John Kundla, coached Lakers to NBA titles in the 1950s

Led team when it was in Minneapolis, before move to L.A.

Minneapolis— Before Phil Jackson and Pat Riley, before Gregg Popovich and Larry Brown, even before Red Auerbach, there was John Kundla.

Kundla, the Hall of Fame coach who led the Minneapolis Lakers to five NBA championships, died July 23. He was 101.

Son Tom Kundla said his father died at an assisted living facility in Northeast Minneapolis that he called home for years.

With George Mikan in the middle and Kundla the calm, steady hand directing the team, the Lakers won the 1949 championship in the BAA — the league that preceded the NBA — and NBA titles in 1950 and 1952-54, cementing the franchise’s place as the league’s first true dynasty. The Lakers also won an NBL title in 1948, but the NBL marks are not included in the NBA’s records.

“On behalf of the entire Lakers organization, I’d like to express our sadness at the passing of John Kundla,” Lakers President and co-owner Jeanie Buss said in a statement. “John played an important role in the history of the Lakers organization . ... In addition to his numerous contributions to the Lakers and our legacy, John was a wonderful man and will be remembered fondly.”

Kundla was the oldest living Hall of Famer in any of the four major pro sports.

Kundla was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1995. A year later, he was named one of the league’s 10 greatest coaches as part of the league’s “NBA at 50” celebration.

He was hired at 31 and resigned at 42 with a career record of 423-302, happy to cede the attention and the accolades to his players over himself. He was known for his understated sideline demeanor, which was unique compared to the fiery drill sergeants of the era.

“John wasn’t a screamer and was very mild-mannered, but he’d let loose when we deserved it, and usually I was the first one he bawled out,” Mikan once told Sports Illustrated. “The message he sent was that no one on the team was above criticism.”

Kundla was born in Star Junction, Pa., on July 3, 1916. He relocated to Minneapolis with his family at the age of 5.

The Detroit Gems of NBL moved to the Twin Cities in 1947 and hired Kundla to run the re-named Lakers. In Mikan, Vern Mikkelsen and Jim Pollard, the Lakers assembled the first super-team, beating New York in 1952 and ’53 and Syracuse in ’54 for the three straight titles.

He also was a trailblazer during those racially tense seasons, often turning down hotels that refused to house black players when the team was on the road. When he later coached at the University of Minnesota, Kundla was on the bench when the first black players arrived at the school.

“John was an incredible staple of Minnesota basketball,” Timberwolves and Lynx owner Glen Taylor said in a statement.