JOHN KUNDLA
Game 22 | December 14, 1951 | John Kundla
The former University of Minnesota star was the only coach the Minneapolis Lakers had in its first 10 years. His 1951-52 team was on its way to winning the third of five consecutive NBA titles. A member of the NBA Hall of Fame, he went on to coach the Gophers from 1959-1968.
Game 136 | October 28, 1965 | Lou Hudson, John Kundla
It had been 14 years since Kundla had talked at Dunkers as the Minneapolis Lakers coach. This time he was back as the Gophers basketball coach, and he had his star player with him. Hudson, whose banner hangs in Williams Arena, was a smooth 6-5 forward who played his senior season with a broken shooting hand. He became the first Gopher to be taken in the first round of the NBA draft and went on to a 13-year career with St. Louis, Atlanta and the Los Angeles Lakers.
Game 472 | February 21, 1995 | Vern Mikkelsen, John Kundla
It had been 44 years since Kundla first appeared at Dunkers and 36 years since Mikkelesen had made his first appearance. Surviving members of the Minneapolis Lakers gathered to celebrate the success of the team that dominated professional basketball in the 1950s with Mikkelsen at power forward and Kundla as the coach. Mikkelsen has been a Dunker since 1963.
Wikipedia - John Kundla
John Kundla died July 23, 2017, at the assisted-living home where he'd been living in northeast Minneapolis. He was 101 years old.
