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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,
166:
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.
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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
280:. 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.
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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
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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.
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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
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182:'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
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252:. 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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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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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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296:. Eckman became an award-winning radio sportscaster, handling color commentary for the
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260:, 4–1. In his third season as head coach, Eckman led the Pistons to the
397:'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.
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Rand Hooper, "Charley Eckman's Rise
Basketball's Top Story",
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It's a Very Simple Game! The Life and Times of
Charley Eckman
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Longtime
Basketball Figure Charley Eckman Dies Of Cancer
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United States Army Air Forces personnel of World War II
131:(September 10, 1921 – July 3, 1995) was an American
248:, the Pistons lost a hard-fought seven-game to the
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884:Deaths from colorectal cancer in the United States
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149:(NBA). He was also a sports broadcaster.
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386:Sports personality Charley Eckman dies
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337:"Charley Eckman – The Early Years"
14:
184:Basketball Association of America
879:Basketball coaches from Maryland
869:American radio sports announcers
316:On July 3, 1995, Eckman died of
256:, where the Pistons fell to the
894:Fort Wayne Pistons head coaches
432:Charley Eckman and Fred Neil,
204:Eckman officiated at the first
192:National Basketball Association
147:National Basketball Association
268:in the semifinals. During the
1:
874:Baltimore City College alumni
448:The Christian Science Monitor
272:, the Pistons relocated from
889:Detroit Pistons head coaches
839:# denotes interim head coach
486:Detroit Pistons head coaches
450:, April 8, 1955, p. 11.
436:, Borderlands Press (1995),
190:in late 1949 and became the
106:NBA All-Star Game head coach
97:Career highlights and awards
87:Fort Wayne / Detroit Pistons
909:Sportspeople from Baltimore
129:Charles Markwood Eckman Jr.
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188:National Basketball League
186:. The BAA merged with the
180:American Basketball League
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264:, where they lost to the
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161:and graduated from the
140:professional basketball
163:Baltimore City College
623:Butch van Breda Kolff
258:Philadelphia Warriors
320:, at the age of 73.
22:Personal information
284:Broadcasting career
274:Fort Wayne, Indiana
159:Baltimore, Maryland
157:Eckman was born in
40:Baltimore, Maryland
18:
266:Minneapolis Lakers
250:Syracuse Nationals
170:Officiating career
37:September 10, 1921
846:
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831:J. B. Bickerstaff
551:Murray Mendenhall
408:Charley in Charge
298:Baltimore Bullets
278:Detroit, Michigan
206:NBA All-Star Game
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899:NBA broadcasters
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364:. Archived from
362:"Charley Eckman"
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339:. Archived from
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527:Curly Armstrong
523:Bobby McDermott
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507:Bobby McDermott
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427:Further reading
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246:1955 NBA Finals
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240:Coaching career
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59:Coaching career
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833:(2024–present)
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823:Monty Williams
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807:Stan Van Gundy
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791:Maurice Cheeks
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783:Lawrence Frank
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270:1957–58 season
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67:Career history
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54:(aged 73)
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17:Charley Eckman
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767:Michael Curry
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743:Rick Carlisle
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735:George Irvine
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703:Ron Rothstein
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681:# (1979–1980)
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368:on 2014-05-17
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904:NBA referees
838:
837:
775:John Kuester
727:Alvin Gentry
719:Doug Collins
663:Bob Kauffman
615:Paul Seymour
591:Charles Wolf
583:Dick McGuire
566:
535:Carl Bennett
515:Carl Bennett
499:Carl Bennett
447:
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414:
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392:
381:
370:. Retrieved
366:the original
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345:. Retrieved
341:the original
331:
318:colon cancer
315:
287:
243:
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199:Fred Zollner
196:
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128:
127:
52:(1995-07-03)
50:July 3, 1995
864:1995 deaths
859:1921 births
825:(2023–2024)
817:(2018–2023)
815:Dwane Casey
809:(2014–2018)
793:(2013–2014)
785:(2011–2013)
777:(2009–2011)
769:(2008–2009)
761:(2005–2008)
753:(2003–2005)
751:Larry Brown
745:(2001–2003)
737:(2000–2001)
729:(1998–2000)
721:(1995–1998)
713:(1993–1995)
705:(1992–1993)
697:(1983–1992)
689:(1980–1983)
673:(1978–1979)
671:Dick Vitale
657:(1976–1977)
649:(1972–1976)
641:(1971–1972)
625:(1969–1971)
617:(1968–1969)
609:(1967–1968)
601:(1964–1967)
593:(1963–1964)
585:(1959–1963)
577:(1957–1960)
569:(1954–1957)
561:(1951–1954)
553:(1949–1951)
545:(1948–1949)
537:(1947–1948)
517:(1945–1947)
509:(1943–1945)
501:(1941–1943)
853:Categories
799:John Loyer
711:Don Chaney
695:Chuck Daly
655:Herb Brown
639:Earl Lloyd
559:Paul Birch
372:2014-06-20
347:2015-04-17
324:References
254:NBA Finals
234:NBA Finals
153:Early life
136:head coach
133:basketball
33:1921-09-10
647:Ray Scott
575:Red Rocha
529:# (1947)
72:As coach:
62:1954–1957
801:# (2014)
262:playoffs
145:for the
302:Orioles
236:games.
143:referee
633:(1971)
525:&
440:
216:, and
42:, U.S.
312:Death
306:Colts
438:ISBN
304:and
294:WFBR
292:and
290:WCBM
232:and
230:NCAA
218:1956
214:1955
210:1951
178:The
138:and
114:1956
110:1955
82:1957
78:1954
47:Died
27:Born
276:to
226:NIT
208:in
104:2×
855::
308:.
300:,
228:,
194:.
112:,
477:e
470:t
463:v
375:.
350:.
116:)
108:(
80:–
35:)
31:(
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.