Buddy Jeannette

{{Infobox basketball biography

| name = Buddy Jeannette

| image = Buddy Jeannette 1948.jpg

| width =

| caption = Jeannette in 1948

| height= {{convert|5|ft|11|in|cm|sigfig=3|abbr=on}}

| weight_lb = 175

| birth_date = {{birth date|1917|09|15}}

| birth_place = New Kensington, Pennsylvania, U.S.

| death_date = {{death date and age|1998|03|11|1917|09|15}}

| death_place = Nashua, New Hampshire, U.S.

| high_school = New Kensington
(New Kensington, Pennsylvania)

| college = {{nowrap|Washington & Jefferson (1934–1938)}}

| career_start = 1938

| career_end = 1950

| career_number = 26, 6, 14

| career_position = Guard

| coach_start = 1946

| coach_end = 1970

| years1 = 1938–1939

| team1 = Cleveland White Horses

| years2 = 1939–1941

| team2 = Detroit Eagles

| years3 = 1942–1943

| team3 = Sheboygan Red Skins

| years4 = 1943–1946

| team4 = Fort Wayne Pistons

| years5 = 1947–{{nbay|1949|end}}

| team5 = Baltimore Bullets

| cyears1 = 1946–{{nbay|1950|end}}

| cteam1 = Baltimore Bullets

| cyears2 = 1952–1956

| cteam2 = Georgetown Hoyas

| cyears3 = 1958–1961

| cteam3 = Baltimore Bullets (EPBL)

| cyears4 = {{nbay|1964|full=y}}

| cteam4 = Baltimore Bullets

| cyears5 = {{nbay|1966|full=y}}

| cteam5 = Baltimore Bullets (interim)

| cyears6 = 1969–1970

| cteam6 = Pittsburgh Pipers

| highlights =

BAA champion (1948)
All-BAA Second Team (1948)
3× NBL champion (1943–1945)
4× All-NBL First Team (1941, 1944–1946)
All-NBL Second Team (1943)
4× WPBT champion (1941, 1944–1946)
2× WPBT MVP (1941, 1945)
3× All-WPBT First Team (1942, 1943, 1945)

| HOF_player = buddy-jeannette

| CBBASKHOF_year = 2006

}}

Harry Edward "Buddy" Jeannette (September 15, 1917 – March 11, 1998){{Cite news |title=Hall of Famer Buddy Jeannette, Bullets player-coach, dies at 80 He won pro championship with Baltimore in '48 |newspaper=The Baltimore Sun |date=March 12, 1998 |url=https://www.baltimoresun.com/1998/03/12/hall-of-famer-buddy-jeannette-bullets-player-coach-dies-at-80-he-won-pro-championship-with-baltimore-in-48-pro-basketball/ |archive-date=2010-01-04 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100104233217/http://articles.baltimoresun.com/1998-03-12/sports/1998071107_1_jeannette-bullets-hall-of-fame |url-status=live }} was an American professional basketball player and coach.

Biography

Jeannette was widely regarded as the premier backcourt player between 1938 and 1948. He was named to the First Team of the National Basketball League (NBL) four times, and won titles with the NBL's Sheboygan Red Skins in 1943 and Fort Wayne Pistons in 1944 and 1945. Jeannette also won a title with the American Basketball League's Baltimore Bullets in 1948.

Most of his playing career came prior to the formation of the modern National Basketball Association (NBA) in its predecessor leagues the National Basketball League (NBL) and Basketball Association of America (BAA) including three years as a player-coach for the original Baltimore Bullets of the Basketball Association of America (BAA). In the 1948 BAA playoffs, he became the first player-coach to win a professional championship. After his playing career ended in 1950, he coached the original Bullets for one more season. He then became the head coach at Georgetown University for four seasons, leading the team to an appearance in the 1953 National Invitation Tournament. Jeannette served as head coach of the Baltimore Bullets in the Eastern Professional Basketball League (EPBL) from 1958 to 1961.{{cite web |title=Buddy Jeannette minor league basketball coaching records |url=https://www.statscrew.com/minorbasketball/stats/c-jeannbud001 |website=Stats Crew |access-date=February 28, 2025}}

Jeannette returned to the ranks of professional coaching in the NBA to lead the modern Baltimore Bullets twice, once for a full season and once as an interim coach. He later would coach the American Basketball Association's Pittsburgh Pipers for part of a season.

