Eugene William Shue (December 18, 1931 – April 3, 2022) was an American professional basketball player and coach in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Shue was one of the top guards of the early days of the NBA and an influential figure in the development of basketball. He is credited with having invented the "spin move" while being an early harbinger of other plays and strategies. Shue was an NBA All-Star in five consecutive times from 1958 to 1962.
After his playing career, he became a long-serving coach for three franchises. With his first tenure with the Baltimore Bullets, Shue coached the team for seven seasons and won four division championships with five playoff berths, with one trip to the NBA Finals in 1971. He resigned at the end of the 1972-73 season and soon became coach of the Philadelphia 76ers, where he helped the team rise in victories to where they won 50 games and reached the NBA Finals in 1977, where they lost in a six-game series to Portland. After six games of the 1977-78 season, Shue was unceremoniously fired. Shue was the first coach of the newly relocated San Diego Clippers in 1978. His first season resulted in 43 wins, which ended up being the high-water mark for the franchise until 1992; Shue was fired after the second season.
Shue returned to coach the Bullets in 1980, reaching the post-season three times in six seasons but never winning more than 43 games before the Clippers (now in Los Angeles) hired him to coach in 1987, where he closed his tenure as a coach with 27 wins in 120 total games. While Shue had a total record of 784–861 as a head coach, he was twice awarded NBA Coach of the Year; he is one of just twelve coaches to win multiple Coach of the Year awards. Throughout his career as player, coach, and executive, Shue was "a specialist at taking over faltering teams".
Shue was born on December 18, 1931, in Baltimore, Maryland. He grew up in the city's Govans neighborhood and attended Towson Catholic High School. His family lived on welfare and he did not own a basketball as a child. He grew up a fan of the Baltimore Bullets and Buddy Jeannette, recollecting in 1994:
When I was a kid growing up in Govans and Buddy was the leader of the Bullets, I was such a fan of his. Those were the early days of TV. We kids used to stand outside J.V. Stout's electronics store on York Road and watch through the window on little black-and-white TVs.
As a prospect in 1950, Shue was lightly recruited by University of Maryland's newly hired coach Bud Millikan. However, he wanted to play for the more-established programs at Loyola or Georgetown. After getting turned down by Loyola and getting wait listed by Georgetown after two underwhelming tryouts, Shue opted to instead play for Maryland. Shue did not receive a scholarship and instead worked odd jobs, including cleaning the basketball court (only receiving a scholarship his senior season). Joining a program with Coach Millikan that had losing records in eight of its last 10 seasons, Shue later remarked:
When Bud took over the program, there really was no program. Boxing was more important than basketball. We had a terrific boxing team at the time and they would feature the boxing match [as the featured event] if we had a doubleheader.
In his tenure with Maryland, Shue and Millikan led the school's team to new heights, including their first 20-plus win regular season (23 his senior year), their first appearance in national rankings (peaked at #13 in 1954), and entrance into the Atlantic Coast Conference. While at Maryland, Shue joined Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity.
Shue left Maryland as its star player and their first high-profile NBA prospect. He broke all of the school scoring records and made the All-ACC team.
Following his collegiate graduation, Shue was drafted third overall in the 1954 NBA draft by the Philadelphia Warriors on April 24, 1954.
On November 28, 1954, after just six games with the Warriors, Shue's player rights were sold to the New York Knicks, after notifying then-owner Eddie Gottlieb that his paycheck was $10 short ($110.15 in 2022).
Fort Wayne / Detroit Pistons (1956–1962)
After the 1955–56 season, on April 30, 1956, Shue was traded to the Fort Wayne Pistons for Ron Sobie. In 1956–57 season he played his first full season for the Pistons.
The franchise moved to Detroit the following season. Shue recalled the struggles during the opening game at the Detroit Olympia: "There were so many delays during the game because the floor was slippery from the ice below it, a problem that often happened. I didn’t like playing there because it was a large building with small crowds and you were always freezing your butt off."
In Detroit, Shue blossomed as a player and became popular enough for the P.A. to develop the catchphrase "Two for Shue". He started a streak of five All-Star Game appearances and five playoff berths.
In 1959–60 season, Shue recorded 22.8 pts/game (6th-most in the NBA) and 5.5 rebounds/game, leading the NBA in minutes (3,338) and finishing second in free throw percentage (.872) while earning All-NBA First Team honors. Eleven times during the season he played all 48 minutes. The following year, he averaged 4.3 rebounds/game, 6.8 assists/game (4th in the NBA) and 22.6 points/game (10th-most in the NBA). He also marked his highest field goal percentage (.421) and was named to the All-NBA Second Team. The 1961–62 season was his last one as star player; he averaged 19.0 pts/game and 5.8 assists/game (5th in the NBA).
On August 29, 1962, Shue was traded back to the New York Knicks for Darrall Imhoff and cash. On January 3, 1963, Shue was honored with a "Gene Shue Night" as a part of a promotion when the Knicks played the Baltimore Bullets, complete with him being the featured speaker at a luncheon sponsored by Baltimore’s Sports Reporters Association and receiving the ceremonial key to the city.
On October 29, 1963, Shue was traded along with Paul Hogue to his hometown team, the Baltimore Bullets, for Bill McGill.