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Bob Boozer

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Bob Boozer
Personal information
Born(1937-04-26)April 26, 1937
Omaha, Nebraska, U.S.
DiedMay 19, 2012(2012-05-19) (aged 75)
Omaha, Nebraska, U.S.
Listed height6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)
Listed weight215 lb (98 kg)
Career information
High schoolOmaha Technical (Omaha, Nebraska)
CollegeKansas State (1956–1959)
NBA draft1959: 1st round, 1st overall pick
Selected by the Cincinnati Royals
Playing career1959–1971
PositionPower forward
Number13, 14, 15, 19, 20
Career history
1959–1960Peoria Caterpillars
1960–1963Cincinnati Royals
1963–1965New York Knicks
1965–1966Los Angeles Lakers
1966–1969Chicago Bulls
1969–1970Seattle SuperSonics
1970–1971Milwaukee Bucks
Career highlights and awards
Career NBA statistics
Points12,964 (14.8 ppg)
Rebounds7,119 (8.1 rpg)
Assists1,237 (1.4 apg)
Stats at NBA.com Edit this at Wikidata
Stats at Basketball Reference Edit this at Wikidata
Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame
Medals
Men's basketball
Representing  United States
Olympic Games
Gold medal – first place 1960 Rome Team competition
Pan American Games
Gold medal – first place 1959 Chicago Team competition

Robert Louis Boozer (April 26, 1937 – May 19, 2012) was an American professional basketball player in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Boozer won a gold medal in the 1960 Summer Olympics and won an NBA Championship as a member of the Milwaukee Bucks in 1971. Boozer was a member of the 1960 U.S. Olympic team, which was inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame as a unit in 2010.

Early years

Boozer as a junior at Kansas State

Boozer was born and raised in North Omaha, Nebraska, and graduated from Tech High in Omaha. One of his teammates was future Baseball Hall-of-Famer Bob Gibson.[1] He attended Kansas State University, where he helped lead the Wildcats to the 1958 Final Four[2] and where he received All-America honors in 1958 and 1959. A versatile 6’ 8" forward, he was selected by the Cincinnati Royals with the first non-territorial pick of the 1959 NBA draft, but he postponed his NBA career for one year so that he could remain eligible to play in the 1960 Summer Olympics.[3] During that year he played with the Peoria Caterpillars, where he won the National AAU Tournament title and earned MVP honors for the tournament.[4]

He won a gold medal with the Olympic team after they won eight games by an average of 42.4 points. The team was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2010.[3][5]

NBA career

Cincinnati Royals

In the fall of 1960, Boozer joined the Royals with Olympic teammate Oscar Robertson. As a rookie, Boozer contributed 6.4 points[6] and 6.2 rebounds in a reserve role. The following season, he earned a spot in the Royals’ starting lineup and averaged 13.7 points and 10.2 rebounds. Boozer continued to improve, averaging 14.3 points and 11.1 rebounds during the 1962–1963 season, but the emergence of forward Jerry Lucas, a future Hall-of-Famer, soon pushed Boozer out of the Royals' long-term plans.

Time with the Knicks and Lakers

Boozer's contract was sold to the New York Knicks in the middle of the 1963–64 season, and he spent the next 1½ seasons in New York. Though Boozer was a productive player with the Knicks, he was traded to the Los Angeles Lakers in 1965. After one season in Los Angeles, where he played a supporting role amid players like Jerry West and Elgin Baylor, Boozer was selected by the Chicago Bulls in the 1966 NBA Expansion draft.

Chicago Bulls

Boozer was selected by the Chicago Bulls in the 1966 NBA expansion draft. Boozer flourished in his first year with Chicago, averaging 18.0 points and 8.5 rebounds and leading the young franchise into the playoffs. The following year, he averaged 21.5 points and 9.8 rebounds and became the third Bull to appear in the NBA All-Star Game (after Guy Rodgers and Jerry Sloan). During the 1968–1969 season, Boozer averaged a career-high 21.7 points per game, but the Bulls failed to make the playoffs, and Boozer was soon traded to the Seattle SuperSonics.

