Gene Shue, the former Maryland Terrapins basketball star who went on to coach the Bullets for 13 seasons, died on Sunday. He was 90.
The NBA announced Shue’s death with a statement on Monday.
“The NBA family mourns the passing of Gene Shue, a 5x NBA All-Star, 2x All-NBA selection and 2x NBA Coach of the Year,” posted the league’s official Twitter account. “Gene dedicated his life to the game and left an indelible mark as a player, head coach and executive. We extend our deepest condolences to the Shue family.”
Shue is the franchise’s leader in wins with 522 and is the only bench boss in team history to win the NBA Coach of the Year Award, doing so in 1969 and 1982.
Shue’s basketball career started in the early 1950s as a star player at Maryland. The Towson, Maryland, native scored 20-plus points in his final two seasons with the Terrapins, including a first-team All-ACC nomination in the inaugural season of the conference.
He was the third overall pick in the 1954 NBA Draft by the Philadelphia Warriors, but he was shipped off to the New York Knicks early in his first season. Two years later, he was traded to the Fort Wayne Pistons. The franchise would change its name to the Detroit Pistons the following season, and that’s when Shue took off — making five straight All-Star games. Shue was named first-team All-NBA in 1960 after scoring 22.8 points per game.
In 1963-64, Shue ended his career with the Baltimore Bullets — the same team he would start his coaching career with three years later. The Bullets were one of the worst teams in the NBA when Shue took over in 1966, but he turned the franchise around in just two seasons with an NBA-best 57 wins. His Bullets then made the NBA Finals in 1971 but were swept by the Lew Alcindor-led Milwaukee Bucks — Alcindor’s final season before changing his name to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
We are saddened by the passing of former Bullets head coach, Gene Shue, a Baltimore native and the winningest coach in franchise history.
— Washington Wizards (@WashWizards) April 4, 2022
Shue’s career with the franchise included:
◾ 522 wins (franchise record)
◾ Three 50-win seasons
◾ 1971 NBA Finals appearance
Shue resigned in 1973 when the franchise moved to Washington, taking over as the 76ers’ coach a few days later. He led Philadelphia to the NBA Finals in 1977, but the 76ers lost in six games to the Bill Walton-led Portland Trail Blazers.
Shue then sandwiched two short stints with the Clippers with a six-year run with the Washington Bullets from 1980 to 1986. After he finished coaching, Shue served as the 76ers’ general manager in the early 1990s and then as director of player personnel and finally a scout.
• Jacob Calvin Meyer can be reached at jmeyer@washingtontimes.com.
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