Charles Markwood "Charley" Eckman Jr. (September 10, 1921 – July 3, 1995) was an NBA basketball

Basketball

Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...

 coach, minor league baseball player, NCAA and NBA basketball referee, broadcaster, and author.

He was born in Baltimore, Maryland. Eckman officiated over 3,500 games in 29 years. He is best known, however, as the head coach of the Fort Wayne/Detroit Pistons

Detroit Pistons

The Detroit Pistons are a franchise of the National Basketball Association based in Auburn Hills, Michigan. The team's home arena is The Palace of Auburn Hills. It was originally founded in Fort Wayne, Indiana as the Fort Wayne Pistons as a member of the National Basketball League in 1941, where...

 from 1954

1954-55 NBA season

The 1954–55 NBA season was the 9th season of the National Basketball Association. The season ended with the Syracuse Nationals winning the NBA Championship, beating the Fort Wayne Pistons 4 games to 3 in the NBA Finals.- Notable occurrences :...

 through 1957

1956-57 NBA season

The 1956–57 NBA season was the 11th season of the National Basketball Association. The season ended with the Boston Celtics winning the NBA Championship , beating the St...

. His hiring came as something of a surprise; he'd never coached at any level before. However, he led the Pistons to the 1955

1955 NBA Finals

The 1955 NBA Finals was the championship round of the 1954-55 NBA season. The best-of-seven series was won by the Syracuse Nationals, who defeated the Fort Wayne Pistons in the final game when Syracuse's George King made a free throw with 12 seconds left to put the Nationals up by one point...

 and 1956 NBA Finals

1956 NBA Finals

The 1956 NBA Finals was the championship series and conclusion of the 1955-56 NBA season. The Philadelphia Warriors defeated the Fort Wayne Pistons four games to one...

 losing to the Syracuse Nationals

Syracuse Nationals

The Syracuse Nationals were an American professional basketball team that existed from 1946 to 1963 as part of the National Basketball League and National Basketball Association . They are currently known as the Philadelphia 76ers, and are the NBA's oldest continued franchise.The team began in...

 in 1955 and the Philadelphia Warriors in 1956. He later became a longtime sportscaster in Baltimore.

In 1995, he died of colon cancer. His autobiography, It's a Very Simple Game! The Life and Times of Charley Eckman was published posthumously.

External links

• Web site dedicated to Eckman
• 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