Guy Rodgers

Guy Rodgers
Rodgers in 1958
Personal information
Born(1935-09-01)September 1, 1935
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
DiedFebruary 19, 2001(2001-02-19) (aged 65)
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Listed height6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
Listed weight185 lb (84 kg)
Career information
High schoolNortheast (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)
CollegeTemple (1955–1958)
NBA draft1958: territorial pick
Selected by the Philadelphia Warriors
Playing career1958–1970
PositionPoint guard
Number25, 5
Career history
1958–1966Philadelphia / San Francisco Warriors
1966–1967Chicago Bulls
1967–1968Cincinnati Royals
1968–1970Milwaukee Bucks
Career highlights and awards
Career statistics
Points10,415 (11.7 ppg)
Rebounds3,791 (4.3 rpg)
Assists6,917 (7.8 apg)
Stats at NBA.com Edit this at Wikidata
Stats at Basketball Reference Edit this at Wikidata
Basketball Hall of Fame

Guy William Rodgers (September 1, 1935 – February 19, 2001) was an American professional basketball player born in Philadelphia. He spent twelve years (1958–1970) in the NBA, and was one of the league's best playmakers in the early to mid-1960s. Rodgers led the NBA in assists twice, and placed second six times. Rodgers was inducted into Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2014.[1]

Amateur career

Rodgers attended Northeast High School in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, graduating in 1954. He played collegiately at Temple University from 1955 to 1958 for Hall of Fame Coach Harry Litwack.

Rodgers led Temple to a 74–16 record and third-place finishes in the 1956 NCAA basketball tournament, 1957 National Invitation Tournament and the 1958 NCAA basketball tournament. He became the school's leading career scorer with 1,767 points (19.6 points per game). Rodgers remains the third leading scorer in Temple history[2][3][4]

The 1958 AP First Team All-American team consisted of four Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame inductees: Rodgers at Temple, Elgin Baylor of Seattle, fellow Philadelphia native Wilt Chamberlain of Kansas, and Oscar Robertson of Cincinnati. The other was Don Hennon of Pittsburgh.[5]

NBA

Warriors

Rodgers was a territorial pick of the Philadelphia Warriors in the 1958 NBA draft.

Rodgers played alongside Chamberlain with the Warriors from 1959 through 1964, and parts of the 1964–65 season. In Chamberlain's famous 100-point game, Rodgers recorded 20 assists.[6]

In the 1962–63 season, Rodgers led the NBA in assists with 10.4 per game, playing in his first NBA All-Star game. On March 14, 1963, Rodgers tied Bob Cousy's NBA record of 28 assists in a single game.

Rodgers excelled the following season as well, and was named to his second consecutive All-Star game alongside Chamberlain. The 1964 Warriors team was dominant in the regular season, and defeated the St. Louis Hawks to advance to the NBA Finals before losing the series to the Boston Celtics 4–1.[7]

Bulls

After averaging 18.6 points and 10.7 assists in 1965–1966, Rogers was traded on September 7, 1966, to the expansion Chicago Bulls for Jim King, Jeff Mullins and cash. Rodgers played the 1966–67 season in Chicago and was named an NBA All-Star for the fourth and final time in his career. That same season, Rodgers averaged 18.0 points and handed out a then-NBA record 908 assists (11.2), which is still the Chicago Bulls single-season record.[8]

Royals

Four games into the 1967–68 season, Rodgers was traded to the Cincinnati Royals, joining Oscar Robertson in the backcourt.

Bucks

The next season, Rodgers was left unprotected by the Royals in the NBA expansion draft, and he was selected by new Milwaukee Bucks. Rodgers joined the Bucks for his two final NBA seasons, playing alongside rookie Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and helping the Bucks to their first playoff berth and first playoff series victory during the 1970 NBA playoffs.[8] He barely missed out on winning a title, however: before the following season, Rodgers retired, yet the Bucks would acquire his former teammate Oscar Robertson, and win their first NBA Championship.[9] Rodgers remains one of the few players in NBA history to have played for at least two expansion teams during their inaugural season.

