development of Dolph Schayes. The Nationals qualified for the playoffs in eight of the nine seasons that he coached the ballclub, including three trips to the NBA Finals. They were twice defeated by the Lakers, first in six games in 1950 and then in seven in 1954. The pinnacle of Cervi's coaching career was leading his squad to the NBA Championship over the Fort Wayne Pistons in seven games in 1955. When the Nationals began the 1956–57 campaign at 4–8, he was replaced by team captain Paul Seymour. NBA career statistics Regular season Playoffs Later years Cervi succeeded George Senesky as coach of the Philadelphia Warriors in 1958, but left after one season to accept a more lucrative job in the trucking business as an area manager for Eastern Freightways, Inc. in Rochester, New York. In 1960 he declined to accept a two-year offer to coach the Lakers in its first campaign in Los Angeles because his wife was reluctant to leave the Rochester area. He lived in the suburb of Brighton for the last 58 years of his life. Cervi was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1985. He received similar honors from the Greater Buffalo Sports Hall of Fame in 2003. He died on November 9, 2009 in Rochester, New York at the age of 92. Cervi was featured in the book, Basketball History in Syracuse, Hoops Roots by author Mark Allen Baker published by The History Press in 2010. The book is an introduction to professional basketball in Syracuse and includes teams like (Vic Hanson's) All-Americans, the Syracuse Reds and the Syracuse Nationals (1946–1963). Coaching record References Further reading External links 1917 births 2009 deaths Basketball players from Buffalo, New York United States Army Air Forces personnel of World War II Basketball coaches from New York (state) Buffalo Bisons (NBL) players Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame inductees National Basketball Association championship-winning head coaches People from Brighton, Monroe County, New York Philadelphia Warriors head coaches Player-coaches Rochester Royals players Shooting guards Small forwards Sportspeople from Buffalo, New York Syracuse Nationals head coaches Syracuse Nationals players United States Army Air Forces soldiers American men's basketball players Eastern Basketball Association coaches