CHARLOTTE, N.C. — A pair of former Rockets coaches were cited for their long careers Friday. In a familiar but still stunning turn, neither was Rudy Tomjanovich.

Del Harris, who led the Rockets to the 1981 NBA Finals, was named a Hall of Fame Bunn Lifetime Achievement Award winner. Bill Fitch, who took the Rockets to the 1986 Finals, was made a finalist for induction with the Hall of Fame Class of 2019.

Tomjanovich, the only coach to have taken teams to Olympic and NBA championships who is not in the Hall of Fame and had been a finalist the past two seasons, was not named a finalist.

But more than three hours later, Tomjanovich did not know he was not a finalist. His initial reaction to the news was to be thrilled — for Harris.

“Wonderful,” Tomjanovich practically shouted. “That’s great. That’s wonderful that Del got that.

“It doesn’t change how I feel about myself and what happened in my life. It’s been like a storybook. Just to be talking about it is a privilege. I don’t want anyone to think I’m upset. I know who Rudy is and where I came from. Getting a scholarship to the University of Michigan would have been enough.”

Tomjanovich, Bill Russell and K.C. Jones are the only coaches to have won more than one championship (excluding active coaches Steve Kerr, Erik Spoelstra and Gregg Popovich) to not be inducted into the Hall of Fame and Jones and Russell are in as players.

Of the coaches to lead the USA Basketball team to Olympic gold medals since 1960 — Mike Krzyzewski, Tomjanovich, Lenny Wilkens, Chuck Daly, Bobby Knight, Dean Smith, Henry Iba and Pete Newell — only Tomjanovich has not been voted into the Hall of Fame.

“I have been given so much from basketball,” Tomjanovich said. “Basketball has done so much for me as a person, as a young kid and then as a job, the excitement, the relationships and the travel. There’s no way I can be disappointed about anything. I think about how many people have won a championship in the city they played in. That was such a blessing. And then to represent the country in different years for different things (World Championships and Olympics).

“I have nothing but gratitude for what basketball has done for my life. There’s not a negative. This is something that hasn’t happened yet. I think it will happen. It might not, but that doesn’t change the wonderful things that happened in my life.”

Tomjanovich, 70, has long had the support of coaches. Rockets coach Mike D’Antoni has said, “There’s no reason he should not be in there.” Former Rockets coach Jeff Van Gundy called Tomjanovich’s exclusion “an outrage.” Wizards coach Scott Brooks, who played for Tomjanovich, said last season that no coach should be inducted until Tomjanovich is selected.

“Nobody should get in if he doesn’t get in,” Brooks said. “They should just say, ‘We’re going to close it down. No more coaches get into the Hall of Fame.’ ”

They were not alone in that opinion Friday. Paul Westphal, who was named a finalist as a player Friday and coached against Tomjanovich when the Rockets defeated the Suns on the way to the 1994 and 1995 titles, said Tomjanovich not only belongs in Springfield, but that many might believe he is in the Hall of Fame.

“I have the greatest respect for Rudy, both as a player and as a coach,” Westphal said. “There is no particular formula as far as the voting goes that guarantees anything. I think if you ask most people, ‘Is Rudy T in?’ they’d say, “Yeah, he’s already there.’ I’m sure whatever happens in the process, it’s just a matter of time with him.

“He’s a real humble, non-self-promoting guy. I don’t know if that factors in. But he is deserving. In my opinion, it will happen.”

Having been a finalist multiple times, Fitch would not assume this will be the year for him, either.

“I’ve been a finalist before,” Fitch said. “I don’t get excited about that. It’s kind of a funny business. I’ve always been happier when some of my players got in.”

A two-time NBA coach of the year, Fitch was one of nine repeat finalists, including longtime Granbury coach Letta Andrews, the winningest high school coach; 28-year NBA official Hugh Evans; four-time All-Star and eight-time NBA All-Defensive First Team member Bobby Jones; five-time All-Star Sidney Moncrief; five-time Division II National Coach of the Year Barbara Stevens; four-time National Coach of the Year Eddie Sutton; five-time WNBA All-Star Teresa Weatherspoon and five-time All-Star Chris Webber.

Jack Sikma, a seven-time All-Star (and former Rockets assistant coach); Marques Johnson, a four-time All-Star; Ben Wallace, a four-time defensive player of the year and Westphal, a five-time All-Star, were first-time finalists.

In addition to Harris, Harry Glickman, the co-founder of the Trail Blazers, was a Bunn Lifetime Achievement winner.

Marc Stein of the New York Times and Ralph Lawler, retiring after 37 years as the play-by-play announcer of the Clippers, were Curt Gowdy media award winners.

jonathan.feigen@chron.com

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