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  *  Led the league

Regular season

Year Team GP MPG FG% FT% RPG APG PPG
1958–59 Philadelphia 45 34.8 .394 .545 6.2 5.8 10.7
1959–60 Philadelphia 68 36.5 .389 .613 5.8 7.1 11.6
1960–61 Philadelphia 78 37.2 .386 .687 6.5 8.7 12.8
1961–62 Philadelphia 80* 33.1 .356 .665 4.4 8.0 8.2
1962–63 San Francisco 79 41.4 .387 .727 5.0 10.4* 13.9
1963–64 San Francisco 79 34.1 .365 .707 4.2 7.0 11.0
1964–65 San Francisco 79 34.2 .380 .686 4.1 7.2 14.6
1965–66 San Francisco 79 36.7 .373 .727 4.3 10.7 18.6
1966–67 Chicago 81* 37.8 .391 .806 4.3 11.2* 18.0
1967–68 Chicago 4 32.3 .296 .818 3.5 7.0 10.3
1967–68 Cincinnati 75 18.9 .355 .803 1.8 4.7 4.8
1968–69 Milwaukee 81 26.6 .377 .793 2.8 6.9 10.3
1969–70 Milwaukee 64 11.7 .356 .744 1.2 3.3 3.2
Career 892 32.1 .378 .721 4.3 7.8 11.7

Playoffs

Year Team GP MPG FG% FT% RPG APG PPG
1960 Philadelphia 9 41.1 .360 .556 8.6 6.0 13.1
1961 Philadelphia 3 40.3 .368 .550 7.0 5.0 17.7
1962 Philadelphia 12 40.2 .359 .636 5.9 7.3 11.6
1964 San Francisco 12 34.9 .329 .702 4.8 7.5 12.3
1967 Chicago 3 32.3 .375 .800 2.0 6.0 11.3
1970 Milwaukee 7 9.7 .286 .750 0.6 3.0 2.4
Career 46 33.8 .350 .640 5.2 6.2 11.0

Personal life

Rodgers died on February 19, 2001, at age 65 after a heart attack. He was survived by sons Tony and Mark, and daughter Nicole.[3]

"Without question Guy Rodgers was the best passer I ever played with or against. Pete Maravich was close, but Guy was better. He made every play exciting", said basketball TV analyst Jon McGlocklin, who was a teammate of Rodgers in Milwaukee.[10]

Honors

  • Rodgers was a 2014 inductee to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. During ceremonies on August 8, 2014. Earl Monroe served as Rodgers' presenter. His son Tony, accepted on behalf of the Rodgers family.[11]
  • Rodgers is one of four Temple retired jersey numbers. His #5 hangs in the Liacouras Center. Teammate Hal Lear (#6), Mark Macon (#12) and Bill Mlkvy (#20) are the others.[12]
  • Rogers was inducted into the Temple Athletic Hall of Fame in 1971.[4]
  • Rodgers was a charter member of the Philadelphia Big Five Hall of Fame in 1973.[13]
  • The Philadelphia Sports Hall of Fame inducted Rogers in 2005.[14]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Guy Rodgers". Retrieved December 25, 2007.
  2. ^ "Guy Rodgers College Stats". College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com.
  3. ^ a b Williams, Lena (February 22, 2001). "Guy Rodgers, an N.B.A. All-Star, Dies at 65". The New York Times.
  4. ^ a b "Guy Rodgers (1971) - Hall of Fame". Temple University Athletics.
  5. ^ "NCAA College Basketball AP All-America Teams". Basketball-Reference.com.
  6. ^ Heffernan, Jim (March 14, 1962). "Chamberlain makes the 'impossible' possible – 100 points". The Sporting News. Archived from the original on December 13, 2007.
  7. ^ "1963-64 San Francisco Warriors". Basketball Reference.
  8. ^ a b "Guy Rodgers Stats". Basketball-Reference.com.
  9. ^ "1970-71 Milwaukee Bucks". Basketball Reference.
  10. ^ "Guy Rodgers".
  11. ^ "Five Direct-Elect Members Announced for the Class of 2014 by the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame" (Press release). Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. February 14, 2014. Archived from the original on April 12, 2013. Retrieved February 15, 2014.
  12. ^ "Naismith Hall of Fame Welcomes Guy Rodgers". Temple University Athletics.
  13. ^ "Philadelphia Big 5 - Hall of Fame". www.philadelphiabig5.org.
  14. ^ "Philadelphia Sports Hall of Fame". www.phillyhall.org.