Doug Moe never made it to the NBA as a player and never coached in the NBA Finals, despite 628 career wins. Yet more than many other coaches of his era, the influence of Moe, who died Tuesday at age 87, is still seen in the pro game today.
Doug Moe’s career was forged in the ABA
Thanks to bad knees, unimpressive physicality and a college scandal, Moe’s pro career didn’t start until age 27, in Italy. Moe’s supposed scandal was tame: He accepted $75 to meet with a gambler, then refused his overtures to shave points. It was unfair, and it delayed his career by five years.
Two years later, he joined the New Orleans Buccaneers of the American Basketball Association, where he’d make four All-Star teams in five seasons and win a championship in 1969 with the Oakland Oaks.
He retired in 1972 and became an assistant coach alongside Larry Brown, who was his teammate in the ABA and at North Carolina, for the Carolina Cougars and the Denver Nuggets, who went 125-43 in the pair’s two seasons with a high-powered offense.
Fast-paced, free-flowing offense was Moe’s trademark. He coached the San Antonio Spurs after the ABA merged with the NBA, where they were consistently one of the league’s highest-scoring teams and lost the Eastern Conference Finals in 1979 in seven games.
Doug Moe made his legend with the Denver Nuggets
Moe is best known for coaching the Denver Nuggets, who moved to the NBA at the same time as the Spurs. The Nuggets played at the league’s fastest pace and Moe rarely called plays, relying on players moving, cutting to the basket, adjusting to the defense and never holding the ball for more than two seconds.
Alex English became an eight-time All-Star under Moe’s coaching, while Kiki Vandeweghe and Lafayette