Ronald George Adams is an American basketball coach who is currently an assistant coach for the Golden State Warriors of the National Basketball Association.
Education
A native of Laton, California, Adams graduated from Laton High School. He then played basketball at Fresno Pacific College (now Fresno Pacific University) as a guard for the Fresno Pacific Sunbirds and graduated in 1969 with a bachelor"s degree in political science and history. While head coach at Fresno Pacific, Adams completed a master"s degree in physical education at California State University, Fresno in 1974.
Career
On September 19, 2011, Adams was inducted into the Fresno Pacific University Athletic Hall of Fame. Adams played basketball at Fresno Pacific (1965-1969) and began his coaching career there as well (1969-1974). After graduating from Fresno Pacific College, Adams became an assistant coach for the basketball team in 1969.
Following a 7–20 season in 1971-1972, Adams was promoted to be head coach.
Fresno Pacific went 19–7 in 1973-1974, Adams"s second season as head coach. In 1975, Adams became assistant coach at United States International University.
Then from 1976 to 1978, Adams was assistant coach at University of California Santa Barbara. He moved up to the professional level, as head coach for Belgian team Sunair Ostende in the 1978-1979 season.
From 1980 to 1986, Adams was an assistant coach at Fresno State under Boyd "Tiny" Grant.
Adams took over as head coach after Grant resigned following the 1985-1986 season. Adams"s best season at Fresno State was a 15–14 season in 1988-1989. In four seasons, Adams went 43–72.
In 1990, Adams joined Jerry Tarkanian"s staff at University of Nevada, Las Vegas, who followed its championship season with an undefeated Big West Conference regular season record and berth in the 1991 Final Four.
Adams then was an assistant at Drake for one season, then reunited with Tarkanian to be an assistant under him with the National Basketball Association"s San Antonio Spurs in 1992. After two seasons, Adams joined John Lucas II"s staff on the Philadelphia 76ers as assistant coach in 1994.
From 1996 to 1998, Adams was a player personnel scout for the Portland Trail Blazers. In 1998, Adams became an assistant coach for the Milwaukee Buckinghamshire under George Karl.
After five seasons in Milwaukee, Adams became assistant coach for the Chicago Bulls, mostly under Scott Skiles.
He then was assistant for the Oklahoma City Thunder under Scott Brooks from 2008 to 2010. Afterwards, Adams rejoined the Bulls in 2010 as assistant coach this time under Tom Thibodeau. Following three seasons with the Bulls, Adams became an assistant coach for the Boston Celtics in 2013, under first-year head coach Brad Stevens.
Adams is considered one of the top defensive coaches.
On June 23, 2014, Adams joined the Golden State Warriors as an assistant coach under first-year head coach Steve Kerr. The Warriors finished the regular season 67–15 and in first place in the Western Conference.