Richard Joseph McGuire (January 26, 1926
– February 3, 2010) was an American professional basketball player and coach. One of the premier guards of
the 1950s, McGuire spent 11 seasons in the NBA (1949–60),
eight with the New York Knicks and
three with the Detroit Pistons. McGuire
led the league in assists during his rookie season with a then-record 386
assists, and was among the league's top ten playmakers
for ten of his 11 seasons. He was an NBA All-Star seven times (1951,'52, '54-'56, '58, '59),
and was named to the All-NBA Second Team in
1951.McGuire became player-coach for the Pistons in his last season (1959–60), and coached them
until 1963. He also coached the Knicks for three seasons, beginning in 1965. He
compiled a 197-260 coaching record. McGuire was working as a senior consultant for
the Knicks when he died on February 3, 2010 of a ruptured aortic aneurysm at
age 84.McGuire's
brother Al was also a
prominent figure in basketball who coached Marquette University to
the 1977 NCAA basketball championship. They are the only pair of brothers
inducted into the Naismith
Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. His nephew, Allie, also played in the NBA. The Knicks retired number 15 a
second time for McGuire in 1992 (six years earlier, it had been retired
for Earl Monroe). McGuire was inducted into the Suffolk Sports Hall of
Fame on Long Island in the
Basketball Category with the Class of 1994.