George Gervin

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George Gervin
No. 44, 8
Shooting guard
Personal information
Born April 27, 1952 (1952-04-27) (age 59)
Detroit, Michigan
Nationality American
High school Martin Luther King (Detroit, Michigan)
Listed height 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)
Listed weight 180 lb (82 kg)
Career information
College Eastern Michigan
NBA Draft 1974 / Round: 3 / Pick: 40th overall
Selected by the Phoenix Suns
Pro career 1972–1990
Career history
1972–1974 Virginia Squires (ABA)
1974–1985 San Antonio Spurs (ABA and NBA)
1985–1986 Chicago Bulls
1986–1987 Banco Roma (Italy)
1989 Quad City Thunder (CBA)
1989–1990 TDK Manresa (Spain)
Career highlights and awards
Career NBA and ABA statistics
Points 26,595 (25.1 ppg)
Rebounds 5,602 (5.3 rpg)
Assists 2,798 (2.6 apg)
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com
Basketball Hall of Fame as player

George "The Iceman" Gervin (born April 27, 1952) is a retired American professional basketball player who played in both the American Basketball Association (ABA) and National Basketball Association (NBA) for the Virginia Squires, San Antonio Spurs, and Chicago Bulls. Gervin averaged at least 14 points per game in all 14 of his ABA and NBA seasons, and finished with an NBA career average of 26.2 points per game. Gervin is widely regarded to be one of the greatest shooting guards in NBA history.

Contents

[edit] Career

Nicknamed Iceman for his cool demeanor on the court, Gervin was primarily known for his scoring talents. He led teams at both Eastern Michigan University in Ypsilanti, Michigan and Long Beach State. After leaving college due to an altercation, Gervin was set to try out for the Virginia Squires of the ABA. According to legend, Gervin made 22 of 25 three-point attempts at the tryout; he was immediately signed despite the fact that Virginia officials had never seen him play competitively.

His first scoring crown came in 1978, when he narrowly edged David Thompson for the scoring title by seven hundredths of a point (27.22 to 27.15). Although Thompson came up with a memorable performance for the last game of the regular season, scoring 73 points, Gervin maintained his slight lead by scoring 63 points (including an NBA-record at the time 33 points in the second quarter) in a loss in his last game of the season. With the scoring crown in hand, he sat out some of the third, and all of the fourth quarter.[1] Gervin went on to lead the NBA in scoring average three years in a row from 1978 to 1980 (with a high of 33.1 points per game in 1979-80), and again in 1982. The Spurs drafted high scoring guards Oliver Robinson of UAB and Tony Grier from South Florida to take some offensive pressure off Gervin. Prior to Michael Jordan, Gervin had the most scoring titles of any guard in league history.

When he left the NBA, Gervin played for several years in Europe: in Italy for Banco Roma during the 1986-87 season, and in the Spanish National Basketball League for TDK Manresa team (he was 38 years old at the time).[2][3] At this point in his career he had lost some of his quickness, but his scoring instinct remained; he averaged 25.5 points, 5 rebounds and 1.2 assists, and in his last match he scored 31 points and grabbed 15 rebounds to keep Manresa in the first Spanish division.[2]

Gervin's trademark move was the finger roll, a shot in which one rolls the basketball along his or her fingertips. While others mimicked this style when shooting layups, Gervin was known to "finger roll" from as far as the free throw line.

While sitting out 3 games due to injury, Gervin's replacement, Ron Brewer, averaged over 30 ppg. When Gervin returned, he scored 40+ points. When asked if he was sending a message, Gervin said, "Just the way the Lord planned it" and added, "Ice be cool" (with Ron Brewer).

Gervin's legacy has inspired other athletes, such as Gary Payton who said Gervin was his favorite player to watch as a kid. Asked to elaborate, Payton said that it was because "he was just so saucy." He was also idolized by former NFL and Heisman-winning quarterback Ty Detmer. Detmer records in his autobiography that he was elated to receive Gervin's autograph one day as a youth in San Antonio.

[edit] Awards and records

Gervin was inducted to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, had his #44 jersey retired by the Spurs and was named to the NBA's 50 Greatest Players.[2] Gervin was ranked #45 on SLAM Magazine's Top 50 NBA Players of All Time in 2009.

