Dave Bing
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | November 24, 1943 Washington, D.C. |
| Nationality | USA |
| Listed height | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) |
| Listed weight | 185 lb (84 kg) |
| Career information | |
| College | Syracuse |
| NBA draft | 1966: undrafted |
| Selected by the Detroit Pistons | |
| Playing career | 1966–1978 |
| Position | Shooting guard |
| Career highlights and awards | |
| NBA's 50th Anniversary All-Time Team | |
| Stats at NBA.com | |
| Stats at Basketball Reference | |
David Bing (born November 24, 1943, in Washington, D.C.) is a retired American professional basketball player in the NBA, primarily for the Detroit Pistons from 1966 to 1975. An All-Star, he went on to spend two years with the Washington Bullets and one with the Boston Celtics before retiring at the conclusion of the 1977–1978 season. He is currently running to become mayor of Detriot.
High school and college
Dave Bing's career began in 1959 at Spingarn High School in Washington, D.C., where he was a three-year letter winner, all–Inter High, All-Metro, and All-East member. In 1962, Bing was in Parade magazine and made the All-American Team. He attended Syracuse University, where he led the Orangemen in scoring as a sophomore (22.2) in 1964, as a junior (23.2) in 1965, and as a senior (28.4) in 1966. During his senior year, Bing was fifth in the nation in scoring and was Syracuse's first consensus All-American in 39 years. He was also named to The Sporting News All-America First Team and was named Syracuse Athlete of the Year. His number 22 is retired at Syracuse. Bing was a member of the Sigma Alpha Mu fraternity.
Detroit Pistons
In 1966 Bing joined the NBA as a first-round pick of the Detroit Pistons, where in his rookie year he scored 1,601 points (20.0 points per game) and was named the NBA Rookie of the Year. The next year, he led the NBA in scoring with 2,142 points (27.1 points per game). Bing averaged 20.3 points and six assists per game in his 12 NBA seasons, played in seven NBA All-Star Games (1968, 1969, 1971–1976, and winning the 1976 NBA All-Star Game MVP Award), was named to the All-NBA First Team twice in 1968 and 1969, and was elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame.
His playing style was somewhat unusual for the time. As the point guard he functioned as the playmaker distributing the ball, but also did more shooting and scoring than most others who had this position. At one time a joke about him and his backcourt partner, Jimmy Walker, was that it was a shame they could only play the game with one ball at a time.
Bing volunteered in the Big Brothers Big Sisters program and has always been community-minded.
Life after basketball
Bing went on to become a successful businessman, founding The Bing Group[1] in the Detroit area after his retirement. The company, among other things, supplies metal stampings to the auto industry. At the 1990 NBA All-Star Game, he received the Schick Achievement Award for his work after his NBA career. His number 21 was retired by the Detroit Pistons, and in 1996 he was named as one of the NBA's 50 Greatest Players of all time.
On October 16, 2008, Bing announced that he would be a candidate for mayor of Detroit in the February 2009 primary election.
On January 19, 2009, Bing was to be named as a recipient of the National Civil Rights Museum Sports Legacy Award. The award honors athletes who have made significant contributions to civil and human rights and who helped establish a foundation for future leaders in athletic careers in the spirit of Martin Luther King, Jr.[2] The honor was to be presented during the half-time show of the game between the Memphis Grizzlies and the Detroit Pistons in Memphis, Tennessee.
External links
- Dave Bing Campaign Site
- List of Individual NBA Scoring Champions
- Basketball Hall of Fame
- Hoopedia bio
Notes
- 1943 births
- African American basketball players
- American basketball players
- Basketball Hall of Fame inductees
- Basketball players from Washington, D.C.
- Boston Celtics players
- Detroit Pistons draft picks
- Detroit Pistons players
- National Basketball Association players with retired numbers
- Living people
- People from Washington, D.C.
- Syracuse Orange men's basketball players
- Washington Bullets players