Bill Bridges (basketball)
Power forward / center | |
Number | 10, 32, 23, 35 |
---|---|
Career history | |
1961–1963 | Kansas City Steers |
1963–1971 | St. Louis / Atlanta Hawks |
1971–1972 | Philadelphia 76ers |
1972–1974 | Los Angeles Lakers |
1975 | Golden State Warriors |
Career highlights and awards | |
| |
Career NBA statistics | |
Points | 11,012 (11.9 ppg) |
Rebounds | 11,054 (11.9 rpg) |
Assists | 2,553 (2.8 apg) |
Stats at NBA.com | |
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com | |
William C. (Bill) Bridges (April 4, 1939 – September 25, 2015) was an American
Early years
Born on April 4, 1939, Bridges grew up in Hobbs, New Mexico. He attended Hobbs High School and played for the Hobbs Eagles and legendary high school basketball coach Ralph Tasker. Bridges led Hobbs High School to New Mexico state high school basketball championships in 1956 and 1957. [1]
College career
Bridges enrolled at the University of Kansas for the 1957–1958 school year as a non-scholarship "walk-on".[2] With freshmen ineligible for varsity competition until 1972,[3] Bridges competed effectively in practice sessions during his 'redshirt' season against fellow Jayhawk Wilt Chamberlain who was playing his second and final season at Kansas. Bridges' performance in practices in the 1957-1958 season earned him a scholarship for his remaining three years.[4]
During his subsequent three seasons of competition 1958-1959, 1959-1960, and 1960-1961 for the Kansas Jayhawks, Bridges averaged 13.2 points and 13.9 rebounds per game.
Bridges was chosen All-Big Eight all three seasons, and was an honorable mention All-American in 1961.[5]
Professional playing career
After graduation from Kansas in 1961, Bridges was drafted by the Chicago Packers (currently Washington Wizards) with the 32nd pick in the 3rd round of the 1961 NBA draft.
Instead of signing with the Packers, Bridges played for the
Bridges then entered the National Basketball Association and spent 13 seasons (1962–1975) as a member of the St. Louis/Atlanta Hawks, Philadelphia 76ers, Los Angeles Lakers, and Golden State Warriors.
Bridges won an
Though undersized at 6'6" for his position as a
Bridges' tally of 11,054 career rebounds is ranked 30th in the history of the
Bridges is one of four players (
Bridges' league-leading 366 personal fouls during the 1967–68 season was, at the time, an
Post-playing career
After retirement from the
Bridges died in
NBA career statistics
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 |
Regular season
Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1962–63 | St. Louis | 27 | — | 13.9 | .413 | — | .627 | 5.3 | 0.9 | — | — | 6.1 |
1963–64 | St. Louis | 80 | — | 24.4 | .397 | — | .652 | 8.5 | 2.3 | — | — | 8.5 |
1964–65 | St. Louis | 79 | — | 29.9 | .386 | — | .676 | 10.8 | 2.4 | — | — | 11.5 |
1965–66 | St. Louis | 78 | — | 34.3 | .407 | — | .706 | 12.2 | 2.7 | — | — | 13.0 |
1966–67 | St. Louis | 79 | — | 39.6 | .455 | — | .702 | 15.1 | 2.8 | — | — | 17.4 |
1967–68 | St. Louis | 82 | — | 39.0 | .462 | — | .717 | 13.4 | 3.1 | — | — | 15.6 |
1968–69 | Atlanta | 80 | — | 36.6 | .453 | — | .677 | 14.2 | 3.7 | — | — | 11.8 |
1969–70 | Atlanta | 82 | — | 39.9 | .475 | — | .734 | 14.4 | 4.2 | — | — | 14.8 |
1970–71 | Atlanta | 82 | — | 38.3 | .458 | — | .639 | 15.0 | 2.9 | — | — | 11.9 |
1971–72 | Atlanta | 14 | — | 39.0 | .381 | — | .705 | 13.6 | 2.9 | — | — | 9.5 |
1971–72 | Philadelphia | 64 | — | 34.5 | .509 | — | .702 | 13.5 | 2.5 | — | — | 13.2 |
1972–73 | Philadelphia | 10 | — | 37.6 | .376 | — | .708 | 12.2 | 2.3 | — | — | 14.0 |
