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Basketball Heroes
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Slater Martin
Guard - Minneapolis Lakers 1949-1950 thru 1955-1956; St Louis Hawks 1956-1957 thru 1959-1960 Naismith Hall of Fame Member

A smart player, a team leader and a star dribbler on one of the best teams in basketball history, Slater Martin used his all-around skills to prefection and teammed with Minneapolis Lakers' front court stars, center George Mikan, forwards Jim Pollard and Vern Mikkelsen to win 4 NBA Championships in 5 seasons - 1949-1950, 1951-2, 1952-3, 1953-4.

A scoring legend at Texas University, Slater 'Dugie' Martin changed his style at the bequest of Lakers' head coach Johnny Kundla and became a back court playmaker and a defensive ballhawk. In fact, in his rookie the Minneapolis Lakers posted a 51-17 regular season record and then rode to a 10-2 playoff record, including defeating the Syracuse Nationals in the first-ever NBA Champion Final 4-games-to 2.

The Minneapolis Lakers were defeated in the Eastern Division Finals by the Rochester Royals in 1950-1951. The Lakers came back and won the next three NBA Championships.

The 5-ft 10 inch, 170 pound Dugie Martin was chosen by writers and broadcasters five consecutive seasons as a Second Team NBA All-Star, 1954-1955 thru 1958-1959.

Slater Martin was voted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 1982.


Walt Bellamy
Center, 6 ft 11 inches, 225 pounds - Chicago Packers 1961-62, 1962-63; Baltimore Bullets 1963-64 thru 1965-66; NY Knicks 1965-66 thru 1968-69; Detroit 1968-69, 1969-70; Atlanta 1969-70 Naismith Hall of Fame Member

A marquee player in college, in the Olympics and in the NBA, Walt Bellamy was the first player chosen in the 1961 NBA draft (by the Chicago Packers). A star center at Indiana University, he also played on the USA gold winning 1960 Olympic Basketball Team.

Voted 1961-62 NBA Rookie of the Year for the Chicago Packers when he posted a splendid 31.6 points per game average, 2nd highest in the NBA, and his 19.0 rebounds per/game average and 1,500 total rebounds was 3rd highest among all NBA players, trailing only Wilt the Stilt Chamberlain of Philadelphia and Bill Russell of Boston. A very accurate shooter, Walt Bellamy also led the NBA as a rookie in field goal percentage with .519, hitting 973 of 1875 attempts.

The 6-ft 11-inch 225-pound Walt Bellamy posted almost carbon-copy statistics in his second-year as in his first. However, the Chicago Packers certainly weren't about winning - in 1961-62 they finished with a very lousy 18-62 record and after going 25-55 the next season folded due to lack of building a fan base.

Walt Bellamy moved on to the Baltimore Bullets in 1963-1964 (a 31-49 record). He again was in the top-5 among all NBA players in scoring with 27.0 ppg, in rebounding with 17.0 rpg and in field goal pct with .513. With Baltimore in 1964-65 his all-around play helped the Bullets advance to the NBA West Division Finals before losing 4-games to two to a Elgin Baylor led, Los Angels Lakers. Walt Belmany played in a total of 7 postseason NBA playoffs, including two with the NY Knicks and 4 with the Atlanta Hawks. His playoff totals show 18.5 ppg, 850 points, 680 rebounds, 14.8 rpg in 46 games.  

Walt Bellamy bio reads: A tough player he could go muscle-to-muscle with the leading players of this era, including Russell and Chamberlain. A master of the hardcourt, teammates could count on Walt Bellamy to keep the squad going forward in a positive way. A member of the Naismith Hall of Fame, Walt Bellamy compiled a splendid, near all-time NBA record in his first two seasons with an .894 and .827 points created percentages. In all of the 1900s century he ranked Number 24 on the all-time NBA list with a .622 points created pct.

Walt Bellamy stats: 20,941 points in 1043 games, 7914 field goals in 15340 FGA, .516 pct, 5113 FTM, 8088 FTA, .632 pct, 14241 rebounds, 2544 assists, 20.1 ppg, 13.7 rpg, 2,5 apg.


1961-1962 NBA Rebounds Leaders
Wilt the Stilt Chamberlain led the NBA with 25.7 rebounds per game

A 80-game schedule was in place for each of the nine teams in the National Basketball Association in 1961-1962 compiled by staff of basketballhistorian.com

1961-1962 Rebounds per game Leaders

  1. Wilt Chamberlain, Phil Warriors 80 games, 2052 TRB,  25.7 rpg
  2. Bill Russell, Boston Celtics 76 games, 1790, TRB, 23.6 rpg
  3. Walt Bellamy, Chicago Packers 79 games,1500 TRB, 19.0 rpg
  4. Bob Pettit, St Louis Hawks 78 games, 1459 TRB, 18.7 rpg
  5. John Red Kerr, Syracuse Nats 80 games, 1176 TRB, 14.7 rpg
  6. Johnny Green, New York Knicks 80 games, 1066 TRB, 13.3 rpg
  7. Bailey Howell, Detroit Pistons 79 games, 996 TRB, 12.6 rpg
  8. Oscar Robertson, Cincinnati Royals 79 games, 985 TRB, 12.5 rpg
  9. Wayne Embry, Cincinnati Royals 75 games, 977 TRB, 13.0 rpg
  10. Elgin Baylor, Los Angeles Lakers 48 games, 892 TRB, 18.6 rpg


George Yardley
Forward - Fort Wayne Pistons 1953-1954 thru 1956-1957; Detroit Pistons 1957-1958 1958-1959; Syracuse Nationals 1958-1959 1959-1960 Member of the Naismith Hall of Fame

An explosive jump shooter, George Yardley was highly capable of turning a sure defeat into victory for his team. After a highly successful college career at Stanford, he helped the Fort Wayne Pistons of Indiana of the NBA win two straight Western Division Titles in 1954-55, 1955-56 during his second and third pro seasons. The 6-ft, 5-inches forward was an excellent outside shooter and by 1956-57 was averaging over 20 points per game.

When Pistons owner Fred Zollner moved the team to Detroit in 1957-1958 George Yardley responded and led the entire NBA in all of the following categories - 27.8 points per game, set a NBA record with 2,001 points, 1,624 FGA, 655 free throws made, 808 FTA.

George Yardley was chosen as a second team All-Star in 1956-57 and a first team All-Star in 1957-58. Although his teams never won a NBA Championship, Yardley helped his teams reach the NBA playoffs 7 times, and he averaged 20.3 ppg in 46 playoff games.

George Yardley career stats: 19.2 ppg, 9,063 points, 3193 FGM, 7572 FGA, .422 pct, 2677 FTM, 34534 FTA, .780 pct, 4220 rebounds, 8.9 rpg, 815 assists,1.7 apg , 1426 fouls in 472 games. Playoffs: 933 points, 457 rebounds, 112 assists in 46 games. Drafted: the 7th pick in the 1st round of 1950 NBA draft.

George Yardley was voted into the Naismith Hall of Fame in 1996



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