He remains active in the San Antonio community with his seven organizations designed specifically for underprivileged kids, including the George Gervin Youth Center. Gervin is beloved in San Antonio and believes that his own experience as an underprivileged child in Michigan inspired him to get involved.[1]

At the time of his trade to the Bulls, he held nearly every significant scoring record in Spurs history. Many of his records have been surpassed by David Robinson and Tim Duncan, but Gervin is still the Spurs' all-time leader in field goals made (9,201) and field goal attempts (18,111) – and if ABA numbers are included, Gervin remains the Spurs' all-time leader in total points scored (23,602). Gervin retired with the most blocks by any guard in NBA history.[4] He now ranks 5th all time amongst guards.[5]

Though a revered NBA and ABA All-Star and Hall of Famer, Gervin never made an appearance with a team in either an NBA or ABA championship series during his 13-year career in American professional basketball.

Gervin holds the distinction of being a former teammate of both Julius Erving (with the Squires) and Michael Jordan (with the Bulls).

On his 2009 release Slaughterhouse on the Prairie American guitarist Buckethead dedicated a track to Iceman.

[edit] Career statistics

Led the league
Bold Denotes career highs
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MIN  Minutes per game
 FG%  Field-goal percentage  3P%  3-point field-goal percentage  FT%  Free-throw percentage
 OFF  Offensive rebounds per game  DEF  Defensive rebounds per game  REB  Total rebounds per game
 AST  Assists per game  STL  Steals per game  BLK  Blocks per game
 TOV  Turnovers per game  PF  Fouls per game  PTS  Points per game

[edit] Regular season

Season League Team GP GS MIN FG% 3P% FT% OFF DEF REB AST STL BLK TOV PF PTS
1972–73 ABA Virginia 30 … 23.0 .472 .231 .814 1.1 3.1 4.3 1.1 … … 1.8 2.4 14.1
1973–74 ABA Virginia/San Antonio 74 … 33.9 .471 .143 .815 2.3 6.1 8.4 1.9 1.4 1.6 3.4 3.6 23.4
1974–75 ABA San Antonio 84 … 37.1 .474 .309 .830 2.9 5.4 8.3 2.5 1.6 1.6 3.0 3.5 23.4
1975–76 ABA San Antonio 81 … 33.9 .499 .255 .857 2.2 4.5 6.7 2.5 1.4 1.5 2.7 3.6 21.8
1976–77 NBA San Antonio 82 … 33.0 .544 … .833 1.6 3.9 5.5 2.9 1.3 1.3 … 3.5 23.1
1977–78 NBA San Antonio 82 … 34.8 .536 … .830 1.4 3.7 5.1 3.7 1.7 1.3 3.7 3.1 27.2
1978–79 NBA San Antonio 80 … 36.1 .541 … .826 1.8 3.2 5.0 2.7 1.7 1.1 3.6 3.4 29.6
1979–80 NBA San Antonio 78 … 37.6 .528 .314 .852 2.0 3.2 5.2 2.6 1.4 1.0 3.3 2.7 33.1
1980–81 NBA San Antonio 82 … 33.7 .492 .257 .826 1.5 3.6 5.1 3.2 1.1 0.7 3.1 2.6 27.1
1981–82 NBA San Antonio 79 79 35.7 .500 .278 .864 1.7 3.2 5.0 2.4 1.0 0.6 2.7 2.7 32.3
1982–83 NBA San Antonio 78 78 36.3 .487 .364 .853 1.4 3.2 4.6 3.4 1.1 0.9 3.2 3.1 26.2
1983–84 NBA San Antonio 76 76 34.0 .490 .417 .842 1.4 2.7 4.1 2.9 1.0 0.6 2.9 2.9 25.9
1984–85 NBA San Antonio 72 69 29.0 .508 .000 .844 1.1 2.2 3.3 2.5 0.9 0.7 2.8 2.9 21.2
1985–86 NBA Chicago 82 75 25.2 .472 .211 .879 1.0 1.7 2.6 1.8 0.6 0.3 2.0 2.6 16.2
NBA Career 791 … 33.5 .511 .297 .844 1.5 3.1 4.6 2.8 1.2 0.8 3.0 2.9 26.2
ABA Career 269 … 33.7 .480 .234 .831 2.3 5.1 7.4 2.2 1.4 1.6 2.9 3.4 21.9
Total Career 1,060 … 33.6 .504 .271 .841 1.7 3.6 5.3 2.6 1.2 1.0 3.0 3.1 25.1

[edit] Career highs

[edit] 40 point games

Gervin scored 40 or more points 68 times in the regular season and six times in the playoffs.