Milwaukee Bucks

After a season with the SuperSonics, Boozer was traded to the Bucks with Lucius Allen for Zaid Abdul-Aziz.[7] That season, Boozer played a key role as a reserve as the Bucks won their first NBA championship.

NBA career statistics

Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game
 FG%  Field goal percentage  3P%  3-point field goal percentage  FT%  Free throw percentage
 RPG  Rebounds per game  APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game
 BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game  Bold  Career high
 †  Won an NBA championship

Regular season

Year Team GP MPG FG% FT% RPG APG PPG
1960–61 Cincinnati 79 19.9 .415 .672 6.2 1.4 8.4
1961–62 Cincinnati 79 31.5 .438 .707 10.2 1.6 13.7
1962–63 Cincinnati 79 31.5 .444 .714 11.1 1.3 14.3
1963–64 Cincinnati 32 22.7 .416 .622 5.6 1.0 11.0
New York 49 33.7 .432 .770 7.6 1.3 17.5
1964–65 New York 80 26.7 .440 .779 7.6 1.4 14.2
1965–66 L.A. Lakers 78 23.7 .484 .779 7.0 1.1 12.2
1966–67 Chicago 80 30.6 .487 .781 8.5 1.1 18.0
1967–68 Chicago 77 38.8 .492 .768 9.8 1.6 21.5
1968–69 Chicago 79 36.4 .481 .806 7.8 2.0 21.7
1969–70 Seattle 82 31.1 .491 .822 8.7 1.3 15.2
1970–71† Milwaukee 80 22.2 .450 .818 5.4 1.6 9.1
Career 874 29.2 .462 .761 8.1 1.4 14.8

Playoffs

Year Team GP MPG FG% FT% RPG APG PPG
1962 Cincinnati 4 35.8 .561 .750 10.5 0.8 18.3
1963 Cincinnati 12 31.8 .413 .714 8.0 1.5 13.3
1966 L.A. Lakers 10 18.1 .400 .750 5.0 0.7 6.7
1967 Chicago 3 35.0 .632 .786 11.7 0.3 19.7
1968 Chicago 5 38.0 .452 .737 8.8 2.4 18.8
1971 Milwaukee† 14 20.2 .482 .759 5.3 1.2 7.4
Career 48 26.7 .467 .739 7.1 1.2 11.6

He ended his career with 12,964 total points and 7,119 total rebounds.

Later years

Boozer returned to Omaha after his career ended, and worked as an executive for Bell Systems.[3] He was later appointed to the Nebraska Parole Board and volunteered at Boys Town, the home for troubled youth.[8]

Bob Boozer Drive is a street named in his honor in his native Omaha.

Boozer died due to a brain aneurysm in Omaha, Nebraska on May 19, 2012.[8] He was 75.

References

  • Sachare, Alex. The Chicago Bulls Encyclopedia. Chicago: Contemporary Books, 1999.
  1. ^ "Bob Gibson, Bob Boozer: mutual champs of Omaha". May 23, 2012.
  2. ^ Chatelain, Dirk (May 21, 2012), "Omaha's Bob Boozer left mark on basketball greats", Omaha World-Herald, archived from the original on January 30, 2013
  3. ^ a b c Crowe, Jerry (October 8, 2010), "Bob Boozer put his NBA dreams on hold to play for a dream team", Los Angeles Times
  4. ^ "1960 CATERPILLAR BASKETBALL Greater Peoria Sports Hall Of Fame".
  5. ^ "Bob Boozer, a 1960 Olympian, Is Dead at 75". The New York Times. Associated Press. May 22, 2012. p. A24. Archived from the original on September 7, 2012.
  6. ^ 1960 Olympic Games : Tournament for Men.
  7. ^ Bob Boozer Transactions
  8. ^ a b "Ex-NBA great Bob Boozer dies at age 75; helped lead star-studded 1960 US Olympic team to gold", The Washington Post, May 20, 2012, archived from the original on May 20, 2012
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