176:
high school in 1940. Eckman was a three-sport star as a youngster, excelling in baseball, basketball and track. His father, who was gassed in World War I, died when
Charlie was 12 years old; after that he and his mother struggled to make ends meet. Among the odd jobs Eckman did to raise extra money,
177:
he officiated basketball games. Baseball was Eckman's primary sport, however, in those days, it was the only professional team sport of any note. He was drafted by the
Washington Senators after graduating from Baltimore City College and played in their farm system, but never made it to the majors.
185:
Eckman's career got sidetracked for two years when he enlisted in the US Army Air Forces in late 1943, but he continued to keep his eyes in shape by refereeing the
Reserve intramural basketball games. Upon his discharge in 1945, Eckman moved his wife and newborn son to Arizona, where he had been
291:. Unfortunately for Eckman, his stay in Detroit didn't last long. He was relieved of his coaching duties just 25 games into the season following a 9–16 start. Eckman's overall coaching record was 123–118. He eventually returned to officiating.
234:
In 1967, after 29 years and over 3,500 collegiate and professional basketball games, Eckman, announced his retirement from officiating, after experiencing leg problems. Eckman is the only person to have ever officiated the
407:
924:
186:
stationed. He continued to officiate basketball games, this time with the
American League West Coast, while working for the Phoenix office of the War Assets Administration.
894:
299:
Eckman began working as a sportscaster on the radio in 1961 with "The voice of the
Chesapeake Bay." Later in 1965, Charley accepted a position as sportscaster for
486:
193:'s Hollywood Shamrocks called in 1947 and hired him to officiate a number of the team's games; two years after that he began refereeing games for the
240:
479:
263:. The first-year head coach was honored as NBA Coach of the Year. The following season, Eckman led the Pistons to another trip to the
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889:
879:
904:
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During his first year as head coach, the
Pistons finished with a 43–29 record, and first place in the Western Division. During the
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429:
884:
116:
899:
472:
919:
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396:
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Eckman was ranked as one of the top officials in the NBA during his time as a referee, until 1954, when
Pistons owner
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914:
633:
418:
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153:
874:
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8:
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50:
307:. Eckman became an award-winning radio sportscaster, handling color commentary for the
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260:
841:
561:
448:
312:
288:
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216:
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641:
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231:, becoming the only person to have officiated and coached in an NBA All-Star Game.
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833:
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223:, and later was the head coach of the Western Conference All-Star teams in
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271:, 4–1. In his third season as head coach, Eckman led the Pistons to the
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705:
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146:
143:
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408:'One Hell of a Life': Eckman Had Ability to Find Humor Everywhere
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signed the 32-year-old Eckman to a three-year coaching contract.
376:
457:
Rand Hooper, "Charley Eckman's Rise
Basketball's Top Story",
445:
It's a Very Simple Game! The Life and Times of
Charley Eckman
300:
430:
Longtime
Basketball Figure Charley Eckman Dies Of Cancer
925:
United States Army Air Forces personnel of World War II
142:(September 10, 1921 – July 3, 1995) was an American
259:, the Pistons lost a hard-fought seven-game to the
895:Deaths from colorectal cancer in the United States
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494:
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160:(NBA). He was also a sports broadcaster.
14:
862:
397:Sports personality Charley Eckman dies
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468:
180:
24:
437:
348:"Charley Eckman – The Early Years"
250:
25:
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195:Basketball Association of America
890:Basketball coaches from Maryland
880:American radio sports announcers
327:On July 3, 1995, Eckman died of
267:, where the Pistons fell to the
905:Fort Wayne Pistons head coaches
443:Charley Eckman and Fred Neil,
215:Eckman officiated at the first
203:National Basketball Association
158:National Basketball Association
423:
412:
401:
390:
365:
340:
279:in the semifinals. During the
13:
1:
885:Baltimore City College alumni
459:The Christian Science Monitor
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283:, the Pistons relocated from
163:
900:Detroit Pistons head coaches
850:# denotes interim head coach
497:Detroit Pistons head coaches
461:, April 8, 1955, p. 11.
447:, Borderlands Press (1995),
201:in late 1949 and became the
117:NBA All-Star Game head coach
108:Career highlights and awards
98:Fort Wayne / Detroit Pistons
7:
920:Sportspeople from Baltimore
140:Charles Markwood Eckman Jr.