Occurred in playoff competition
Points Opponent Home/Away Date FGM FGA FTM FTA 3PM
63 New Orleans Jazz Away 01978-04-09 April 9, 1978 23 49 17 20 —
55 Indiana Pacers Away 01980-01-23 January 23, 1980 21 32 12 1
53 Denver Nuggets Home 01980-01-08 January 8, 1980 23 40 7 0
52 San Diego Clippers Home 01979-01-11 January 11, 1979 24 33 4 —
50 (3 OT) Milwaukee Bucks Home 01982-03-06 March 6, 1982 21 31 8 —
49 Boston Celtics Home 01981-02-17 February 17, 1981 17 15 0
49 Detroit Pistons Home 01982-02-17 February 17, 1982 22 29 5 0
48 Boston Celtics Home 01982-03-04 March 4, 1982 17 14 0
47 Cleveland Cavaliers Away 01979-10-18 October 18, 1979 21 35 4 1
47 (OT) Golden State Warriors Home 01979-11-13 November 13, 1979 22 33 3 0
47 Seattle SuperSonics Away 01981-11-13 November 13, 1981 15 17 18 0
47 Portland Trail Blazers Away 01982-01-05 January 5, 1982 19 30 8 9 1
47 Utah Jazz Away 01982-03-27 March 27, 1982 18 11 0
47 Phoenix Suns Home 01982-11-07 November 7, 1982 16 14 1
47 New Jersey Nets Home 01985-01-29 January 29, 1985 16 25 15 18 0
46 San Diego Clippers Away 01978-10-18 October 18, 1978 16 14 —
46 Houston Rockets Home 01979-03-30 March 30, 1979 15 16 18 —
46 Cleveland Cavaliers Away 01979-04-03 April 3, 1979 18 27 10 —
46 Philadelphia 76ers Home 01979-12-27 December 27, 1979 14 18 21 0
46 San Diego Clippers Home 01981-12-29 December 29, 1981 21 31 4 0
46 Washington Bullets Home 01978-04-18 April 18, 1978 17 32 12 15 —
45 Portland Trail Blazers Home 01981-12-04 December 4, 1981 20 30 5 0
45 Golden State Warriors Away 01982-01-07 January 7, 1982 15 15 0
45 Dallas Mavericks Away 01982-11-27 November 27, 1982 18 39 9 0
45 Dallas Mavericks Away 01986-01-27 January 27, 1986 15 29 15 16 0
44 Chicago Bulls Home 01982-11-26 November 26, 1982 17 31 10 12 0
44 Kansas City Kings Home 01983-12-29 December 29, 1983 16 12 0
44 Houston Rockets Home 01980-04-04 April 4, 1980
43 Detroit Pistons Home 01978-10-28 October 28, 1978 16 11 —
43 Los Angeles Lakers Away 01979-12-16 December 16, 1979 20 40 2 1
43 (OT) Washington Bullets Away 01983-12-20 December 20, 1983 20 33 3 7 0
43 Philadelphia 76ers Away 01983-12-21 December 21, 1983 16 11 0
42 (OT) Seattle SuperSonics Away 01977-01-30 January 30, 1977 14 14 —
42 Kansas City Kings Away 01978-01-29 January 29, 1978 19 25 4 —
42 Washington Bullets Home 01979-05-11 May 11, 1979 19 31 4 6 —
42 Washington Bullets Away 01979-05-18 May 18, 1979 16 31 10 13 —
42 Philadelphia 76ers Away 01979-12-05 December 5, 1979 17 7 1
42 Phoenix Suns Home 01980-01-02 January 2, 1980 18 6 0
42 Cleveland Cavaliers Away 01980-01-17 January 17, 1980 16 8 2
42 Washington Bullets Home 01980-01-19 January 19, 1980 18 34 6 7 0
42 Milwaukee Bucks Home 01980-02-17 February 17, 1980 18 6 0
42 Golden State Warriors Away 01980-11-01 November 1, 1980 16 10 0
42 Washington Bullets Away 01981-12-01 December 1, 1981 17 30 8 10 0
42 Houston Rockets Home 01981-12-30 December 30, 1981 17 8 0
42 Washington Bullets Home 01982-02-09 February 9, 1982 16 28 10 13 0
42 San Diego Clippers Away 01982-11-11 November 11, 1982 16 9 1
42 Kansas City Kings Away 01983-02-25 February 25, 1983 12 18 22 0
42 Denver Nuggets Home 01983-04-26 April 26, 1983 17 22 8 8 0
42 San Diego Clippers Away 01984-03-18 March 18, 1984 14 14 0
42 Cleveland Cavaliers Home 01984-11-10 November 10, 1984 18 6 0
42 Houston Rockets Away 01985-01-25 January 25, 1985 21 26 0 0 0
41 Portland Trail Blazers Home 01977-01-23 January 23, 1977 14 13 —
41 Seattle SuperSonics Home 01978-03-08 March 8, 1978 15 11 —
41 Detroit Pistons Away 01979-10-26 October 26, 1979 17 6 7 1
41 Denver Nuggets Away 01979-12-11 December 11, 1979 14 12 1
41 Houston Rockets Home 01980-02-12 February 12, 1980 15 8 3
41 New Jersey Nets Away 01980-02-24 February 24, 1980 16 27 9 9 0
41 Washington Bullets Away 01980-03-11 March 11, 1980 16 30 9 10 0
41 Indiana Pacers Home 01980-03-21 March 21, 1980 15 11 0
41 Portland Trail Blazers Away 01980-12-07 December 7, 1980 17 7 0
41 Cleveland Cavaliers Away 01982-03-20 March 20, 1982 16 6 3
41 (OT) Detroit Pistons Home 01983-02-08 February 8, 1983 19 31 3 0
41 New York Knicks Home 01984-01-31 January 31, 1984 19 31 3 6 0
41 Denver Nuggets Away 01985-04-20 April 20, 1985 16 25 9 11 0
40 Kansas City Kings Away 01978-03-25 March 25, 1978 15 10 —
40 New York Knicks Home 01980-03-07 March 7, 1980 15 8 12 2
40 Utah Jazz Home 01981-12-12 December 12, 1981 18 33 4 0
40 Detroit Pistons Away 01982-02-25 February 25, 1982 18 31 4 0
40 San Diego Clippers Away 01982-03-09 March 9, 1982 14 12 0
40 Washington Bullets Away 01982-11-17 November 17, 1982 14 29 12 15 0
40 Los Angeles Lakers Away 01983-02-15 February 15, 1983 16 8 0
40 Dallas Mavericks Away 01983-04-16 April 16, 1983 15 10 0
40 Houston Rockets Home 01984-01-13 January 13, 1984 15 10 0
40 Golden State Warriors Away 01984-02-02 February 2, 1984 17 6 0

