an assistant coach, and he continued as a player-coach for the remainder of the season. He retired as a player after the season, and was promoted to become head coach, succeeding Winter on January 21, 1973. At one point, he was the youngest and shortest coach in the NBA. During his years as head coach, the Rockets were 129–152, with one playoff appearance in 1975, when they defeated the New York Knicks in the first round to earn the franchise's first playoff series win. He was fired and replaced by Tom Nissalke on April 20, 1976, after the team failed to qualify for the postseason with a 40–42 record. Personal life Egan married Joan (), his high school sweetheart. They had two children and five grandchildren. Joan died in 1998 from ovarian cancer. After his basketball career, Egan remained in Houston, where he founded and operated an insurance business. He continued to live in Houston in his later life. After suffering a head injury in a fall in May 2022, he died on July 21, 2022, at age 83. Head coaching record |- | style="text-align:left;" | Houston | style="text-align:left;" | | 35||16||19|||| style="text-align:center;" | 3rd in Central||–||–||–||– | style="text-align:center;" | Missed playoffs |- | style="text-align:left;" | Houston | style="text-align:left;" | | 82||32||50|||| style="text-align:center;" | 3rd in Central||–||–||–||– | style="text-align:center;" | Missed playoffs |- | style="text-align:left;" | Houston | style="text-align:left;" | | 82||41||41|||| style="text-align:center;" | 2nd in Central||8||3||5|| | style="text-align:center;" | Lost in Conf. Semi-finals |- | style="text-align:left;" | Houston | style="text-align:left;" | | 82||40||42|||| style="text-align:center;" | 3rd in Central||–||–||–||– | style="text-align:center;" | Missed playoffs |- class="sortbottom" | colspan="2" style="text-align:center;"| Career | 281||129||152|||| ||8||3||5|| |- class="sortbottom" | colspan="12" style="text-align: center;" | Source: References External links Career stats 1939 births 2022 deaths American men's basketball coaches American men's basketball players Baltimore Bullets (1963–1973) players Basketball coaches from Connecticut Basketball players from Hartford, Connecticut Cleveland Cavaliers expansion draft picks Detroit Pistons draft picks Detroit Pistons players Houston Rockets head coaches Houston Rockets players Los Angeles Lakers players Milwaukee Bucks expansion draft picks New York Knicks players Parade High School All-Americans (boys' basketball) Point guards Providence Friars men's basketball players San Diego Rockets players Sportspeople from Hartford, Connecticut