10:
941:
199:National Basketball League
197:. The BAA merged with the
191:American Basketball League
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275:, where they lost to the
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77:
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57:
37:
32:
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172:and graduated from the
151:professional basketball
174:Baltimore City College
634:Butch van Breda Kolff
269:Philadelphia Warriors
331:, at the age of 73.
33:Personal information
295:Broadcasting career
285:Fort Wayne, Indiana
170:Baltimore, Maryland
168:Eckman was born in
51:Baltimore, Maryland
29:
277:Minneapolis Lakers
261:Syracuse Nationals
181:Officiating career
48:September 10, 1921
27:
857:
856:
842:J. B. Bickerstaff
562:Murray Mendenhall
419:Charley in Charge
309:Baltimore Bullets
289:Detroit, Michigan
217:NBA All-Star Game
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16:(Redirected from
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910:NBA broadcasters
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375:. Archived from
373:"Charley Eckman"
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350:. Archived from
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538:Curly Armstrong
534:Bobby McDermott
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518:Bobby McDermott
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438:Further reading
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257:1955 NBA Finals
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251:Coaching career
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70:Coaching career
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12:
11:
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844:(2024–present)
838:
834:Monty Williams
830:
822:
818:Stan Van Gundy
814:
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802:Maurice Cheeks
798:
794:Lawrence Frank
790:
782:
774:
766:
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742:
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690:Richie Adubato
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618:Donnie Butcher
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578:Charley Eckman
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281:1957–58 season
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78:Career history
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65:(aged 73)
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28:Charley Eckman
18:Charles Eckman
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778:Michael Curry
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770:Flip Saunders
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754:Rick Carlisle
751:
747:
746:George Irvine
743:
739:
735:
731:
727:
723:
719:
715:
714:Ron Rothstein
711:
707:
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699:
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692:# (1979–1980)
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676:# (1977–1978)
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453:1-880325-15-2
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379:on 2014-05-17
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915:NBA referees
849:
848:
786:John Kuester
738:Alvin Gentry
730:Doug Collins
674:Bob Kauffman
626:Paul Seymour
602:Charles Wolf
594:Dick McGuire
577:
546:Carl Bennett
526:Carl Bennett
510:Carl Bennett
458:
444:
425:
414:
403:
392:
381:. Retrieved
377:the original
367:
356:. Retrieved
352:the original
342:
329:colon cancer
326:
298:
254:
233:
214:
210:Fred Zollner
207:
188:
184:
167:
139:
138:
63:(1995-07-03)
61:July 3, 1995
875:1995 deaths
870:1921 births
836:(2023–2024)
828:(2018–2023)
826:Dwane Casey
820:(2014–2018)
804:(2013–2014)
796:(2011–2013)
788:(2009–2011)
780:(2008–2009)
772:(2005–2008)
764:(2003–2005)
762:Larry Brown
756:(2001–2003)
748:(2000–2001)
740:(1998–2000)
732:(1995–1998)
724:(1993–1995)
716:(1992–1993)
708:(1983–1992)
700:(1980–1983)
684:(1978–1979)
682:Dick Vitale
668:(1976–1977)
660:(1972–1976)
652:(1971–1972)
636:(1969–1971)
628:(1968–1969)
620:(1967–1968)
612:(1964–1967)
604:(1963–1964)
596:(1959–1963)
588:(1957–1960)
580:(1954–1957)
572:(1951–1954)
564:(1949–1951)
556:(1948–1949)
548:(1947–1948)
528:(1945–1947)
520:(1943–1945)
512:(1941–1943)
864:Categories
810:John Loyer
722:Don Chaney
706:Chuck Daly
666:Herb Brown
650:Earl Lloyd
570:Paul Birch
383:2014-06-20
358:2015-04-17
335:References
265:NBA Finals
245:NBA Finals
164:Early life
147:head coach
144:basketball
44:1921-09-10
658:Ray Scott
586:Red Rocha
540:# (1947)
83:As coach:
73:1954–1957
812:# (2014)
273:playoffs
156:for the
313:Orioles
247:games.
154:referee
644:(1971)
536:&
451:
227:, and
53:, U.S.
323:Death
317:Colts
449:ISBN
315:and
305:WFBR
303:and
301:WCBM
243:and
241:NCAA
229:1956
225:1955
221:1951
189:The
149:and
125:1956
121:1955
93:1957
89:1954
58:Died
38:Born
287:to
237:NIT
219:in
115:2×
866::
319:.
311:,
239:,
205:.
123:,
488:e
481:t
474:v
386:.
361:.
127:)
119:(
91:–
46:)
42:(
20:)
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