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Former NBA coach Doug Moe has died, his son David said Tuesday. He was 87.
David informed several of the coach’s friends that his father had passed away after a long battle with cancer.
Longtime Denver television personality Ron Zappolo also confirmed the pass to the Associated Press. An ABA original, Moe rose to fame during a rumpled, irreverent decade as coach of the Denver Nuggets in the 1980s.
In a tribute to Moe posted on social media, the Nuggets remembered Moe as “an exceptional leader and person who spearheaded one of the most successful and exciting decades in Nuggets history.”
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FILE – Former Denver Nuggets head coach Doug Moe pleads with his team during a timeout in the final seconds of an NBA basketball game against the Houston Rockets in May 1986. (AP Photo/Ed Andrieski, File)
In 15 seasons as a head coach, Moe had stints with the San Antonio Spurs and the Philadelphia 76ers. He never won a title — his most memorable run came in 1985, when his top Denver team fell to the Los Angeles Lakers in the Western Conference finals. He was the 1988 NBA Coach of the Year.
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More than wins and losses, Moe will be remembered for his motion offense and for the equally entertaining shows he put on while hovering on the bench during his coaching days. His Denver teams led the league in scoring over five consecutive seasons in the early 1980s, and he rarely played a set game.
FILE – Retired Denver Nuggets head coach Doug Moe stands next to his retired number during the team’s 50th anniversary celebration before the second half of an NBA basketball game, Sept. October 2017, in Denver, Colorado. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski, File)
The Nuggets bench, along with the 10 rows behind it, was no place for children, but within hours, Moe would be at the bar or coffee shop hanging out with many of the same players he had berated, often wondering himself where the crooked man on the sideline had come from.
“Sometimes I think I have a Jekyll-and-Hyde personality. I clown around a lot before and after a game, but once a game starts, my emotions just take over,” Moe said in a 1983 interview with The New York Times.
Denver Nuggets assistant coach Doug Moe works without suspended head coach Goerge Karl during the first half against the New Orleans/Oklahoma City Hornets on November 30, 2005 at the Pepsi Center in Denver, Colorado. (Brian Bahr/Getty Images)
Years before John Elway arrived, Moe was Denver’s biggest sports personality. Zappolo, the sportscaster, said there was a cute teddy bear behind the game-day bluster.
“I don’t know if there’s ever been a more important sports figure in Denver, not just because of how successful he was, but how colorful he was and how kind he was,” Zappolo said. “There are a lot of people walking around today who feel like they were Doug’s best friend.”
Moe insisted he never wanted a head coaching job — didn’t want to work that hard — but Larry Brown coaxed him into taking a job in San Antonio. With the help of George Gervin, Moe won the division twice and reached a conference final in four seasons with the Spurs.
Moe ended his head coaching career with an unsuccessful stint in Philadelphia that lasted less than a season before returning to Denver in supporting roles, including a return to the bench as George Karl’s assistant.
