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Gene Littles

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Gene Littles
Littles with the High Point Panthers in 1968
Personal information
Born(1943-06-29)June 29, 1943
Washington, D.C., U.S.
DiedSeptember 10, 2021(2021-09-10) (aged 78)
Scottsdale, Arizona, U.S.
Listed height6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
Listed weight160 lb (73 kg)
Career information
High schoolMcKinley (Washington, D.C.)
CollegeHigh Point (1965–1969)
NBA draft1969: 5th round, 68th overall pick
Selected by the New York Knicks
Playing career1969–1975
PositionPoint guard
Number23
Coaching career1975–1997
Career history
As player:
1969–1974Carolina Cougars
1974–1975Kentucky Colonels
As coach:
1975–1977Appalachian State (assistant)
1977–1979North Carolina A&T
1979–1982Utah Jazz (assistant)
1982–1986Cleveland Cavaliers (assistant)
1986Cleveland Cavaliers (interim)
1986–1987Chicago Bulls (assistant)
1988–1990Charlotte Hornets (assistant)
1990–1991Charlotte Hornets
1992–1997Denver Nuggets (assistant)
1995Denver Nuggets (interim)
Career highlights and awards
As player

As coach:

Career ABA playing statistics
Points4,066 (9.0 ppg)
Rebounds1,475 (3.3 rpg)
Assists1,336 (3.0 spg)
Stats at Basketball Reference Edit this at Wikidata
Career coaching record
NBA44–111 (.284)
NCAA40–15 (.727)
Record at Basketball Reference Edit this at Wikidata

Eugene Scape Littles (June 29, 1943 – September 10, 2021) was an American basketball player and coach. He played six seasons in the American Basketball Association (ABA) for the Carolina Cougars and Kentucky Colonels between 1969 and 1975. Littles won an ABA championship with the Colonels in 1975. He later coached in the National Basketball Association (NBA) with the Cleveland Cavaliers, Charlotte Hornets, and Denver Nuggets.

Early life

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Littles was born in Washington, D.C., on June 29, 1943. He attended McKinley Technology High School in his hometown.[1] He went on to play college basketball at High Point University, where he is the all-time leading scorer in High Point school history, and a three-time NAIA All-American. Littles was selected in the 5th round of the 1969 NBA draft by the New York Knicks and in the 1969 ABA draft by the Dallas Chaparrals. He opted to play in the ABA.[2][3] His playing rights were later acquired by the Carolina Cougars.[3]

Professional career

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Littles made his ABA debut on October 18, 1969,[1] scoring ten points against the Chaparrals.[4] He played for five seasons with the Cougars from 1969 to 1974. He was named to the All-Rookie Team in 1970.[2] He finished sixth in the league in field goal percentage (.507) that year, while recording career-highs in points (1,025), assists (282), and rebounds (415). Littles led the ABA in games played in 1972–73 with 84. He later played for one season (1974–75) with the Kentucky Colonels. He was a member of the Colonels team that won the 1975 ABA Championship. However, he had career-lows in games played (61), minutes played (900), points (215), assists (119), and rebounds (86) in his final regular season.[1]

Coaching career

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Littles began his coaching career in 1975 as an assistant coach for the Appalachian State Mountaineers,[5] where he coached for two seasons.[6] He was then a college head coach at North Carolina A&T from 1977 to 1979, leading the team to two straight MEAC tournament championships.[7] He was also honored as the conference's coach of the year in 1979.[3]

Littles got his first taste of NBA coaching when he was hired by the then-New Orleans Jazz in 1979 and moved with the team to Utah.[2][8] He then moved over to the Cleveland Cavaliers in 1982 and was subsequently given the interim head coaching job when George Karl was dismissed before the end of the 1985–86 season.[9] However, the Cavaliers did not retain him and instead hired Lenny Wilkens the following season.[10][11]

