Charley Eckman

Charles Markwood Eckman Jr. (September 10, 1921 – July 3, 1995) was an American basketball head coach and professional basketball referee for the National Basketball Association (NBA). He was also a sports broadcaster.

Eckman was born in Baltimore, Maryland, in 1921 to Charles Markwood Eckman Sr. and Marie Margaret Eckman. Eckman's father fought during World War I and was gassed during the Meuse–Argonne offensive in France. His father survived the war, but died from his wounds when Charley was 12 years old. After that, Eckman and his mother struggled to make ends meet during the Depression. He went to work as a helper on a delivery truck for the Cambria's Bugle Coat and Apron Company that same year his father died.^[1]

He graduated from Baltimore City College high school in 1939, where he was classmates with future Maryland governors Marvin Mandell and William Donald Schaefer, who both said Eckman retained the same colorful personality throughout his life.^[2] He was an All-Maryland Second Baseman on the City College baseball team. In 1941, he was selected to the Maryland Amateur Baseball Association All-Star Team.^[1]

Eckman was a three-sport star as a youngster, excelling in baseball, basketball and track. Among the odd jobs Eckman did to raise extra money, at 16 years old he officiated amateur basketball games five or six nights a week for 50 cents a game.^[2] Baseball was Eckman's primary sport, however, in those days, it was the only professional team sport of any note. In 1940, he played Class D minor league baseball for the Mooresville Moores, in Mooresville, North Carolina, part of the North Carolina State League. One of his teammates was future major league hall of famer Hoyt Wilhelm. He was later traded that same year to the Newton-Conover Twins, after which his professional baseball career soon ended.^[3][1]

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.^[4]

Eckman's first experience as a referee came at 16-years old.^[2] Eckman's career got sidetracked for two years when he was drafted into the US Army and was later transferred to the Army Air Corps, and was ultimately stationed in Yuma, Arizona, serving as a physical training instructor, and refereeing basketball games in his spare time.^[2][5] Upon his discharge in 1945, Eckman moved his wife and newborn son to Arizona, where he had been 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.^[5]

The American Basketball League'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 Basketball Association of America. The BAA merged with the National Basketball League in late 1949 and became the National Basketball Association.

Eckman was ranked as one of the top officials in the NBA during his time as a referee, until 1954, when Pistons owner Fred Zollner signed the 32-year-old Eckman to a three-year coaching contract.^[6]

Eckman officiated at the first NBA All-Star Game in 1951, and later was the head coach of the Western Conference All-Star teams in 1955, and 1956, becoming the only person to have officiated and coached in an NBA All-Star Game.^[2]

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 NIT, NCAA and NBA Finals games.^[7]

In 1954, Fort Wayne Pistons' owner Fred Zollner hired 32-year old Eckman as head coach for the 1954-55 team. Eckman had been an NBA referee for seven years, but had no professional coaching experience. Still, he led the Pistons to their best record in team history (43–29) and first place in the Western Division. Eckman took the team to the 1955 NBA finals behind the all-star play of Larry Foust, George Yardley and Andy Phillip.^[8][9] During the 1955 NBA Finals, the Pistons lost a hard-fought seven-game series to the Syracuse Nationals, losing in Game 7, 92–91. The first-year head coach was honored as NBA Coach of the Year.^[10][11][6]

The following season, Eckman led the Pistons to another trip to the NBA Finals, where the Pistons fell to the Philadelphia Warriors, 4–1. In his third season as head coach, Eckman led the Pistons to the playoffs, where they lost to the Minneapolis Lakers in the semifinals. During the 1957–58 season, the Pistons relocated from Fort Wayne, Indiana to Detroit, Michigan. Unfortunately for Eckman, his stay in Detroit did not last long. He was relieved of his coaching duties just 25 games into the season following a 9–16 start; though it is also reported he resigned before he could be fired. Eckman's overall coaching record was 123–118. He eventually returned to officiating.^[11][12]

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 WCBM and WFBR. Eckman became an award-winning radio sportscaster, handling color commentary for the Baltimore Bullets, Orioles and Colts.

Eckman served as Chief Judge of the Anne Arundel County, Maryland Orphans' Court.^[12]

On July 3, 1995, Eckman died of colon cancer, at the age of 73.^[13]

• Charley Eckman and Fred Neil, It's a Very Simple Game! The Life and Times of Charley Eckman, Borderlands Press (1995), ISBN 1-880325-15-2
• Rand Hooper, "Charley Eckman's Rise Basketball's Top Story", The Christian Science Monitor, April 8, 1955, p. 11.