John Francis Egan (January 31, 1939 – July 21, 2022) was an American professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

player and coach. He played for the

Detroit Pistons The Detroit Pistons are an American professional basketball team based in Detroit. The Pistons compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division and play their home games at Li ...

New York Knicks The New York Knickerbockers, shortened and more commonly referred to as the New York Knicks, are an American professional basketball team based in the New York City borough of Manhattan. The Knicks compete in the National Basketball Associat ...

, Baltimore Bullets,

Los Angeles Lakers The Los Angeles Lakers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Lakers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Pacific Division. The Lakers play their ...

Cleveland Cavaliers The Cleveland Cavaliers (often referred to as the Cavs) are an American professional basketball team based in Cleveland. The Cavaliers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference (NBA), Ea ...

, and San Diego / Houston Rockets of the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United S ...

from 1961 to 1972. He coached the Rockets from 1973 to 1976.

Early life and playing career

Egan was born on January 31, 1939, in

Hartford, Connecticut Hartford is the capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It was the seat of Hartford County until Connecticut disbanded county government in 1960. It is the core city in the Greater Hartford metropolitan area. Census estimates since the ...

. Playing for the basketball team at

Weaver High School Weaver or Weavers may refer to: Activities * A person who engages in weaving fabric Animals * Various birds of the family Ploceidae * Crevice weaver spider family * Orb-weaver spider family * Weever (or weever-fish) Arts and entertainment ...

, which won the New England high school basketball championship in 1956 and 1957, he was named to the ''Parade'' All-America Boys Basketball Team. He was known as "Space", a nickname which alluded to "his ability to stay in the air during drives to the basket or to the length of his long-distance shots". Egan attended

Providence College Providence College is a Private university, private Catholic Church, Catholic university in Providence, Rhode Island. Founded in 1917 by the Dominican Order and the Roman Catholic Diocese of Providence, local diocese, it offers 47 undergradua ...

, where he played

college basketball In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athleti ...

for the

Providence Friars The Providence Friars are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Providence College, located in Providence, Rhode Island. They compete in the Big East Conference (NCAA Division I) for every sport except for ice hockey, where they compet ...

, and won the

1961 National Invitation Tournament The 1961 National Invitation Tournament was the 1961 edition of the annual NCAA college basketball competition. Selected teams Below is a list of the 12 teams selected for the tournament. * Army * Colorado State * Dayton * DePaul * Detroit * ...

. The

of the

(NBA) selected Egan in the second round of the

1961 NBA draft The 1961 NBA draft was the 15th annual draft of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The draft was held on March 27, 1961, before the 1961–62 season. In this draft, nine NBA teams took turns selecting amateur U.S. college basketball playe ...

. The

acquired Egan from the Pistons in a three-team trade on December 16, 1963. The Knicks traded Egan,

Johnny Green John Waldo Green (October 10, 1908 – May 15, 1989) was an American songwriter, composer, musical arranger, conductor and pianist. He was given the nickname "Beulah" by colleague Conrad Salinger. His most famous song was one of his earli ...

, and Jim "Bad News" Barnes to the Baltimore Bullets for

Walt Bellamy Walter Jones Bellamy (July 24, 1939 – November 2, 2013) was an American professional basketball player. A four-time NBA All-Star, he was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. College career Bellamy chose to play basket ...

on November 2, 1965. The

Milwaukee Bucks The Milwaukee Bucks are an American professional basketball team based in Milwaukee. The Bucks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division. The team was founded in 1968 ...

selected Egan from the Bullets in the 1968 NBA Expansion Draft. Before the 1968–69 NBA season, the Bucks traded Egan to the

for a future draft pick. He became a key rotation player for the Lakers, who reached the

1969 NBA Finals The 1969 NBA World Championship Series to determine the champion of the 1968–69 NBA season was played between the Los Angeles Lakers and Boston Celtics, the Lakers being heavily favored due to the presence of three formidable stars: Elgin Ba ...