Littles was an assistant coach of the Chicago Bulls in 1986–87, before serving in that capacity with the Charlotte Hornets for two seasons.[10] He later received a second opportunity as NBA head coach with the Hornets, replacing Dick Harter in February 1990.[12] He lasted a season and a half with the recent-expansion Hornets, until he was replaced with Allan Bristow at the end of the 1990–91 season. Littles then briefly served as a vice president of the Hornets and special assistant to club president.[13]

Littles returned to coaching in 1992–93 as an assistant with the Denver Nuggets.[10] He was one of the candidates interviewed at the end of the season to be head coach of the Los Angeles Clippers;[14] however, the position ultimately went to Bob Weiss.[15] Littles later became the Nuggets interim coach during the 1994–95 season, in between Dan Issel and Bernie Bickerstaff.[16]

Later life

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Littles was inducted into the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame and the High Point University Athletics Hall of Fame. His number 14 was retired by his alma mater, and a bench outside Millis Athletic Convocation Center was later named in his honor in 2019.[2][3]

Littles died on September 10, 2021, at the age of 78.[2][8][17][18]

Head coaching record

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Legend
Regular season G Games coached W Games won L Games lost W–L % Win–loss %
Playoffs PG Playoff games PW Playoff wins PL Playoff losses PW–L % Playoff win–loss %
Team Year G W L W–L% Finish PG PW PL PW–L% Result
Cleveland 1985–86 15 4 11 .267 5th in Central — — — — Missed playoffs
Charlotte 1989–90 42 11 31 .262 7th in Midwest — — — — Missed playoffs
Charlotte 1990–91 82 26 56 .317 7th in Central — — — — Missed playoffs
Denver 1994–95 16 3 13 .188 (interim) — — — — —
Career 155 44 111 .284   — — — —  

Source:[10]

References

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  1. ^ a b c "Gene Littles Stats". Basketball-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved September 15, 2021.
  2. ^ a b c d e "High Point University Mourns Loss of All-Time Great Panther Basketball Player Gene Littles". High Point University. September 13, 2021. Retrieved September 15, 2021.
  3. ^ a b c d "Former High Point basketball star Gene Littles dies at 78". Associated Press. September 14, 2021. Retrieved September 15, 2021.
  4. ^ "October 18, 1969 Dallas Chaparrals at Carolina Cougars Box Score Play by Play and Box Score". Basketball-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. October 18, 1969. Retrieved September 15, 2021.
  5. ^ "The Charlotte Hornets Tuesday named former Chicago Bulls assistant..." UPI. October 7, 1987. Retrieved April 30, 2024.
  6. ^ Thomy, Al (January 25, 2015). "LITTLES, OTHER FORMER HIGH POINT AREA STARS HONORED". News & Record. Retrieved April 30, 2024.
  7. ^ "Gene Littles Coaching Record". Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved September 15, 2021.
  8. ^ a b "Ex-Hornets coach, ABA player Gene Littles dies at 78". Reuters. September 14, 2021. Retrieved September 15, 2021.
  9. ^ "Gene Littles". Basketball-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved September 17, 2021.
  10. ^ a b c d "Gene Littles". Basketball-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved September 15, 2021.
  11. ^ McKee, Vince (September 16, 2014). The Cleveland Cavaliers: A History of the Wine & Gold. Arcadia Publishing. ISBN 9781625852113.
  12. ^ "Harter Fired, Littles Fills In". The Washington Post. January 31, 1990. Retrieved September 15, 2021.
  13. ^ "Hornets replace Littles as coach". Tampa Bay Times. October 13, 2005. Retrieved September 15, 2021.
  14. ^ Cooper, Scott-Howard (June 9, 1993). "Hornets replace Littles as coach". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved September 15, 2021.
  15. ^ "Clippers Finally Name New Coach – Weiss". Deseret News. July 22, 1993. Retrieved September 15, 2021.[permanent dead link‍]
  16. ^ "Denver Nuggets Coaches". Basketball-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved September 15, 2021.
  17. ^ "Gene Littles, former Hornets head coach and ABA player, dies at 78". NBA.com. September 15, 2021. Retrieved September 16, 2021.
  18. ^ Eugene Littles
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