Cotton Fitzsimmons
Team Year G W L W-L% Finish PG PW PL PW-L% Result
Phoenix 1970-71 82 48 34 .585 3rd in Midwest - - - - Missed playoffs
Phoenix 1971-72 82 49 33 .598 3rd in Midwest - - - - Missed playoffs
Atlanta 1972-73 82 46 36 .561 2nd in Central 6 2 4 .333 Lost in Conf . Semifinals
Atlanta 1973-74 82 35 47 .427 2nd in Central - - - - Missed playoffs
Atlanta 1974-75 82 31 51 .378 2nd in Central - - - - Missed playoffs
Atlanta 1975-76 74 28 46 .378 ( fired ) - - - - -
Buffalo 1977-78 82 27 55 .329 4th in Atlantic - - - - Missed playoffs
Kansas City 1978-79 82 48 34 .585 1st in Midwest 5 1 4 .200 Lost in Conf . Semifinals
Kansas City 1979-80 82 47 35 .573 2nd in Midwest 3 1 2 .333 Lost in First Round
Kansas City 1980-81 82 40 42 .488 2nd in Midwest 15 7 8 .467 Lost in Conf . Finals
Kansas City 1981-82 82 30 52 .366 4th in Midwest - - - - Missed playoffs
Kansas City 1982-83 82 45 37 .549 3rd in Midwest - - - - Missed playoffs
Kansas City 1983-84 82 38 44 .463 4th in Midwest 3 0 3 .000 Lost in First Round
San Antonio 1984-85 82 41 41 .500 5th in Midwest 5 2 3 .400 Lost in First Round
San Antonio 1985-86 82 35 47 .427 6th in Midwest 3 0 3 .000 Lost in First Round
Phoenix 1988-89 82 55 27 .671 2nd in Pacific 12 7 5 .583 Lost in Conf . Finals
Phoenix 1989-90 82 54 28 .659 3rd in Pacific 16 9 7 .563 Lost in Conf . Finals
Phoenix 1990-91 82 55 27 .671 3rd in Pacific 4 1 3 .250 Lost in First Round
Phoenix 1991-92 82 53 29 .646 3rd in Pacific 8 4 4 .333 Lost in Conf . Semifinals
Phoenix 1995-96 49 27 22 .551 4th in Pacific 4 1 3 .250 Lost in First Round
NBA Head coaching record
Legend Regular season G Games coached W Games won L Games lost W–L% Win–loss% Playoffs PG Playoff games PW Playoff wins PL Playoff losses PW–L% Playoff win–loss%
Lowell Cotton Fitzsimmons (October 7, 1931 - July 24, 2004) was an American college and NBA basketball coach. A native of Bowling Green, Missouri, he attended and played basketball at Hannibal-LaGrange Junior College in Hannibal, Missouri and Midwestern State University in Wichita Falls, Texas. He coached the Phoenix Suns three times, was named the NBA Coach of the Year twice, and is often credited as the architect of the Suns' success of the late 1980s and early to middle 1990s. Fitzsimmons won 1,089 games in his coaching career: 223 games at the junior college level, 34 at the Division I college level and 832 in the NBA.