1972–73 | L.A. Lakers | 72 | — | 34.6 | .479 | — | .700 | 10.9 | 2.7 | — | — | 9.8 |
1973–74 | L.A. Lakers | 65 | — | 27.9 | .421 | — | .707 | 7.7 | 3.9 | 0.9 | 0.5 | 8.4 |
1974–75 | L.A. Lakers | 17 | — | 18.1 | .351 | — | .533 | 5.5 | 1.0 | 0.4 | 0.2 | 3.3 |
1974–75† | Golden State | 15 | — | 7.2 | .417 | — | .250 | 2.7 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 2.1 |
Career | 926 | — | 33.3 | .442 | — | .693 | 11.9 | 2.8 | 0.7 | 0.4 | 11.9 | |
All-Star | 3 | 0 | 17.7 | .813 | — | .182 | 7.4 | 2.0 | — | — | 9.3 |
Playoffs
Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1963 | St. Louis | 11 | — | 18.5 | .427 | — | .741 | 7.8 | 0.8 | — | — | 9.3 |
1964 | St. Louis | 12 | — | 20.0 | .313 | — | .632 | 7.0 | 2.0 | — | — | 5.3 |
1965 | St. Louis | 4 | — | 36.3 | .356 | — | .667 | 16.8 | 2.3 | — | — | 13.0 |
1966 | St. Louis | 10 | — | 42.1 | .506 | — | .721 | 14.9 | 2.8 | — | — | 20.3 |
1967 | St. Louis | 9 | — | 41.0 | .375 | — | .672 | 18.8 | 2.4 | — | — | 15.7 |
1968 | St. Louis | 6 | — | 36.0 | .507 | — | .720 | 12.8 | 2.3 | — | — | 15.7 |
1969 | Atlanta | 11 | — | 40.2 | .442 | — | .708 | 16.4 | 3.4 | — | — | 15.6 |
1970 | Atlanta | 9 | — | 42.3 | .400 | — | .593 | 17.1 | 3.2 | — | — | 11.6 |
1971 | Atlanta | 5 | — | 45.8 | .397 | — | .333 | 20.8 | 1.0 | — | — | 9.8 |
1973 | L.A. Lakers | 17 | — | 34.2 | .419 | — | .776 | 9.3 | 1.7 | — | — | 8.9 |
1974 | L.A. Lakers | 5 | — | 28.8 | .293 | — | .492 | 6.0 | 1.2 | 1.4 | 0.0 | 6.0 |
1975† | Golden State | 14 | — | 10.6 | .435 | — | .286 | 3.5 | 0.5 | 0.6 | 0.3 | 1.6 |
Career | 113 | — | 31.2 | .419 | — | .673 | 11.5 | 1.9 | 0.8 | 0.2 | 10.5 |
Awards
Starting in 1962, in what Bridges called his greatest honor, the University of Kansas basketball program named its yearly post-season individual rebounding award the "Bill Bridges Rebounding Award".[11]
In 2002, at a ceremony during a game at
In 2004, the
In 2014, Bridges was inducted into the New Mexico Sports Hall of Fame.[14]
In 2016, Bridges was inducted into the Kansas Sports Hall of Fame.[15]
See also
- List of National Basketball Association career rebounding leaders
- List of National Basketball Association career playoff rebounding leaders
References
- ^ "Hobbs High School Basketball 1950-19830". archive.org. February 23, 2022. Retrieved February 23, 2022.
- ^ Bedore, Gary (December 9, 2004). "Jayhawks to hang Bridges' jersey". Lawrence Journal World.
- ^ White, Gordon A. (January 9, 1972). "Freshmen Given Varsity Status in Surprise Move". The New York Times. Retrieved January 26, 2022.
- ^ Bedore, Gary (December 9, 2004). "Jayhawks to hang Bridges' jersey". Lawrence Journal World.
- ^ Kerkhoff, Blair (October 8, 2015), "Former KU basketball great Bill Bridges dies", The Kansas City Star
- ISBN 9780892042272.
- ^ N/A, N/A (February 23, 2022). "NBA Advanced Stats – All Time Leaders". No. nba.com. NBA. Retrieved February 23, 2022.
- ISBN 0-679-43293-0.
- ^ Bedore, Gary (December 10, 2004). "Bridges reconnects with KU". Lawrence Journal World.
- ^ Bedore, Gary (October 8, 2015). "Former KU basketball great Bill Bridges dies at age of 76". Lawrence Journal World.
- ^ Bedore, Gary (December 9, 2004). "Jayhawks to hang Bridges' jersey". Lawrence Journal World.
- ^ N/A, N/A (January 20, 2002). "Kansas Notebook – Boschee knows threes". Kansas City Star. p. 34.
- ^ Bedore, Gary (December 10, 2004). "Bridges reconnects with KU". Lawrence Journal World.
- ^ "Bill Bridges". nmshof.org. January 26, 2022. Retrieved January 26, 2022.
- ^ "Bill Bridges". kshof.org. January 26, 2022. Retrieved January 26, 2022.