On the evening of Wednesday, October 10, ESPN reported that former Los Angeles Lakers assistant coach, Tex Winter, had passed away at the age of 96. While he was known mostly as an assistant coach in the NBA, his contributions to the Lakers during his tenure there – as well as the sport as a whole – are often underappreciated.
Born in Texas, Winter and his family moved to the Los Angeles area when he was 14. He went on to attend both Compton Community College and Oregon State University. After a stint in the Navy during World War II, he returned to college at USC, where he played basketball and got the education that would shape the singular aspect he became known for as a coach.