What he did: Mike Fratello started as a protege of Hubie Brown, but turned into one of the more successful coaches in the NBA, currently ranking 19th in league history in wins, with 667. Brown, whom Fratello idolizes and said is "99 percent of the reason'' for his success, finished with 424.
A very private person off the court, Fratello has distinguished himself as a strong personality on television. He is from Hackensack, NJ., where at 5-foot-7 he was captain of four high school teams, including hockey, basketball, baseball and football. He played football at Montclair State College in New Jersey before spending a few years coaching on the high school level. He coached in college at Rhode Island, James Madison and Villanova, where he worked for the popular Rollie Massimino.
He met Brown in 1976 and coached under him with the Hawks for five seasons. Brown and Fratello seemed inseparable, even sharing curly hairstyles before Brown was fired at the end of the 1981 season. Fratello remained in Atlanta for a season under new coach Kevin Loughery before he re-joined Brown as an assistant in New York when Brown coached the Knicks.
In 1983, the Hawks brought Fratello back as the head coach, and he stayed seven seasons. The Hawks went to the playoffs five times. They won the Central Division in 1987 and the next season faced the Boston Celtics in the epic seven-game conference semifinal. He coached Dominique Wilkins during perhaps Wilkins’ best seasons in the NBA.
Fratello was let go at the end of the ’90 season, and that is when his TV career began. He worked for NBC and did commentary for the original “Dream Team’’ games during the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona. But in ’93, the Cavaliers came calling and he spent six seasons in Cleveland, taking perhaps the league-worst franchise to the playoffs four times.
He was let go during the middle of the 1988-89 season and would return to the TV booth, working for Turner Sports, where he would earn the nickname “Czar of the Telestrator’’ from partner Marv Albert, who would say Fratello “was a whiz at diagramming plays for viewers.’’ That and Fratello’s dry wit helped earn him multiple Emmy nominations.
But again Fratello returned to coaching, this time in 2004 with Memphis, where he lasted three seasons and took the Grizzlies to the playoffs twice. Since 2007, Fratello has been in broadcasting and has developed into one of the sharper analyst in the game.
Where he lives: Fratello, 68, lives in Cleveland and has a home in Miami. He has two children, Marc and Kristi.
What he does now: Fratello continues to work with Albert during the playoffs on TNT and joins Ian Eagle during the regular season on the YES Network for Brooklyn Nets games. Until recently he was the head coach of the Ukraine national basketball team, but the two parted ways because of the violence in the country that has led to financial constraints by their basketball federation.
On the current NBA Finals between Golden State and Cleveland: "I don't think there is a real advantage on either side. Cleveland has had some injuries, and both have had time to rest. I think way back before the playoffs started, I picked San Antonio and Cleveland to be in the finals, but they had that crazy ending in the regular season, and San Antonio and the Clippers ended up playing in the first round, and one of the best teams was out. No disrespect to Golden State because I think they are a very good team. But I don't see either Cleveland or the Warriors winning this series big.''
On the Hawks and their franchise-record season: "They were a very good team, and I thought maybe they could go all the way. But I do think people early on questioned whether the Hawks could win it all. They were not the same team in the playoffs, and it started with losing a key piece in Thabo Sefolosha. Not having Thabo and his minutes and defense really hurt them. They got worn down in the playoffs. It wasn't the same energy they had during the regular season. I sort of see it as they were running on a few watts. All year they were catching this team one night, another team the next but in the playoffs the concentration is just on one team. They will be back.''
On his broadcasting career: "I was very fortunate to be with the Hawks back when Ted was starting TBS. I remember way back then Ted doing the Goodwill Games, and I went over there and did the games with Bill Russell and Rick Barry. I was also doing a coaching show, so I was getting experience on television. I remember getting fired by the Hawks and then getting to work for NBC and Marv Albert. It's been interesting going between coaching and television, back to coach and now television again.''
On whether he prefers one over the other: "Not really. They are very different. I do love coaching because it gives you a chance to develop a player, and the experience I had in the Ukraine was very telling about how the world has changed when it comes to basketball.''
On working for Hubie Brown: "He had the greatest impact on everything that happened to me in basketball. If it wasn't for Hubie, I may be teaching school today or a high school coach. He gave me my break and was a tremendous teacher. A lot of head coaches in the NBA like to do everything themselves, but that wasn't the case with Hubie. He allowed his assistants to take some control. And I have been very lucky to have people to work with like Hubie in television. I remember when I was doing my interview with NBC and did it with Bob Costas. To work with people like that makes a huge difference.''
