Buddy Jeannette

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Harry Edward "Buddy" Jeannette (b. September 15, 1917 in New Kensington, Pennsylvania – d. March 11, 1998 in Nashua, New Hampshire) was a former professional basketball player and coach.

Jeannette was widely regarded as the premier backcourt player between 1938 and 1948. He was named Most Valuable Player of the NBL thrice. Later he coached the Baltimore Bullets of the NBA.

Most of his playing career came prior to the formation of the modern NBA or its predecessor leagues; however Jeanette did serve three years as a player-coach for the original Baltimore Bullets of the Basketball Association of America. In the 1948 BAA playoffs, he became the first player-coach to win a professional championship. After his playing career ended, he coached the original Bullets for one more season. He then became the head coach at Georgetown University for four seasons.

Jeannette returned to the ranks of professional coaching to lead the modern Bullets twice, once for a full season and once as an interim coach. He later would coach the ABA's Pittsburgh Pipers.

In 1994, Jeannette was enshrined in the Basketball Hall of Fame. Jeannette attended Washington and Jefferson College, in Washington, Pennsylvania.

Preceded by N/A	Baltimore Bullets (original) Head Coach 1947–1951	Succeeded by Walt Budko
Preceded by Slick Leonard	Baltimore Bullets (modern) Head Coach 1964–1965	Succeeded by Paul Seymour
Preceded by Mike Farmer	Baltimore Bullets (modern) Head Coach 1966 (interim)	Succeeded by Gene Shue
Preceded by John Clark	Pittsburgh Pipers Head Coach 1970	Succeeded by Jack McMahon