Larry Costello
Personal information | |
---|---|
Born | Utica College | July 2, 1931
Career highlights and awards | |
As player:
As coach:
| |
Career NBA playing statistics | |
Points | 8,622 (12.2 ppg) |
Rebounds | 2,705 (3.8 rpg) |
Assists | 3,215 (4.6 apg) |
Stats at NBA.com | |
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com | |
Career coaching record | |
NBA | 430–300 (.589) |
Basketball Hall of Fame |
Lawrence Ronald Costello (July 2, 1931 – December 13, 2001) was an American professional
A six-time All-Star, Costello was the
Playing career
Costello attended at Niagara University after growing up in Minoa, New York (born to parents that were basketball players in high school) and attending East Syracuse-Minoa High School. He had excelled in basketball, baseball, and football but chose to attend Niagara for basketball.[1]
Costello played three seasons at Niagara, from 1951 to 1954, after spending his freshman year on the freshman team due to the NCAA rules of the time. He led the
Costello was drafted by the
Costello retired in 1965 from the Philadelphia 76ers (the former Syracuse Nationals), but eventually came back for the 1966–67 NBA season after new head coach Alex Hannum told him he needed a veteran point guard. Forty-two games into the season, Costello tore his Achilles tendon on January 6, 1967, and was replaced by Wali Jones. He did, however, come back to participate in the 1967 playoffs, where he earned a championship ring. Costello ended his career for the second and final time in 1968.
During his NBA career, Costello was selected to six
Coaching career
Costello began his coaching career at East Syracuse-Minoa High School, his alma mater, where he served for the 1968 season.
Costello took over as head coach of the expansion team
After a 3–15 start in the 1976–77 season, Costello resigned on November 22, 1976.[8] He was replaced by Don Nelson, who would be head coach of the Bucks for 11 seasons.
Costello coached the Chicago Bulls for 56 games in 1978–79 before returning to Milwaukee to coach the Milwaukee Does of the Women's Professional Basketball League for part of the 1979–80 season.
Costello's last coaching job was at
Costello was best known as one of the first coaches to employ videotape to analyze his team and opponents.
Later life
Costello appeared on NBA Live videogame series, as member of the 1950s NBA Live Legend All-Stars Team.
Costello died on December 13, 2001, after battling cancer for more than a year.[10]
Costello was featured in the book Basketball History in Syracuse, Hoops Roots by author Mark Allen Baker published by The History Press in 2010. The book is an introduction to professional basketball in Syracuse and includes teams like (
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 | * | Led the league |
Regular season
Year | Team | GP | MPG | FG% | FT% | RPG | APG | PPG |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1954–55 | Philadelphia | 19 | 24.4 | .331 | .813 | 2.6 | 4.1 | 6.2 |
1956–57 | Philadelphia | 72 | 29.3 | .374 | .788 | 4.5 | 3.3 | 7.6 |
1957–58 | Syracuse | 72 | 38.1 | .426 | .847 | 5.3 | 4.4 | 14.9 |
1958–59 | Syracuse | 70 | 39.3 | .437 | .802 | 5.2 | 5.4 | 15.8 |
1959–60 | Syracuse | 71 | 34.8 | .453 | .862 | 5.5 | 6.3 | 14.0 |
1960–61 | Syracuse | 75 | 28.9 | .482 | .799 | 3.9 | 5.5 | 14.5 |
1961–62 | Syracuse | 63 | 29.4 | .427 | .837 | 3.9 | 5.7 | 13.8 |
1962–63 | Syracuse | 78 | 26.5 | .432 | .881* | 3.0 | 4.3 | 11.0 |
1963–64 | Philadelphia | 45 | 25.3 | .468 | .865 | 2.3 | 3.7 | 11.8 |
1964–65 | Philadelphia | 64 | 30.7 | .445 | .877* | 2.6 | 4.3 | 13.5 |
