Chris Ford

Chris Ford
Chris Ford
Born	11 January 1949 (age 77); Atlantic City, New Jersey, U.S.
Died	17 January 2023 (aged 74)
Occupation(s)	Professional basketball player, head coach, scout
Years active	1972–2003 (player and coach)
Known for	NBA player, first official three-point shot in NBA history, NBA champion (1981), head coach for multiple NBA teams

Christopher Joseph Ford (January 11, 1949 – January 17, 2023) was a prominent American professional basketball athlete and head coach within the National Basketball Association (NBA). Often referred to as "the Mad Bomber", Ford spent the majority of his playing years with the Detroit Pistons before finishing his NBA tenure with the Boston Celtics. Notably, during the Celtics’ 1979 season opener, he successfully executed the NBA’s first official three-point shot. Ford secured an NBA championship title with Boston in 1981.

Between 1990 and 1995, Ford held the position of head coach for the Celtics and subsequently led three additional NBA franchises.

College career

Standing 6-foot-5 (1.96 m), Ford hailed from Atlantic City and played his high school basketball at Holy Spirit High School in Absecon, New Jersey. As a senior, he set a Cape-Atlantic League record by averaging 33 points per game and concluded his high school career with 1,507 points—a record that remained unbroken as of 2021. Ford enrolled at Villanova University, redshirting his initial year as mandated. He then averaged 16.1 points per game and helped propel Villanova to the regional finals of the 1970 NCAA tournament, where they were defeated by St. Bonaventure with a score of 97–74.

In the following year, Villanova reached the final game of the 1971 NCAA tournament, falling to UCLA and legendary coach John Wooden by 68–62; Ford posted an average of 13.8 points per game that season. His senior campaign saw him average 17.9 points and 6.4 rebounds per game, guiding Villanova into the 1972 NCAA tournament, where they lost in the regional semifinals to Penn 78–67. Over his collegiate tenure, Ford maintained averages of 15.8 points and 6.0 rebounds per game, leading Villanova to three straight NCAA tournament appearances.

Professional career

Selected by the Detroit Pistons in the second round (17th overall) of the 1972 NBA draft, Ford earned recognition for his defensive prowess, playing a key role in Detroit's four consecutive playoff appearances from 1974 through 1977. His peak statistical season came in 1976–77 when he averaged 12.3 points, 3.3 rebounds, and 4.1 assists per game while ranking seventh in NBA steals.

In October 1978, Ford was traded to the Boston Celtics along with a second-round pick for Earl Tatum. During the 1978–79 season, he achieved a personal best scoring average of 15.6 points per game. With the introduction of the NBA’s three-point shot in the 1979–80 season, Ford earned credit for making one of its earliest successful attempts. He contributed significantly to Boston’s triumph in the 1981 NBA Finals, securing an NBA championship in the 1980–81 campaign. Ford retired following the 1981-82 Boston Celtics season, concluding his career with averages of 9.2 points, 3.4 assists, and 1.6 steals per game—placing him among the top 100 all-time leaders in steals.

Additionally, Ford appeared alongside Pistons teammates in the basketball-themed comedy film The Fish That Saved Pittsburgh released in 1979.

Coaching career

After coaching as an assistant at Boston College and working in sports radio, Ford joined the Celtics' coaching staff under head coaches KC Jones and Jimmy Rodgers, playing a part in two NBA championships won by Boston in 1984 and 1986. When Rodgers was dismissed following the conclusion of the 1990 playoffs, Ford was elevated to head coach on June 12, 1990.

In his debut season as head coach, Ford managed a roster that combined seasoned veterans like Larry Bird with emerging talents such as Brian Shaw. The team started impressively with a record of 29–5, earning Ford a selection as head coach for the Eastern Conference squad at the 1991 NBA All-Star Game. Despite Bird’s injury setbacks, Boston secured 56 wins but fell to defending champions Detroit Pistons in the conference semifinals. The subsequent season mirrored this result with another second-round exit, this time against the Cleveland Cavaliers. Following Bird’s retirement in 1992 and facing adversity including Reggie Lewis’s untimely death in 1993, the Celtics failed to qualify for the playoffs during the 1993–94 season—their first absence since 1979. Ford’s final year at Boston (1994–95) ended with an eighth seed playoff berth but a first-round loss; he was replaced by former teammate M. L. Carr thereafter.

On June 15, 1996, Ford accepted the head coaching role with the Milwaukee Bucks, aiming to maximize talents like Glenn Robinson and Vin Baker. Although some progress was made under his leadership, he was dismissed in August 1998 despite having one year remaining on his contract; owner Herb Kohl expressed a desire for a coach capable of elevating the team further. Ford’s successor was George Karl.

Ford was appointed head coach of the Los Angeles Clippers on January 13, 1999, signing a three-year contract to oversee a young roster highlighted by #1 draft pick Michael Olowokandi. However, during the strike-shortened season of 1998–99, the Clippers managed only nine wins out of fifty games and suffered an NBA-record tying start with an eighteen-game losing streak (0–17). Following disappointing results, he was relieved of his duties on February 3, 2000.

In 2003, Ford briefly served as interim head coach for the Philadelphia 76ers after Randy Ayers was fired; he completed that season posting a record of twelve wins against eighteen losses.

Ford also returned to coaching at the collegiate level as head coach at Division III institution Brandeis University from 2001 until 2003.

Later in his career, he contributed as a scout for the Philadelphia 76ers and provided coaching consultancy services to the New York Knicks, utilizing his extensive background within professional basketball.

