Open Thread: Remembering Doug Moe

The first San Antonio Spurs game I ever attended was in 1985. The Spurs were hosting the Denver Nuggets at HemisFair Arena. My parents took my brother and I to the game and after we stuck around to get autographs. We both came home with pages signed by members of both teams. Among the dozen or so signatures we obtained, only two were legible – Spurs guard Johnny Moore and Nugget’s head coach Doug Moe.

I didn’t know who Doug Moe was, but my father did and dropped all kinds of knowledge into my ten-year-old mind. He’d been with the Spurs as they transitioned from the ABA to the NBA and helped define the culture of the team as they navigated the move into the big league.

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Doug Moe passed away yesterday at the age of 87.

Moe was born in 1938 in Brooklyn, New York. He attended University of North Carolina before being drafted 22nd overall in 1961 by the Chicago Packers (these days known as the Washington Wizards). He eventually played for the ABA, picking up a championship trophy in 1969 and making three All-Star teams.

Moe began his coaching as an assistant coach to his former college teammate Larry Brown from 1972 to 1974 with ABA’s Carolina Cougars.

From 1974 to 1976 Moe continued on with Larry Brown as an assistant coach with the Denver Nuggets.

On June 30, 1976, Moe replaced Bob Bass as the head coach of the San Antonio Spurs, the year of the NBA-ABA merger, effectively making him him the Spurs first NBA coach. He served as head coach for four seasons amassing a regular-season coaching record of 177-135 (.567) only second to Gregg Popovich.

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In a career that spanned four decades, Moe became one of the most celebrated coaches in NBA history. His overall NBA head coaching record, 628–529 (.543), is the 19th most in NBA history.

Doug Moe was the 2018 recipient of the Chuck Daly Lifetime Achievement Award.

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Publish date : 2026-02-18 12:00:00

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