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Coach Johnny Bach: a rarity in the NBA

Great coaching is more than winning; it's also about educating, guiding, passing on values. It's helping to develop the individual not just as a player, but as a productive member of society. It's pursuing success, but not at the expense of morality, justice and ethics. It's, of course, about achieving excellence, but also with sacrifice and respect. Which does lead to the ultimate goals.

It's why former Bulls longtime assistant coach Johnny Bach was a great coach, if not always identified in the pantheon of NBA coaching elites. Other than a brief tenure as head coach of the Golden State Warriors in the early 1980s, Bach, who died in January 2016, was a man who guided some of the best ever coaches, like Phil Jackson and Doug Collins, and who nurtured the youngsters who became champions on the court and in life.