The Chicago WNBA franchise, which will not begin play until the 2006 season, has named Hall-of-Famer Dave Cowens as its head coach. Cowens played 10 of his 11 NBA seasons with the Boston Celtics and averaged 17.6 points and 13.6 rebounds per game. He was selected to seven All-Star games and was named the league's Most Valuable Player for the 1973 season. Cowens was also voted as one of the NBA's 50 Greatest Players in 1996. "We promised this city a team that will compete with the heart and soul people associate with Chicago. We promised a team that works as hard as the people of Chicago do. I am thrilled that we have found a coach who is the personification of this philosophy," said team president and CEO Margaret Stender. Cowens has had some experience as a head coach in the NBA beginning with Boston as a player-coach (1978-79). He also led the Charlotte Hornets from 1996-98 and the Golden State Warriors from 2000-01. He guided the Hornets to consecutive 50-plus win seasons (1996-97 & 1997-98) and finished second to Pat Riley in the NBA Coach of the Year voting for the 1996-97 campaign. "The WNBA represents all that is great about basketball," said Cowens. "My goal as a player in the NBA was not to be the best player on the floor, but to be the best team player. I see that concept everywhere I look in the WNBA. The players move the ball, play intense defense and dive for loose balls. They play with mutual respect, tenacity and high energy." The Chicago team, which will be named at a later date, is the second WNBA team to be owned and run by an entity outside of the NBA. In 2003, the Connecticut Sun became the first independently owned and operated WNBA team.