Death

Chris Ford passed away on January 17, 2023, at a hospital in Philadelphia due to complications following a heart attack earlier that month. He was 74 years old at the time of his death. He is mourned by his wife Kathy, along with their three children and seven grandchildren.

NBA

Source:

Regular season

|- | style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"|Detroit | 74 || || 20.8 || .479 || || .645 || 3.6 || 2.6 || || || 6.4 |- | style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"|Detroit | style="background:#cfecec;"|82* || || 25.1 || .444 || || .740 || 3.7 || 3.4 || 1.8 || .2 || 7.1 |- | style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"|Detroit | 80 || || 24.5 || .474 || || .663 || 3.4 || 2.9 || 1.4 || .3 || 5.9 |- | style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"|Detroit | 82 || || 26.8 || .426 || || .722 || 3.5 || 3.3 || 2.2 || .3 || 8.4 |- | style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"| Detroit | 82 || || 31.0 || .476 || || .771 || 3.3 || 4.1 || 2.2 || .3 || 12.3 |- | style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"| Detroit | 82 || || 31.5 || .481 || || .734 || 3.3 || 4.6 || 2.0 || .2 || 10.5 |- | style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"| Detroit | 3 || || 36.0 || .371 || || .875|| 6.0||1.7|| .3|| .3||11.0 |- | style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"| Boston |78||||33.7||.474||||.753||3.3||4.7||1.5||.3||15.6 |-

|style="text-align:left;" | 
|style="text-align:left;" |Boston 
|73||73||29.0||.465||.427||.754||2.5||2.9||1.5||.4||11.2

|-

|style="text-align:left;background:#afe6ba;" |† 
|style="text-align:left;" |Boston 
|82||75||33.2||.443||.330||.736||2.0||3.6||1.2||.3||8.9

|-

|style="text-align:left;" | 
|style="text-align:left;" |Boston 
|76||53||20.9||.418||.317||.696||1.4||1.9||0.6||0.1||5.7

|- class="sortbottom"

|style="text-align:center;" colspan=2 |Career 
|794||201||37.8||.460||.375||.731||3.0||3.4||1.6||0.3||9.2

Playoffs

|- | style="text-align:left;"| 1974 | style="text-align:left;"| Detroit | 5 || || 18.8 || .471 || || .667 || 3.9 || 1.4 || .4 || .4 || 4.0 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 1975 | style="text-align:left;"| Detroit | 3 || || 27.3 || .545 || || – || 4.3 || 3.3 || .3 || .0 || 4.0 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 1976 | style="text-align:left;"| Detroit | 9 || || 30.7 || .407 || || .800 || 4.0 || 4.4 || 1.2 || .6 || 8.7 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 1977 | style="text-align:left;"| Detroit | 3 || || 33.7 || .409 || ()* [Note: original text has no three-word identical phrase here] [Note: original text has no three-word identical phrase here]* ()* ()* ()* ()* ()* ()* ()* ()* ()* ()* ()* ()* ()* ()* ()* ()* ()* [Note: original text has no three-word identical phrase here]

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Coaching Record

Data Source:

|- | align="left" |Boston | align="left" | |82||56||26||.683|| align="center" |Atlantic Division Champions||11||5||6||.455 | align="center" |Eliminated in Conference Semifinals |- | align="left" |Boston | align="left" | |82||51||31||.622|| align="center" |Atlantic Division Champions||10||6||4||.600 | align="center" |Eliminated in Conference Semifinals |- | align="left" |Boston | align="left" | |82||48||34||.585|| align="center" |2nd place Atlantic Division||4||1||3||.250 | align="center" |Eliminated in First Round |- | align="left" |Boston | align="left" | |82||32||50||.390|| align="center" |5th place Atlantic Division|||—|||—|||— | align="center" |Did not qualify for Playoffs |-

| align="left" |
Boston 
| align="left" | 
|82 
|35 
|47 
|.427 
|align="center"|3rd place Atlantic Division 
|4 
|1 
|3 
|.250 
|align="center"|Eliminated in 
First Round 
|- 
|align= "left"|
Milwaukee 
|align= "left"| 
|82 
|33 
|49 
|.402 
|align= "center"|7th place Central Division 
|>— 
|>— 
|>— 
|>— 
|align= "center"|Did not reach Playoffs 
|- 
|align= "left"|
Milwaukee 
|align= "left"| 
|82 
|36 
|46 
|.439 
|align= "center"|7th place Central Division 
|>— 
|>— 
|>— 
|>— 
|align= "center"|Did not qualify for Playoffs 
|- 
|align= "left"|
L.A.
Clippers  
|align= "left"|  
|50  
|9  
|41  
|.

180

align= "center"|7th place Pacific Division

|>—  
|>—  
|>—  
|>—  
|

align= "center"|Did not qualify for Playoffs

|-  
|

align= "left"| L.A. Clippers

align= "left"|

45

11

34

. 244

align= "center"|(dismissed)

|>—  
|>—  
|>—  
|>—  
|

align= "center"|—

|-  
|

align= "left"| Philadelphia

align= "left"|

30

12

18

. 400

align= "center"|5th place Atlantic Division

|>—  
|>—  
|>—  
|>—  
|

align= "center"|Did not qualify for Playoffs

|-class= "sortbottom"
|

align= "left"|Overall Career

|| 699

323

376

. 462

||

|| 29

13

16

. 448

External links

Basketball-Reference.com: Chris Ford (coach)