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The NBA announced the death of Gene
Shue, a five-time All-Star and two-time Coach of the Year, on Monday
at the age of 90.
Shue was a first-round pick of the
Philadelphia Warriors in the 1954 NBA draft. He played 10 seasons as
a member of four teams before shifting to a coaching role in 1966. He
spent 24 years on the sideline as the head coach of five franchises.
His partner, Patti Massey, told Richard
Goldstein of the New York Times that Shue was treated for melanoma
before his death.
The Baltimore native was a standout
guard at the University of Maryland, earning All-ACC honors as a senior
in 1953-54, before arriving to the NBA.
He averaged 14.4 points, 4.1 rebounds
and 3.7 assists across 699 career games. He put up a career-high 22.8
points per game during the 1959-60 season with the Detroit Pistons,
which ranked sixth in the NBA.
Along with the Warriors and Pistons,
Shue also spent time with the New York Knicks and Baltimore Bullets.
He took his first head coaching job
with the Bullets in 1966. He also made stops with the Philadelphia
76ers and San Diego Clippers followed by stints with the Bullets
and Clippers after the organizations relocated to Washington and Los
Angeles, respectively.
Shue finished his coaching career with
a 784-861 record and guided his teams to a pair of appearances in the
NBA Finals, in 1971 with Baltimore (lost to the Milwaukee Bucks) and
in 1977 with Philadelphia (lost to the Portland Trail Blazers).
“I’ve had a charmed life, to be
able to pursue the thing I really love. I’ve been blessed,” Shue
told Mike Klingaman of the Baltimore Sun in 2009. “… To be able
to dribble a basketball all my life was an incredible privilege.”
After his coaching days ended in 1989,
he made one final transition to serve as the Sixers’ general manager
from 1990 through 1992.
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