Albeck Leaves Nets to Coach Bulls on the Day Before the NBA Draft

Stan Albeck signed a multiyear contract Monday to coach the Chicago Bulls of the National Basketball Assn. Albeck, who last season coached the New Jersey Nets to a 42-40 record, is replacing Kevin Loughery, who was fired at the end of last season.

Jerry Krause, the Bulls’ vice president of basketball operations, said that he thought Albeck did “a phenomenal job” with the injury-plagued Nets last season. Krause said. “Stan indicated he wanted to come here. It took a while, but we got it done. I’m just really pleased he got here.”

The Bulls have been without a coach since Loughery was fired because of what Krause called “philosophical differences” with team management.

Albeck, who is taking the job one day before the NBA draft, said he has had “as much input as I have ever had with the draft.”

Nets General Manager Bob MacKinnon said the parting with Albeck was amicable. “I think he did a good job here and he’ll do a good job in Chicago,” MacKinnon said.

Albeck, 54, was a college coach from 1956 to 1970, when he became an assistant in the ABA. After the leagues merged, he was an assistant with the Lakers and in 1979 became head coach of the Cleveland Cavaliers. He coached the San Antonio Spurs for three seasons before going to the Nets.