Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Famer Earl Monroe turned 80 years old on Thursday.
Monroe, born November 21, 1944 in Philadelphia, PA, was born the latest of the four other Hall of Famers from the 2-1-5. Paul Arizin (born 1928), Tom Gola (born 1933), Guy Rodgers (born 1935), and Wilt Chamberlain (born 1936) were born prior to the 6 foot, 3 inch guard, who was inducted in 1990. His flair on Philly playgrounds earned him the moniker "Black Jesus".
A 2006 inductee into the College Basketball Hall of Fame, Monroe starred at the HBCU Winston-Salem State University. In 110 games at Winston-Salem, he averaged 26.7 points per game, and was a 1967 NCAA Division II National Champion and the Most Outstanding Player of the championship. His college career-high was 68 points, put up in a game against Fayetteville State. He averaged 41.5 points as a senior.
Monroe was drafted 2nd overall in 1967 by the Baltimore Bullets (where he played with another Philly native, Ray Scott, from '67-'70) three selections ahead of Walt Frazier. That draft also included Pat Riley (7th), Mel Daniels (9th), Phil Jackson (17th), and Mike Riordan (128th). Daniels, an Indiana Pacer legend, was a 3-time ABA champion and 7-time All-Star in the ABA. Daniels arrived in the Hall in 2012. Riordan, who enjoyed a nine-year career, was a reserve guard-forward on the 1970 NBA champion Knicks.
After garnering Rookie of the Year honors in 1967-68 (24.3 points, 5.7 rebounds, 4.3 assists), Monroe had what would end up the best season of his career as an NBA sophomore ('68-'69), averaging 25.8 points and 4.9 assists while being named to his first of four All-Star games and the ‘69 All-NBA First Team. He scored 21 points in the annual All-Star showcase, which took place at the Baltimore Civic Center. That season, the Bullets underwent a 21-game turnaround, going from 36 wins in Monroe’s rookie season to 57. It was a big second season leap for head coach Gene Shue, who guided his team to the Eastern Division Semifinals where they lost to Frazier, Willis Reed and the Knicks in four games. Monroe averaged 28.3 points in the series.
In his third season, Monroe averaged 23.4 points as the Bullets won 50 games before losing in the same round to those same Knicks, this time in seven games. Monroe averaged 28.0 points in the series on a cool 48 percent from the field, including going for 39 points on 14-for-28 in 54 minutes in Game 1, a 120-117 overtime defeat. Teammate Gus Johnson, a Hall of Fame forward, aided in the series with averages of 18.4 points and 11.4 rebounds.
In '70-'71, Monroe (21.4 points) was an All-Star for the second time, and the 42-win Bullets made it all the way to the Finals before being swept by the Milwaukee Bucks, who trotted out the trio of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (then Lew Alcindor), Oscar Robertson, and Bob Dandridge.
After averaging 23.7 points and 4.6 assists in a Bullet career where he played in 328 games and made two All-Star appearances along with a Finals appearance, Monroe was traded three games into the '71-'72 season to the Knicks for draft classmate Riordan and forward Dave Stallworth.
Joining with fellow draft classmate Frazier, to create one of the game's top guard tandems - a duo termed "The Rolls Royce Backcourt" - Monroe and the Knicks made the Finals, losing to the Los Angeles Lakers in five games. The team would get its revenge on the Lakers in '73, dispatching their west coast rival in five games. Monroe averaged 15.5 points per game that season on 14 shots, connecting 48 percent of the time.
Monroe averaged 20.9 points in 1974-75 (46 percent shooting), playing in 77 games and making another All-Star appearance. He averaged 20.7 points on 48 percent in ‘75-‘76 before his final All-Star appearance in '76-'77 (19.9 points, 4.8 assists, 1.5 steals, 52 percent).
In the 1979-1980 season, his last, Monroe was a 12-year veteran on a 39-win team that housed rookie center Bill Cartwright and the young backcourt of Michael Ray Richardson and Ray Williams, the former who was named to his first All-Star team in '79-'80.
Monroe retired in 1980 at age 35, after playing 51 games (12.4 minutes per) in his final season as he dealt with knee issues. He left the game with career averages of 18.8 points on 46 percent shooting. In 926 career games, he amassed 17,454 points. On March 1, 1986, four years prior to his Hall of Fame induction, the Knicks retired his No. 15. His No. 10, the jersey number he donned as a Bullet, was retired by the Washington Wizards on December 1, 2007.
“Watching a horror movie" was how Frazier once described guarding Monroe, while his former head coach Shue once said, "He has the greatest combination of basketball ability and showmanship."
Happy 80th Birthday, Earl Monroe.
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