There are few people left over from the original National Basketball League who also went over to the burgeoning NBA in the 1940s. Former Minneapolis Lakers coach Johnny Kundla was one of them, but he has now passed on somewhere better at age 101.
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Johnny Kundla, Basketball Hall of Fame ex-Lakers and Gophers coach, dead at 101 Sunday afternoon at Catholic Eldercare in Minneapolis.
— Charley Walters (@Charley_Walters) July 23, 2017
He coached the Lakers before they made the move out out to Los Angeles and won six championships, one with the NBL, another with the Basketball Association of America and another four with the NBA. He coached from 1947 to 1959 and then coached another ten seasons at the University of Minnesota from 1959 to 1968. During his time as a pro coach he coached some other Hall of Famers as well:
John Kundla coached six Hall of Famers - George Mikan (photo), Clyde Lovellette, Slater Martin, Vern Mikkelsen, Jim Pollard, Elgin Baylor. pic.twitter.com/M7CRCSAHRB
— NBA History (@NBAHistory) July 23, 2017
Kundla was inducted into the Naismith Hall of Fame in 1995 and was voted as one of the top-10 coaches of all-time in the league during the "NBA at 50" celebration in 1996. He had an all-time record (in the NBA) of 423-302, but his records from the NBL and BAA have not been officially added to that total.
