Kundla, John A.
Basketball
b. July 3, 1916, Star Junction, PA
Kundla played baseball and basketball at the University of Minnesota, graduating in 1939, and spent a year in minor league baseball before becoming a grade school and high school basketball coach.
After one season as head coach at St. Thomas College in Minnesota, where he had an 11-11 record, Kundla took over the Minneapolis Lakers of the National Basketball League in 1947. The team joined the Basketball Association of America (now the NBA) the following season.
Kundla guided the great Minneapolis teams, led by George Mikan, that won championships in 1949, 1950, 1952, 1953, and 1954. When the Lakers moved to Los Angeles in 1959, Kundla took over at the University of Minnesota.
He retired after the 1967/68 season with a collegiate record of 121 wins and 116 losses. As a professional coach, he had a 423-302 mark for a .583 winning percentage in regular season play and a 61-37 record in playoff games.