Brian Taylor (basketball)

Brian Taylor
Personal information
Born (1951-06-09) June 9, 1951 (age 73)
Perth Amboy, New Jersey, U.S.
NationalityAmerican
Listed height6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
Listed weight185 lb (84 kg)
Career information
High schoolPerth Amboy
(Perth Amboy, New Jersey)
CollegePrinceton (1970–1972)
NBA draft1972: 2nd round, 23rd overall pick
Selected by the Seattle SuperSonics
Playing career1972–1982
PositionPoint guard
Number14
Career history
1972–1976New York Nets
1976–1977Kansas City Kings
1977–1978Denver Nuggets
1978–1982San Diego Clippers
Career highlights and awards
Career ABA and NBA statistics
Points7,868 (13.1 ppg)
Assists2,478 (4.1 apg)
Steals1,106 (2.1 spg)
Stats at NBA.com Edit this at Wikidata
Stats at Basketball Reference

Brian Dwight Taylor (born June 9, 1951) is an American former professional basketball player who played for the New York Nets of the American Basketball Association (ABA) and the Kansas City Kings, Denver Nuggets, and San Diego Clippers of the National Basketball Association (NBA).

Basketball career

A 6'2" guard from Princeton University, he was selected by the Seattle SuperSonics in the second round of the 1972 NBA draft. However, he began his professional career with the New York Nets of the ABA, for whom he played four seasons, appearing in two ABA All-Star Games. When the Nets joined the NBA in 1976, they traded Taylor to the Kansas City Kings along with Jim Eakins and 2 first round draft picks in exchange for Hall of Famer Tiny Archibald. He averaged a career-high 17 points per game in 1976–77. He also played for the Denver Nuggets and San Diego Clippers, before a torn achilles tendon forced his retirement in 1982.[1]

Taylor graduated from Perth Amboy High School in 1969.[2]

During the 1979–80 NBA season, Taylor led the league in 3-point field goals made (the season the NBA first implemented the 3-point line) with a total of 90.[3]

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
 *  Led the league
† Denotes seasons in which Taylor's team won an ABA championship

Regular season

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
1972–73 New York (ABA) 63 — 32.3 .515 .160 .743 3.2 2.8 — — 15.3
1973–74† New York (ABA) 75 — 33.4 .476 .276 .699 2.9 4.5 2.1 .3 11.1
1974–75 New York (ABA) 79 — 33.1 .513 .217 .765 2.9 3.6 2.8* .3 14.0
1975–76† New York (ABA) 54 — 32.1 .489 .421* .792 3.0 3.8 2.3 .4 16.7
1976–77 Kansas City 72 — 34.6 .504 — .818 3.3 4.4 2.8 .2 17.0
1977–78 Denver 39 — 31.3 .452 — .765 2.5 3.4 1.8 .2 11.6
1978–79 San Diego 20 — 10.6 .361 — .889 1.3 1.0 1.2 .0 3.8
1979–80 San Diego 78 — 35.3 .467 .377 .802 2.4 4.3 1.9 .3 13.5
1980–81 San Diego 80 — 28.9 .525 .383* .789 1.9 5.5 1.5 .3 10.1
1981–82 San Diego 41 40 31.1 .503 .365 .818 2.3 5.6 1.1 .2 10.8
Career 601 40 31.9 .493 .356 .780 2.7 4.1 2.1 .3 13.1
All-Star 2 — 25.0 .545 .000 .600 2.5 5.5 2.0 .0 13.5

Playoffs

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
1973 New York (ABA) 5 — 33.2 .483 .000 .800 3.2 2.2 — — 13.6
1974† New York (ABA) 14 — 36.2 .518 .667 .767 4.4 4.4 2.4 .3 14.1
1975 New York (ABA) 5 — 37.2 .361 .333 1.000 2.4 2.8 1.4 .2 6.2
1976† New York (ABA) 13* — 36.5 .380 .300 .739 2.6 3.5 2.0 .2 15.8
Career 37 — 36.1 .440 .324 .768 3.3 3.6 2.1 .3 13.5

Business career

In 2012, Great Hearts Academies hired Taylor to be the executive director of Teleos Preparatory Academy in Phoenix, Arizona.[4]

Family

His son, Bryce, played guard for the Oregon Ducks.

References

  1. ^ "Brian Taylor, at 31, Back at Princeton". The New York Times. May 4, 1983.
  2. ^ "THE ULTIMATE NEW JERSEY HIGH SCHOOL YEARBOOK: T-Z AND ALSO...", The Star-Ledger, June 27, 1999. Accessed August 4, 2007.
  3. ^ "NBA Regular Season 3PM - Season Leaders". NBA.com. NBA. Retrieved July 29, 2022.
  4. ^ Angela Gonzales. "Brian Taylor to head Teleos Preparatory Academy in Phoenix". Phoenix Business Journal. May 1, 2012. Accessed August 19, 2012.