1966–67† | Philadelphia | 49 | 19.9 | .444 | .902 | 2.1 | 2.9 | 7.8 |
1967–68 | Philadelphia | 28 | 17.6 | .453 | .827 | 1.8 | 2.4 | 7.2 |
Career | 706 | 30.0 | .438 | .841 | 3.8 | 4.6 | 12.2 | |
All-Star | 5 | 14.2 | .344 | 1.000 | 1.8 | 2.2 | 4.8 |
Playoffs
Year | Team | GP | MPG | FG% | FT% | RPG | APG | PPG |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1957
|
Philadelphia | 2 | 8.0 | .375 | .000 | 2.5 | 1.0 | 3.0 |
1958
|
Syracuse | 3 | 44.7 | .294 | 1.000 | 8.3 | 4.0 | 11.3 |
1959
|
Syracuse | 9 | 40.1 | .446 | .836 | 5.9 | 6.0 | 17.7 |
1960
|
Syracuse | 3 | 40.7 | .426 | .833 | 4.7 | 6.7 | 16.7 |
1961
|
Syracuse | 8 | 33.6 | .408 | .855 | 4.4 | 6.5 | 16.4 |
1962
|
Syracuse | 5 | 33.4 | .431 | .879 | 3.2 | 5.6 | 14.6 |
1963
|
Syracuse | 5 | 26.8 | .432 | .826 | 0.8 | 4.6 | 10.2 |
1964
|
Philadelphia | 5 | 7.2 | .214 | 1.000 | 0.6 | 0.8 | 3.2 |
1965
|
Philadelphia | 10 | 20.7 | .415 | .688 | 1.2 | 2.0 | 5.5 |
1967 †
|
Philadelphia | 2 | 12.5 | .750 | 1.000 | 2.0 | 1.5 | 8.5 |
Career | 52 | 28.3 | .416 | .852 | 3.3 | 4.2 | 11.4 |
Head coaching record
Regular season | G | Games coached | W | Games won | L | Games lost | W–L % | Win–loss % |
Playoffs | PG | Playoff games | PW | Playoff wins | PL | Playoff losses | PW–L % | Playoff win–loss % |
Team | Year | G | W | L | W–L% | Finish | PG | PW | PL | PW–L% | Result |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Milwaukee | 1968–69 | 82 | 27 | 55 | .329 | 7th in Eastern | — | — | — | — | Missed Playoffs |
Milwaukee | 1969–70 | 82 | 56 | 26 | .683 | 2nd in Eastern | 10 | 5 | 5 | .500 | Lost in Conference semifinals
|
Milwaukee | 1970–71 | 82 | 66 | 16 | ..805 | 2nd in Midwest | 14 | 12 | 2 | .857 | Won NBA Championship
|
Milwaukee | 1971–72 | 82 | 63 | 19 | .768 | 1st in Midwest | 7 | 6 | 5 | .545 | Lost in Conference finals
|
Milwaukee | 1972–73 | 82 | 60 | 22 | .732 | 1st in Midwest | 6 | 2 | 4 | .333 | Lost in Conference semifinals
|
Milwaukee | 1973–74 | 82 | 59 | 23 | .720 | 1st in Midwest | 16 | 11 | 5 | .688 | Lost in NBA Finals
|
Milwaukee | 1974–75 | 82 | 38 | 44 | .463 | 4th in Midwest | — | — | — | — | Missed Playoffs |
Milwaukee | 1975–76 | 82 | 38 | 44 | .463 | 1st in Midwest | 3 | 1 | 2 | .333 | Lost in First round
|
Milwaukee | 1976–77 | 18 | 3 | 15 | .167 | (resigned) | - | - | - | – | - |
Chicago | 1978–79 | 56 | 20 | 36 | .357 | (fired) | - | - | - | – | - |
Career | 730 | 430 | 300 | .589 | 60 | 37 | 23 | .617 |
References
- ^ Syracuse Post-Standard. Retrieved August 22, 2022.
- ^ "NBA Coach Register".
- ^ a b Brady, Erik (April 6, 2022). "Erik Brady: Niagara legend Larry Costello to finally get his due in Basketball Hall of Fame". The Buffalo News. Retrieved December 24, 2022.
- ^ "East Syracuse-Minoa legend Larry Costello to be inducted in NBA Hall of Fame".
- ^ Ditota, Donna (August 22, 2022). "Larry Costello: Focused and intense, the Niagara star emerges as a handful to guard (Part 2)". Syracuse Post-Standard. Retrieved December 24, 2022.
- ^ "When Niagara played six OTs". March 13, 2009.
- ^ "HOOP DU JOUR: BASKETBAll's LAST SET SHOOTER, AND COACH OF MILWAUKee's 1971 TITLE TEAM – LARRY COSTELLO DESERVES a PLACE IN THE HALL | National Basketball Retired Players Association". October 20, 2021.
- ^ Costello Quits Bucks
- ^ "Former Men's Basketball Coach Larry Costello to be Inducted into Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame". April 6, 2022.
- NBA.com. Archived from the originalon October 6, 2008. Retrieved December 11, 2006.
External links
- Player stats @ basketball-reference.com
- Coaching stats @ basketball-reference.com