No. 8 Greatest NBA Coach: Billy Cunningham

And he quit coaching early in his career after the 1985 season.

Let it not be said that he was a quitter.

He wasn't.

He just knew when to exit the game.

Cunningham's coaching career started in a frantic way.

He replaced Gene Shue as head coach on Nov. 4, 1977, six games into the
season. The talented and enigmatic 76ers were underachieving despite the
likes of Julius Erving and George McGinnis dotting the roster.

Cunningham, born in Brooklyn, NY, used a little street smarts in
orchestrating the team to five more wins than they had accumulated the
previous year, but the squad fell in the playoffs at the hands of Washington
in the Eastern Conference finals. Two year later, the Sixers moved into the
finals against the Los Angeles Lakers, after collecting 59 victories during
the season. A young Magic took care of Philadelphia and the Sixers found
themselves runners-up for the second time in four years.

The pressure started to mount on Cunningham.

One single move may have stopped his valves from exploding.

In a September 1982 deal with Houston, Philadelphia added the previous
season's Most Valuable Player in Moses Malone for Caldwell Jones and cash
considerations.

A talented team became an explosive one in one deft move and Cunningham
pushed the right buttons to lead the experienced bunch. Preaching defense,
Cunningham's team drew raves from around the league and was tagged with the
dynasty label. This was a team that could go forever - and the pressure
mounted.

Philadelphia won 65 games that season and Malone earned his second straight
MVP title, but what will be remembered is the run that Cunningham helped
produce in the playoffs.

A 12­1 record and series wins over New York, Boston and Los Angeles en route
to the title. The Sixers would win 50-plus games the next two seasons and
make short runs through the playoffs, but in many critics minds the
star-studded team underachieved and just two years after the title run,
Cunningham left coaching for good.

And Philadelphia missed him.

"He was a popular player here and an even more popular coach," former owner
Harold Katz said.

And although the pressure was high, Cunningham looks back on his coaching
stint fondly today.

"I was fortunate that I had two wonderful moments," he says about his
combined coaching and playing careers. "In my career, I had the opportunity
to win a championship as a plyers and as a coach. As a coach, I probably
appreciated it more because I won a title early in my playing career, but as
a coach we came very close a few times before we did achieve a title."

In the end all that mattered was that coach or player, Philadelphia loved
the man.

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