Cotton Fitzsimmons

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Lowell Fitzsimmons (October 7, 1931 – July 24, 2004), better known as Cotton Fitzsimmons, was a college and NBA basketball coach. A native of Hannibal, Missouri, he attended Midwestern State University in Texas. He coached the Phoenix Suns three times, and is often credited as the architect of the Suns' success of the late 1980s and early to middle 1990s.

He got his first coaching job at Moberly Junior College in 1956. He coached there eleven years, capping his tenure with two national junior college championships (NJCAA), in 1966 and 1967. In 1968, Fitzsimmons was hired by Kansas State University, where he served as head basketball coach for only two seasons before going into the NBA.

In 1970, Fitzsimmons replaced Jerry Colangelo as Suns coach. He took the team to their first winning season, going 48-34 that season.

In 1972, Fitzsimmons went on to coach the Atlanta Hawks. He would return to Phoenix in 1975, to become a permanent resident, although he still coached the Hawks. According to Fitzsimmons, one of the main reasons he accepted a job as Hawks coach was the opportunity to coach Pete Maravich. In 1976, he became the player personnel director for the 1975 NBA champion Golden State Warriors.

In 1977, Cotton Fitzsimmons was hired as head coach by the Buffalo Braves. He lasted there one season, being hired by the Kansas City Kings to be their head coach for the next season. With the Kings, he won the NBA "Coach of the Year" award in 1979.

In 1984, his profession took him to San Antonio, Texas, where he was head coach of the Spurs. One year later, in 1985, he was inducted into the National Junior College Hall of Fame.

Further honors came in 1988, when he was inducted into the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame. He also returned to the Suns organization that year, becoming one of the driving forces behind the trade that sent Larry Nance to the Cleveland Cavaliers for Kevin Johnson, Mark West and a future first round draft pick.

Cotton Fitzsimmons was criticized both by Suns fans and basketball critics after the trade; Nance was very popular in Phoenix. But the Suns had come off a chaotic 1987–1988 season in which they only won 28 games and lost 54, and the team had been shaken by a drug scandal. [1] With the first round draft pick of 1988, the Suns chose Dan Majerle, and the franchise had a turn-around season, winning 55 games and losing 27 before advancing all the way to the Western Conference's Finals that season, where they were swept by the Lakers.

In 1989, he won his second NBA Coach of the Year Award.

After another successful season, the Suns returned to the NBA Playoffs in 1990. This time around, they returned the favor on the Lakers, beating them 4 games to 1 at the Western Conference's Semi-Finals, but once again, Fitzsimmons' team fell short at the NBA's Western Conference Finals, losing to the Portland Trail Blazers, 4 games to 2.

In 1991, the Suns lost to the Utah Jazz at the Western Conference Playoffs' first round, 3 games to 1. In 1992, Cotton Fitzsimmons became only the sixth coach in NBA history to reach 800 wins. After losing to the Trail Blazers at that year's Western Conference Semi-Finals, 4 games to 1, Fitzsimmons retired as coach, to work as Suns senior executive vice-president. By then a long time friend of Colangelo, he helped Colangelo decide to trade Jeff Hornacek, Andrew Lang and Tim Perry for Charles Barkley, while also helping with the decision of signing free agent Danny Ainge. He also did television commentary, joining Al McCoy for Suns broadcasts.

In 1996, he returned to the Suns as head coach for the third time, helping the Suns reach the NBA Playoffs, where they lost to the Spurs, 3 games to 1.

The 1996–1997 Suns lost their first eight games, and Fitzsimmons resigned as head coach of the Suns. At the moment of his retirement, he had 832 wins and 775 losses, making him the eighth winningest coach in NBA history. He has since slipped to number ten in the all-time winning list as an NBA coach.

Fitzsimmons was diagnosed with lung cancer later on in life. His family chose to keep his health status private. Months after being diagnosed with cancer, his condition worsened because of a brain stroke. He suffered two more brain strokes before it was finally revealed to the public that he was in serious condition at a local hospital.

On July 25, the morning after his passing, the Arizona Republic's sports section's headline read: "Brightest Sun Fitzsimmons dies." [2]

Fitzsimmons was very popular among Suns fans and in the Suns organization. In Phoenix, his car would often be stopped by autograph seeking fans, to which, in most times, he obliged to sign.

[edit] External links

• Suns: Cotton Fitzsimmons Tribute

Preceded by: Tex Winter	Kansas State Wildcats Head Coach 1968–1970	Succeeded by: Jack Hartman
Preceded by: Jerry Colangelo	Phoenix Suns Head Coach 1970–1972	Succeeded by: Butch van Breda Kolff
Preceded by: Richie Guerin	Atlanta Hawks Head Coach 1972–1976	Succeeded by: Bumper Tormohlen
Preceded by: Joe Mullaney	Buffalo Braves Head Coach 1977–1978	Succeeded by: Gene Shue
Preceded by: Larry Staverman	Kansas City Kings Head Coach 1978–1984	Succeeded by: Jack McKinney
Preceded by: Bob Bass	San Antonio Spurs Head Coach 1984–1986	Succeeded by: Bob Weiss
Preceded by: John Wetzel	Phoenix Suns Head Coach 1988–1992	Succeeded by: Paul Westphal
Preceded by: Paul Westphal	Phoenix Suns Head Coach 1996	Succeeded by: Danny Ainge

Kansas State Wildcats Head Basketball Coaches
Melick • Ahearn • Lowman • Merner • Clevenger • Knoth • Curtis • Corsaut • Root • Gardner (pre-war) • Cochrane • Rock • Knorr • Gardner (post-war) • Winter • Fitzsimmons • Hartman • Kruger • Altman • Asbury• Wooldridge • Huggins