Doug Moe, the trainer who preferred Clint Eastwood to Meryl Streep
Legendary Open Trainer, Doug Moe (1938-2026) died at the age of 87. A run-and-shoot personality in the NBA with his Nuggets playing completely out of control, he was quite the character.
Because if there are coaches who can be summed up with a system, and others with experience, Doug Moe is best described with a scene. A life sequence that is both funny and revealing for what he was: a raw coach, allergic to drama and over-analysis. So, the day after the most prolific game in NBA history, lost to the Pistonsthe coach did not ask for a tactical explanation. Instead, he was looking for… a movie screen.
“I woke up this morning and couldn’t read the paper”explained Doug Moe, this December 14, 1983. “I didn’t want to be told about all that again. So I went to see Silkwood. It was shit. I also saw a movie with Clint Eastwood. He kills like 1,001 people in this movie. I loved it.”
The Return of Inspector Harrythe fourth episode of the saga, that’s why he cleared his mind, when The Mystery of Silkwooda drama worn by a talking Meryl Streep the true story of Karen Silkwoodthe Oscar-nominated nuclear whistleblower left him cold…
Inspector Harry to clear his head
The coach who just lost the match with 186 points conceded found his outlet in a movie where the hero solves problems with a shot. Everything Doug Moe is here: dry humor, punchline, anti-psychology.
Obviously, the Nuggets weren’t going to practice that day, as everyone was exhausted after this triple overtime performance by Kiki Vandeweghe and his teammates. “four to five times” had a chance to win.
“Our strategy is to play as fast as possible”summed up Doug Moe. “There’s not a lot of fast-break defense. Every year we hear about teams like Washington that rely on defense, but we win more often than they do.”
Because we mustn’t forget that even though he never ended up winning a title, Doug Moe still led his teams (Spurs and Nuggets) to the playoffs during each of his 12 full campaigns.
2026-02-18 13:53:00
