead color analyst on the “NBA on NBC,” and Albert soon dubbed Fratello the “Czar of the Telestrator.” The duo also called all of the Dream Team's games at the 1992 Summer Olympics.
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“Chuck Daly was a special man and a special coach — and this is a special award,” Fratello said in a statement. “It means so much to me because Chuck was a mentor, a close friend, and a trusted confidant during my NBA coaching career and beyond. It is an honor to be recognized by my peers, whom I respect and admire. I am proud to join the ranks of the previous recipients — all exceptional coaches and extraordinary individuals.
“I am forever grateful.”
Among those Fratello thanked in the press release were his former bosses Hubie Brown and Kevin Loughery, “who opened the door to my NBA career.”
The award is given in memory of Daly, a Hall of Fame coach who set a standard for integrity, competitive excellence and tireless promotion of NBA basketball. Daly began his career coaching the Cavs in 1981 and lasted 41 games before being fired by owner Ted Stepien.
Wilkens and Bernie Bickerstaff are among those on the selection committee for the Daly award, along with Billy Cunningham, Joe Dumars, Phil Jackson, Gregg Popovich, Pat Riley and Donnie Walsh.
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Ex-Cleveland Cavaliers coach, NBA analyst Mike Fratello honored
