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Longtime Nuggets Coach Doug Moe Dead at 87

Moe held the Nuggets’ career win record among coaches with 432 before getting passed by Mike Malone.
Tyler Lauletta|
Nuggets assistant coach Doug Moe looks on during a game against the Bulls in 2007.
Nuggets assistant coach Doug Moe looks on during a game against the Bulls in 2007. | Garrett Ellwood/NBAE via Getty Images

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Denver Nuggets

Longtime Nuggets coach Doug Moe died on Tuesday, the team announced. He was 87.

Moe spent more than five decades of his life tied to professional basketball as both a player and a coach. After a seven-year career spent playing in Italy and then in the ABA, Moe turned to coaching, first working as an assistant under his college teammate, Larry Brown.

After three years as Brown’s assistant in Denver, Moe got his first head coaching opportunity with the Spurs in 1976, where he would work until making his return to the Nuggets for the top job in 1980.

In Denver, Moe built his legacy, coaching for 10 seasons while compiling a 432–357 career record and reaching the postseason in nine straight years. Those 432 wins stood as a coaching record for the Nuggets until Mike Malone surpassed him two years ago.

After leaving the Nuggets in 1990, Moe would return to the franchise again in 2002, first as a coaching consultant and later as an assistant coach under George Karl. On Tuesday, Karl shared a message mourning the loss of his friend.

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Tyler Lauletta
TYLER LAULETTA

Tyler Lauletta is a staff writer for the Breaking and Trending News Team/team at Sports Illustrated. Before joining SI, he covered sports for nearly a decade at Business Insider, and helped design and launch the OffBall newsletter. He is a graduate of Temple University in Philadelphia, and remains an Eagles and Phillies sicko. When not watching or blogging about sports, Tyler can be found scratching his dog behind the ears.

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