Adelman served as head coach of the Portland Trail Blazers, Golden State Warriors, Sacramento Kings, Houston Rockets and Minnesota Timberwolves.

[2] Adelman was born in Lynwood, California, the son of Gladys (née Olsen) and Leonard Joseph "L.

[3] Adelman began his basketball career in high school at Pius X High School in Downey, California, then matriculated to collegiate stardom at Loyola University of Los Angeles, now known as Loyola Marymount University.

After leading the team into the playoffs that year (despite a 39–43 record), Adelman was given the coaching position on a full-time basis in the 1989 off-season.

Despite the team struggling early in the regular season, the Kings rebounded and qualified for the playoffs as the #8 seed.

The Houston Rockets brought in Adelman as their new head coach five days after the dismissal of Jeff Van Gundy on May 18, 2007.

Despite this loss, the Rockets defeated the Portland Trail Blazers in six games to advance to the Western Conference Semifinals for the first time since 1997.

Adelman won his 800th career game, 13th among coaches in NBA history, on March 24, 2008, against the Sacramento Kings.

[13] On April 6, 2013, Adelman won his 1,000th career game with a victory over the Detroit Pistons, becoming just the eighth coach in NBA history ever to do so.

He went 79–78 (.503) in playoff games and advanced to the NBA Finals twice, both times with the Portland Trail Blazers in 1990 and 1992 where they lost to the Detroit Pistons and Chicago Bulls.

Source[15] The year after retirement in 2014, Adelman and his wife Mary Kay settled in Portland to be with their family, which includes six children and eleven grandchildren.