but were beaten by the Boston Celtics in Game 7. Egan was not as effective in the following season, as the Lakers again reached the Finals but were beaten by the Knicks in Game 7. The

selected Egan in the 1970 NBA expansion draft. He was acquired by the

San Diego Rockets The Houston Rockets are an American professional basketball team based in Houston, Texas. The team plays in the Southwest Division of the Western Conference in the National Basketball Association (NBA). The team was established in 1967, and pl ...

from the Cavaliers for a third‐round pick in the 1971 NBA draft (41st overall–

Jackie Ridgle Jackie Lendell Ridgle (February 13, 1948 – August 26, 1998) was a professional basketball player. He played college basketball for the California Golden Bears and played for the Cleveland Cavaliers The Cleveland Cavaliers (often referred to ...

) and cash on December 8, 1970. Egan became one of the original

Houston Rockets The Houston Rockets are an American professional basketball team based in Houston. The Rockets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member team of the league's Western Conference Southwest Division. The team plays its ho ...

when the team left San Diego in 1971. His playing career ended after the 1971–72 season. He averaged 7.8

points per game Points per game, often abbreviated PPG, is the average number of points scored by a player per game played in a sport, over the course of a series of games, a whole season, or a career. It is calculated by dividing the total number of points by nu ...

and 3.0

assists per game In basketball, an assist is attributed to a player who passes the ball to a teammate in a way that leads directly to a score by field goal, meaning that they were "assisting" in the basket. An assist is also credited when a basket is awarded due ...

in his NBA career. He was the shortest player in the NBA for most of his 11-year career.

Coaching career

In January 1972, Rockets

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Co ...

Tex Winter Morice Fredrick "Tex" Winter (February 25, 1922 – October 10, 2018) was an American basketball coach and innovator of the triangle offense. He was a head coach in college basketball for 30 years before becoming an assistant coach in the National ...

named Egan an assistant coach, and he continued as a

player-coach A player-coach (also playing coach, captain-coach, or player-manager) is a member of a sports team who simultaneously holds both playing and coaching duties. A player-coach may be a head coach or an assistant coach. They may make changes to the sq ...

for the remainder of the season. He retired as a player after the season, and was promoted to become head coach, succeeding Winter on January 21, 1973. At one point, he was the youngest and shortest coach in the NBA. During his years as head coach, the Rockets were 129–152, with one playoff appearance in 1975, when they defeated the New York Knicks in the first round to earn the franchise's first playoff series win. He was fired and replaced by

Tom Nissalke Thomas Edward Nissalke (July 7, 1932 – August 22, 2019) was an American professional basketball coach in the National Basketball Association and American Basketball Association. He coached several teams in both leagues, and had an overall coa ...

on April 20, 1976, after the team failed to qualify for the postseason with a 40–42 record.

Personal life

Egan married Joan (), his high school sweetheart. They had two children and five grandchildren. Joan died in 1998 from

ovarian cancer Ovarian cancer is a cancerous tumor of an ovary. It may originate from the ovary itself or more commonly from communicating nearby structures such as fallopian tubes or the inner lining of the abdomen. The ovary is made up of three different c ...

. After his basketball career, Egan remained in Houston, where he founded and operated an insurance business. He continued to live in Houston in his later life. After suffering a head injury in a fall in May 2022, he died on July 21, 2022, at age 83.

Head coaching record

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References

External links

Career stats
{{DEFAULTSORT:Egan, Johnny 1939 births 2022 deaths American men's basketball coaches American men's basketball players Baltimore Bullets (1963–1973) players Basketball coaches from Connecticut Basketball players from Hartford, Connecticut Cleveland Cavaliers expansion draft picks Detroit Pistons draft picks Detroit Pistons players Houston Rockets head coaches Houston Rockets players Los Angeles Lakers players Milwaukee Bucks expansion draft picks New York Knicks players Parade High School All-Americans (boys' basketball) Point guards Providence Friars men's basketball players San Diego Rockets players Sportspeople from Hartford, Connecticut