Leave it to Spencer Ross to find a good Ronnie Nunn story.
Nunn, the kid who averaged 26 points a game at Brooklyn Tech High — and was named to the New York City Basketball Hall of Fame last week — developed a lifelong friendship with Leon Gecker.
“Leon was one of my closest friends,” Ross a member of the New York City Basketball Hall of Fame as well, told the Eagle. “Gecker taught at Brooklyn Tech for 37 years.”
Leon played college basketball at Seattle University with the great Elgin Baylor, Ross said. “And Leon’s brother, Harold, was fun to be around.”
Leon attended James Madison High School and was an All-American basketball player in 1957. He was inducted into the Seattle University Collegiate Athletic Hall of Fame
“They were close to another great basketballer — Doug Moe, who went to Erasmus Hall High School,” said Ross, soon to be inducted in the Brooklyn Sports Hall of Fame.
“Doug gave Ronnie a tough time,” said Ross. “That was when Doug Moe coached the NBA’s Denver Nuggets, and Ronnie Nunn was an NBA official.”
In fact, Nunn’s legacy will be the 1,134 regular-season games in the NBA, 73 playoff games and four NBA Finals he officiated.
“Well,” Ross continued, “Moe was stomping his feet and yelling at Ronnie; Nunn hit Moe with several technical fouls, but Nunn was tiring from his outburst.”
The Gecker brothers gave Nunn a solution — and in the next confrontation with Moe, Nunn stopped him in mid-sentence.
“Stop where you are, don’t ever do this again,” Ross recalled Nunn’s advice to Moe. “The Gecker brothers have told me they hired a hit man to take you out if you ever challenge me again,” Nunn was heard saying.
Doug Moe stopped on a dime, looked at Nunn and laughed loudly. With a big smile on his face, Moe walked back toward his bench. He never challenged Nunn again.
“That’s a true story,” Ross said.
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