In 1994, Jeannette was enshrined in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. Jeannette attended Washington and Jefferson College, in Washington, Pennsylvania.{{cite web| title = Buddy Jeannette | work = basketball-reference | url =https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/j/jeannbu01.html}}

Career playing statistics

=NBL=

class ="wikitable"

style="background:#ffe6fa; width:3em;"|†

|Denotes seasons in which Jeannette's team won an NBL championship

=NBL=

Source{{cite web|url=https://www.basketball-reference.com/nbl/players/j/jeannha01n.html|title=Buddy Jeannette NBL stats|website=Basketball Reference|publisher=Sports Reference LLC|accessdate=23 August 2024}}

==Regular season==

| style="text-align:left;"| 1938–39

| style="text-align:left;"| Cleveland

| 26 || 54 || 65 || || || 173 || 6.7

| style="text-align:left;"| 1939–40

| style="text-align:left;"| Detroit

| 26 || 46 || 54 || || || 146 || 5.6

| style="text-align:left;"| 1940–41

| style="text-align:left;"| Detroit

| 23 || 75 || 54 || 86 || .628 || 204 || 8.9

| style="text-align:left;background:#ffe6fa;"| 1942–43†

| style="text-align:left;"| Sheboygan

| 4 || 24 || 14 || 17 || .824 || 62 || 15.5

| style="text-align:left;background:#ffe6fa;"| 1943–44†

| style="text-align:left;"| Fort Wayne

| 22 || 68 || 48 || 65 || .738 || 184 || 8.4

| style="text-align:left;background:#ffe6fa;"| 1944–45†

| style="text-align:left;"| Fort Wayne

| 27 || 85 || 82 || 111 || .739 || 252 || 9.3

| style="text-align:left;"| 1945–46

| style="text-align:left;"| Toledo

| 34 || 99 || 105 || 136 || .772 || 303 || 8.9

|style="text-align:center;" colspan="2"|Career

| 162 || 445 || 422 || 415 || .730 || 1,324 || 8.2

==Playoffs==

Year ! Team ! GP ! FGM ! FTM ! FTA ! FT% ! PTS ! PPG
class="wikitable sortable" style="font-size:95%; text-align:right;"
style="text-align:left;"\| 1940 \| style="text-align:left;"\| Detroit \| 3	6	8			20	6.7
style="text-align:left;"\| 1941 \| style="text-align:left;"\| Detroit \| 3	8	5			21	7.0
style="text-align:left;background:#ffe6fa;"\| 1943† \| style="text-align:left;"\| Sheboygan \| 5	16	17			49	9.8
style="text-align:left;background:#ffe6fa;"\| 1944† \| style="text-align:left;"\| Fort Wayne \| 5	12	10			34	6.8
style="text-align:left;"\| 1945† \| style="text-align:left;"\| Fort Wayne \| 7	22	23			67	9.6
style="text-align:left;"\| 1946 \| style="text-align:left;"\| Fort Wayne \| 4	7	5	6	.833	19	4.8
style="text-align:center;" colspan="2"\|Career \| 27	71	68	6	.833	210	7.8

=BAA/NBA=

==Regular season==

Year ! Team ! GP ! FG% ! FT% ! APG ! PPG
class="wikitable sortable" style="font-size:95%; text-align:right;"
style="text-align:left; background:#afe6ba;"\| 1947–48† \| style="text-align:left;"\| Baltimore \| 46	bgcolor="CFECEC"\|.349*	.758	1.5	10.7
style="text-align:left;"\| 1948–49 \| style="text-align:left;"\| Baltimore \| 56	.367	.784	2.2	5.6
style="text-align:left;"\| {{nbay\|1949}} \| style="text-align:left;"\| Baltimore \| 37	.284	.820	2.5	5.2
style="text-align:center;" colspan="2"\|Career \| 139	.341	.781	2.1	7.2

==Playoffs==

Year ! Team ! GP ! FG% ! FT% ! APG ! PPG
class="wikitable sortable" style="font-size:95%; text-align:right;"
style="text-align:left; background:#afe6ba;"\| 1948† \| style="text-align:left;"\| Baltimore \| 11	.492	.881	1.1	8.8
style="text-align:left;"\| 1949 \| style="text-align:left;"\| Baltimore \| 3	.154	1.000	1.7	2.7
style="text-align:center;" colspan="2"\|Career \| 14	.432	.891	1.2	7.5

Head coaching record

Sources{{Cite web|url=https://www.basketball-reference.com/coaches/jeannbu01c.html|title=Buddy Jeannette: Coaching Record, Awards|website=Basketball Reference|publisher=Sports Reference LLC|accessdate=23 August 2024}}