About Gene Shue
Eugene William Shue (December 18, 1931 – April 3, 2022) was an American professional basketball player and coach in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Shue was one of the top guards of the early days of the NBA and an influential figure in the development of basketball. He is credited with having invented the "spin move" while being an early harbinger of other plays and strategies. Shue was an NBA All-Star in five consecutive times from 1958 to 1962. After his successful playing career, he became a long-serving coach for three franchises. With his first tenure with the Baltimore Bullets, Shue coached the team for seven seasons and won four division championships with five playoff berths, with one trip to the NBA Finals in 1971. He resigned at the end of the 1972-73 season and soon became coach of the Philadelphia 76ers, where he helped the team rise in victories to where they won 50 games and reached the NBA Finals in 1977, where they lost in a six-game series to Portland. After six games of the 1977-78 season, Shue was unceremoniously fired. Shue was the first coach of the newly relocated San Diego Clippers in 1978. His first season resulted in 43 wins, which ended up being the high-water mark for the franchise until 1992; Shue was fired after the second season. Shue returned to coach the Bullets in 1980, reaching the postseason three times in six seasons but never winning more than 43 games before the Clippers (now in Los Angeles) hired him to coach in 1987, where he closed his tenure as a coach with 27 wins in 120 total games. While Shue had a total record of 784–861 as a head coach, he was twice awarded NBA Coach of the Year; he is one of just twelve coaches to win multiple Coach of the Year awards. Throughout his career as player, coach, and executive, Shue was "a specialist at taking over faltering teams".
Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.