[Kevin] Love said his admiration for Adelman has only grown since they started working together.
"I think one of the greatest parts about him is that it's not about him at all," Love said. "It's never about him. It's definitely a big deal to him that he's coming up on a thousand wins, but you'd never know it. He always lets it be the players' team. It's all about us. It's all about us getting better, and it's never about the notoriety about him."
Shane Battier, the Miami Heat forward who played for Adelman from 2007 to 2011, called him "one of the most underappreciated coaches to ever coach in this league."
"I haven't met a player who played for him who hasn't loved him – loved him as a coach, loved him as a person," Battier said. "His greatest attribute as a coach is that he gives teams ownership of the teams. There are so many coaches who say, 'Well, this is my style. This is my team.' Players often don't have ownership of the team. With Rick, it was never like that.
"You played hard for him because you thought it was your team too. You had input. That's a rare, rare gift, a very rare gift in sports and especially in this league. He's one of my favorite coaches of all time."
