Larry Creger

Larry Creger

ABA & NBA Champion | ABA & NBA Coach | Iowa Basketball

Larry Creger was born on July 25, 1932, in Truro, Iowa. Creger coached high schools In Iowa before joining the benches in the American Basketball Association (ABA) and the NBA such as: Clarian, Iowa and Lattimer-Coulter. He met Bill Sharman while playing golf and that was the start of their new partnership.

Coach Creger and Sharman won 2 championships together, one in 1971 with the Utah Stars of the ABA and 1 more with the Los Angeles Lakers in 1972.

Coach Creger passed away on June 29, 2021

Coaching Career

Coach Creger became an assistant coach for the Los Angeles Stars, who later became the Utah Stars under Bill Sharman. They finished the 1970-1871 season with a 57-27 record, reaching the playoffs. They defeated the Kentucky Colonels in the ABA finals.

Read more about the Utah Stars History

Notable Players Coached

  • Zelmo Beaty
    • 1971 ABA champion
    • ABA Playoffs MVP (1971)
    • 2× NBA All-Star (1966, 1968)
    • NBA All-Rookie First Team (1963)
    • 3× ABA All-Star (1971–1973)
    • 2× All-ABA Second Team (1971, 1972)
    • ABA All-Time Team
  • Ron Boone
    • 1971 ABA champion
    • 4× ABA All-Star (1971, 1974–1976)
    • ABA All-Rookie First Team (1969)
    • All-ABA First Team (1974)
    • All-ABA Second Team (1975)
    • ABA All-Time Team
  • Mervin Jackson (1969 ABA All-Star & 1971 ABA champion)
  • George Stone (1971 ABA champion)
  • Roderick McDonald (1971 ABA champion)
  • Dick Nemelka (1971 ABA champion)
  • Mike Butler (1971 ABA champion)
  • Sam Smith (1971 ABA champion)
  • Wayne Hightower (1969 ABA All-Star)

Coach Creger followed Bill Sharman to become an assistant coach under him for the Los Angeles Lakers. The Lakers won the 1972 NBA championship.

In the off-season of 1975, the Lakers traded Elmore Smith, Brian Winters, David Meyers, and Junior Bridgeman to the Milwaukee Bucks, in exchange for Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who later won MVP that season.

Notable Players Coached

  • Jerry West
    • 1972 NBA champion
    • NBA Finals MVP (1969)
    • 14× NBA All-Star (1961–1974)
    • NBA All-Star Game MVP (1972)
    • 10× All-NBA First Team (1962–1967, 1970–1973)
    • 2× All-NBA Second Team (1968, 1969)
    • 4× NBA All-Defensive First Team (1970–1973)
    • NBA All-Defensive Second Team (1969)
    • NBA scoring champion (1970)
    • NBA assists leader (1972)
    • NBA anniversary team (35th, 50th, 75th)
    • No. 44 retired by Los Angeles Lakers
  • Elgin Baylor
    • 11× NBA All-Star (1959–1965, 1967–1970)
    • NBA All-Star Game co-MVP
    • 10× All-NBA First Team (1959–1965, 1967–1969)
    • 1959 NBA Rookie of the Year
    • 35th, 50th, & 75th NBA anniversary team selections
    • No. 22 retired by Los Angeles Lakers
  • Wilt Chamberlain
    • 2× NBA champion (1967, 1972)
    • 1972 NBA Finals MVP
    • 4× NBA Most Valuable Player (1960, 1966–1968)
    • 13× NBA All-Star (1960–1969, 1971–1973)
    • 1960 NBA All-Star Game MVP
    • 7× All-NBA First Team (1960–1962, 1964, 1966–1968)
    • 3× All-NBA Second Team (1963, 1965, 1972)
    • 2× NBA All-Defensive First Team (1972, 1973)
    • 1960 NBA Rookie of the Year
    • 7× NBA scoring champion (1960–1966)
    • 11× NBA rebounding champion (1960–1963, 1966–1969, 1971–1973)
    • 1968 NBA assist leader
    • 35th, 50th, & 75th NBA anniversary team selections
  • Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
    • 6× NBA champion (1971, 1980, 1982, 1985, 1987, 1988)
    • 2× NBA Finals MVP (1971, 1985)
    • 6× NBA Most Valuable Player (1971, 1972, 1974, 1976, 1977, 1980)
    • 19× NBA All-Star (1970–1977, 1979–1989)
    • 10× All-NBA First Team (1971–1974, 1976, 1977, 1980, 1981, 1984, 1986)
    • 5× NBA All-Defensive First Team (1974, 1975, 1979–1981)
    • NBA Rookie of the Year (1970)
    • NBA All-Rookie First Team (1970)
    • 2× NBA scoring champion (1971, 1972)
    • NBA rebounding leader (1976)
    • 4× NBA blocks leader (1975, 1976, 1979, 1980)
    • 35th, 50th, & 75th NBA anniversary team selections
  • Gail Goodrich
    • 1972 NBA champion
    • 5× NBA All-Star (1969, 1972–1975)
    • All-NBA First Team (1974)
    • No. 25 retired by Los Angeles Lakers
  • Pat Riley
    • NBA 1972 champion as a player
    • 5× NBA champion as Head Coach (1982, 1985, 1987, 1988, 2006)
    • Future 3× NBA Coach of the Year (1990, 1993, 1997)
    • 9× NBA All-Star Game head coach (1982, 1983, 1985–1990, 1993)
    • Future Top 10 Coaches in NBA History
    • 2012 Chuck Daly Lifetime Achievement Award Recipient
  • Lucius Allen (1971 NBA champion)
  • Mel Counts (2× NBA champion (1965, 1966)
  • Connie Hawkins
    • 1968 ABA champion
    • 1968 ABA Playoffs MVP
    • 1968 ABA Most Valuable Player
    • 4× NBA All-Star (1970–1973)
    • 2× ABA All-Star (1968, 1969)
    • All-NBA First Team (1970)
    • 2× All-ABA First Team (1968, 1969)
    • ABA All-Time Team
    • No. 42 retired by Phoenix Suns
  • Cazzie Russell (1970 NBA champion & 1972 NBA All-Star)
  • Kermit Washington (Future 1980 NBA All-Star)
  • Corky Calhoun (Future 1977 NBA champion)
  • Roger Brown (1976 ABA All-Star)
  • Donnie Freeman
    • 1973 ABA champion
    • ABA All-Time Team
    • 5× ABA All-Star (1968–1972)
    • 1972 All-ABA First Team
    • 3× All-ABA Second Team (1969–1971)
  • Stu Lantz (Future Lakers color commentator; since 1987)

Creger returned to coaching in the NBA as an assistant coach for the Cleveland Cavaliers under Bill Musselman for one season.

Notable Players Coached

  • Randy Smith (2× NBA All-Star, 1978 NBA All-Star Game MVP, 1976 All-NBA Second Team)
  • Mack Calvin
    • 5× ABA All-Star (1971–1975)
    • 3x All-ABA First Team (1971, 1974, 1975)
    • All-ABA Second Team (1973)
    • ABA All-Rookie First Team (1970)
    • ABA All-Time Team
  • Mike Mitchell (1981 NBA All-Star)
  • Bill Laimbeer
    • 2× NBA champion (1989, 1990)
    • 4× NBA All-Star (1983–1985, 1987)
    • NBA rebounding leader (1986)
    • No. 40 retired by Detroit Pistons