Allan Bristow

Allan Mercer Bristow, Jr. (born August 23, 1951) is a retired American professional basketball player, coach, and executive. Bristow played college basketball at Virginia Tech, and was selected by the Philadelphia 76ers in the second round of the 1973 NBA draft. A 6 ft 7 in, 210 lb (95 kg) forward, he had a 10-year career in both the NBA and the ABA, playing for the Sixers, the San Antonio Spurs (in both leagues), the Utah Jazz, and finishing his playing career with the Dallas Mavericks. His nickname was "Disco".

In 1991, Bristow was hired to be the third head coach for the recently created Charlotte Hornets franchise, a position he held for five years. Led by players such as Larry Johnson and Alonzo Mourning, the Hornets were the first of the late-1980s expansion teams to be successful, reaching the playoffs in 1993 and 1995. Bristow resigned in 1996.

Bristow became the New Orleans Hornets' general manager in 2004, a position he relinquished in 2005.

In 1997, Bristow was inducted into the Virginia Sports Hall of Fame.

Virginia Tech career

After being an all-state player at Henrico High School, Bristow decided to attend and play basketball for Virginia Tech. Bristow averaged 27.3 points per game and 17.1 rebounds per game on the JV/Freshmen team his freshman year, as freshmen could not play varsity basketball per NCAA rules at the time. In February 1973, Bristow had his best game, scoring 52 points on 22 made field goals in a 117–89 win against George Washington University; both are still single-game records at Virginia Tech. He scored in double figures in all 78 games he played in his Virginia Tech career. He led the Hokies in rebounding all three varsity seasons and in scoring his final two years. Bristow helped the Hokies reach and win the National Invitation Tournament championship in 1973 as a starting forward. Bristow and the Hokies beat Notre Dame and Coach Digger Phelps by 1 point at the buzzer. He finished his college career in 1973 with averages of 23.1 points per game and 12.7 rebounds per game and as Virginia Tech's all-time scoring leader with 1,804 points (currently still 7th on the scoring list). He also still holds records at Virginia Tech for career scoring average, most points in a game, consecutive double-figure scoring games and most field goals in a game. He became the fourth Virginia Tech basketball player to have a jersey retired on October 17, 1998.^[1]

NBA playing career

Bristow was selected in the second round of the 1973 NBA draft (21st overall pick) by the Philadelphia 76ers. He made his NBA debut on October 13, 1973. Bristow played in 55 games in his rookie year averaging 11.7 minutes per game with 4.7 points per game and 3.0 rebounds per game with Philadelphia. After his second season, Bristow was waived by the 76ers. Bristow moved to the ABA's San Antonio Spurs for one season before the Spurs joined the NBA the following year in 1976. He spent four years total with San Antonio before signing as a free agent with the New Orleans Jazz in 1979. Bristow and Wayne Cooper were traded by the Jazz to the Dallas Mavericks in 1981 for Bill Robinzine. After two seasons with Dallas, Bristow retired from the NBA in 1983. Bristow had averages of 7.8 points, 5.0 rebounds, and 3.2 assists in 648 games.

Executive and coaching career

Bristow began his professional coaching career as an assistant coach for the San Antonio Spurs in the 1983–84 season. He then moved to the Denver Nuggets as an assistant to coach Doug Moe for six seasons from 1984 to 1990. In 1990 the Charlotte Hornets named Bristow as Vice President of Basketball Operations, in charge of scouting, draft picks and trades. Bristow replaced Gene Littles as coach of the Charlotte Hornets in summer 1991, becoming the Hornets' third head coach. He was the first Hornets coach to bring major success to the franchise. He guided Charlotte to its first ever playoff appearance and first ever playoff series victory in the same year. His best season as head coach was in the 1994–95 season when the Hornets recorded a franchise-record 50 victories. He coached the Hornets team to a record of 207–203, but his teams were just 5–8 in the playoffs. In the 1996 off-season the Hornets ended his five-year run as their head coach by buying out the final year of Bristow's contract after the Hornets finished their season short of the playoffs with a 41–41 record. Bristow is still the Hornets all-time leader in wins with 207 regular season victories. Bristow later served as Executive Vice President of Basketball Operations for the Nuggets from 1997 to 1998.

Head coaching record

References

External links

• BasketballReference.com: Allan Bristow (as player)
• BasketballReference.com: Allan Bristow (as coach)
• HoopsHype.com General Managers: Allan Bristow