The NBA lost another great on Tuesday morning with the passing of Wes Unseld at the age of 74, as reported by ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski. Per his family, he had been battling health issues for some time.
Unseld, a native of Louisville, Kentucky who played his college ball at the University of Louisville, was the 2nd overall pick in the 1968 NBA Draft by the Baltimore Bullets. He spent his entire career with the Bullets franchise, a decorated 13-year run that concluded in Washington with the 1980-1981 season. Unseld was a 5 time all-star, and is known as one of the NBA's greatest rebounders and its finest outlet passer. As a rookie, he played in all 82 games and averaged 13.8 points and 18.2 rebounds on his way to winning both the Rookie of the Year Award and being named the league's Most Valuable Player. He and Wilt Chamberlain are the only players in history to accomplish that feat.
Remarkable about Unseld is that he averaged 14 rebounds for his career while standing just 6 foot 7, facing the likes of, at one time or another, Chamberlain, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Bill Russell, Nate Thurmond, Willis Reed and Bill Walton, all of whom stood 6'11 or taller. For his first five seasons, he never averaged less than 15.9 rebounds per game, which he averaged in the 1972-1973 season. In 1974-75, he averaged 14.8 rebounds per game and claimed his first and only rebounding title.
The pinnacle for Unseld was the 1977-1978 season, when the Bullets defeated the Seattle Supersonics in 7 games in the NBA Finals, he and teammate Elvin Hayes providing the Bullets with a terrifying Power Forward-Center combination to counter the Sonics' big man tandem of Jack Sikma and Marvin Webster. He was named MVP of that Finals, with averages of 9.0 points, 11.7 rebounds, and 3.9 assists. In Games 2 and 5 of the series, he led all players in rebounds with 15 in Game 2 and 14 in Game 5. Unseld is also 13th on the NBA's all-time rebounding list, as his 13,769 rebounds are more than notable names Shaquille O'Neal, Charles Barkley, and Dennis Rodman.
In 1988, Unseld was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, and was named one of the NBA's 50 Greatest Players in 1996. His son, Wes Jr, is currently an assistant coach with the Denver Nuggets.
Rest In Peace to Mr. Baltimore/Washington Bullet, the legendary Wes Unseld.
Comments