Following graduation, Kundla stayed on at the university as an assistant coach to
Dave MacMillan. He then moved to the high school ranks as the head coach of
DeLaSalle High School in
Minneapolis, Minnesota. After two years there, the United States entered
World War II, and Kundla joined the Navy, where he was assigned to
LST units in both the European and Pacific theaters. After the war, he was hired to coach the
College of St. Thomas in 1946. Kundla and the Lakers were immediately successful. A month into the 1947–48 season, future
Hall of Fame center
George Mikan became available when the
Chicago American Gears, folded. Outhustling the rest of the NBL and the teams of the rival
Basketball Association of America (BAA), the predecessor of the
National Basketball Association (NBA), the Lakers signed Mikan. In a span of a week in April 1948, Kundla guided the
George Mikan-led Lakers, which also included star
Jim Pollard, to both the
World Professional Basketball Tournament title and the NBL title. In the NBL finals, the Lakers defeated the
Washington Capitols and Coach
Red Auerbach in the 1949 BAA Finals 4 games to 2. Moving to the BAA for the 1948–49 season, which became the NBA in 1949–50, Kundla's Lakers won five NBA titles in six years, with 1951 being the only gap in the team's run, a season in which Mikan broke his ankle at the end of the campaign, thus allowing the
Rochester Royals to defeat the Lakers in the Western Conference championship series three games to one. The first team to repeat as league champions then became the first team to
three-peat, with Mikan fully healed for the 1951–52, 1952–53, and 1953–54 seasons. Kundla briefly moved to the Lakers' front office ahead of the 1957–58 season. Coached by Mikan, the Lakers' record was 9–30, when Mikan stepped down and Kundla immediately returned to the bench, going 10–23 as the team finished 19–53, recording one of the worst seasons in its history while missing the NBA playoffs for the only time in Kundla's tenure. Kundla then led the Lakers to a 33–39 record in his final season with an improved roster. Despite their losing record, Kundla led the 1958–1959 Lakers, with rookie
Elgin Baylor, to series victories over the
Detroit Pistons (2–1) and
St. Louis Hawks (4–1) in the NBA Playoffs to reach the
1959 NBA Finals. The Lakers lost in the NBA Finals to Red Auerbach's
Boston Celtics with
Bill Russell and
Bob Cousy in four games. Overall, Kundla finished 423–302 (.583) in 11 seasons as coach of the Minneapolis Lakers, winning the BAA Championship in 1949 and NBA Championships in 1950, 1952, 1953 and 1954. His Gophers only finished as high as third in the Big Ten five times, and never reached the postseason. After retiring from coaching, Kundla remained a physical education professor until retiring from the U of M in 1981. ==Honors==