[edit] Regular season

Stat High Opponent Date
Points 63 at New Orleans Jazz 01978-04-09 April 9, 1978
Points, half (1st) 53 at New Orleans Jazz 01978-04-09 April 9, 1978
Points, quarter (2nd) 33 at New Orleans Jazz 01978-04-09 April 9, 1978
Consecutive points, first half 22 at New Orleans Jazz 01978-04-09 April 9, 1978
Consecutive points, first half 18 at New Orleans Jazz 01978-04-09 April 9, 1978
Field goal percentage 17-18 (.944) vs. Chicago Bulls 01978-02-18 February 18, 1978
Field goals made 24 vs. San Diego Clippers 01979-01-11 January 11, 1979
Field goal attempts 49 at New Orleans Jazz 01978-04-09 April 9, 1978
Free throws made, none missed —
Free throws made, one missed —
Free throws made 18 vs. Philadelphia 76ers 01979-12-27 December 27, 1979
Free throws made 18 at Kansas City Kings 01983-02-25 February 25, 1983
Free throw attempts 22 at Kansas City Kings 01983-02-25 February 25, 1983
Three-point field goals made
Three-point field goal attempts
Rebounds 13
Offensive rebounds
Defensive rebounds
Assists 11
Steals
Blocked shots
Turnovers
Minutes played

[edit] Playoffs

Stat High Opponent Date
Points 46 vs. Washington Bullets 01978-04-18 April 18, 1978
Field goal percentage
Field goals made 19 vs. Washington Bullets 01979-05-11 May 11, 1979
Field goals made 19 vs. Houston Rockets 01980-04-04 April 4, 1980
Field goal attempts 32
Free throws made, none missed —
Free throws made, one missed —
Free throws made 13
Free throw attempts 17
Three-point field goals made
Three-point field goal attempts
Rebounds 12
Offensive rebounds
Defensive rebounds
Assists 9
Steals
Blocked shots
Turnovers
Minutes played

[edit] Personal life

Gervin played interscholastic basketball while attending Martin Luther King High School; he was a Detroit Free Press All-State selection in 1970.[6] George has a son, George Gervin, Jr. (nicknamed "Gee"), who has played for the Harlem Globetrotters and in the Swedish League for the Norrköping Dolphins.

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b Austin Kent. "Man and the Monument: How George Gervin Became Champion of the people". The Good Point. http://www.thegoodpoint.com/basketball/oct08/the-man-and-the-monument-how-george-gervin-became-champion-of-the-people.html. Retrieved 2008-11-12. 
  2. ^ a b c George Gervin: una leyenda entre nosotros, ACB.com (Spanish)
  3. ^ George Gervin
  4. ^ http://www.basketball-reference.com/play-index/tiny.cgi?id=hnPPw
  5. ^ http://www.basketball-reference.com/play-index/tiny.cgi?id=P1mOl
  6. ^ http://www.detroitpslbasketball.com/?page_id=95

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