Mel Counts
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New Orleans Jazz | |||||||||||||||
| Career highlights and awards | |||||||||||||||
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| Career statistics | |||||||||||||||
Points | 6,516 (8.3 ppg) | ||||||||||||||
| Rebounds | 4,756 (6.0 rpg) | ||||||||||||||
| Assists | 1,100 (1.4 apg) | ||||||||||||||
| Stats at NBA.com | |||||||||||||||
| Stats at Basketball-Reference.com | |||||||||||||||
Medals
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Mel Grant Counts (born October 16, 1941) is an American former
The next three seasons Counts' Lakers made it to the NBA Finals, where they would play in and ultimately lose three years in a row. In the 1969 NBA Finals, Counts indirectly played a role in one of the most controversial coaching decisions in NBA history. In game 7, starting Laker center Wilt Chamberlain, who had never fouled out of a game, picked up his 5th foul with 6 minutes to play. A minute later, Wilt came off the floor limping and was replaced by Counts with the Lakers trailing the Celtics by nine points. The Lakers cut the deficit to one point on a shot by Counts, with coach Butch van Breda Kolff refusing to reinsert Chamberlain into the game in the final minutes even though Wilt said his knee felt good enough to play. The Lakers lost the game, 108–106, and the series, 4–3.
Counts played one more season with the Lakers before being traded to the Phoenix Suns with the Lakers gaining the return of hall of famer Gail Goodrich (he started with the Lakers but went to Phoenix in the 1967 expansion draft). After several more stops around the league, including a return to the Lakers in 1973, Counts ended his career with the New Orleans Jazz in 1976.
As of 2006, he was working as a real estate agent in Salem, Oregon.[2] His son Brent played college basketball at the University of the Pacific, his son Brian played at Western Oregon University and his son Chris played at Sheridan Junior College and South Dakota State. His grandsons Brent Jr. played at St. Martin's University and Patrick at Chemeketa Community College and California Maritime Academy. Mixed martial artist Chael Sonnen is his nephew.[3]
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 |
NBA
Source[4]
Regular season
| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1964–65† | Boston | 54 | 10.6 | .368 | .784 | 4.9 | .4 | 4.8 | |||
| 1965–66† | Boston | 67 | 15.2 | .403 | .828 | 6.4 | .7 | 8.4 | |||
| 1966–67 | Baltimore | 25 | 13.7 | .389 | .725 | 6.2 | 1.2 | 6.4 | |||
| 1966–67 | L.A. Lakers | 31 | 16.7 | .444 | .741 | 6.1 | .7 | 8.5 | |||
| 1967–68 | L.A. Lakers
|
82 | 21.2 | .475 | .748 | 8.9 | 1.7 | 11.7 | |||
| 1968–69 | L.A. Lakers | 77 | 24.2 | .450 | .805 | 7.8 | 1.4 | 12.4 | |||
| 1969–70 | L.A. Lakers | 81 | 27.1 | .427 | .776 | 8.4 | 2.0 | 12.6 | |||
| 1970–71 | Phoenix | 80 | 20.9 | .457 | .753 | 6.3 | 1.7 | 11.0 | |||
| 1971–72 | Phoenix | 76 | 11.9 | .427 | .721 | 3.4 | 1.3 | 5.2 | |||
| 1972–73 | Philadelphia | 7 | 0 | 6.7 | .313 | – | 2.3 | .4 | 1.4 | ||
| 1972–73 | L.A. Lakers | 59 | 10.4 | .457 | .672 | 4.0 | 1.1 | 5.0 | |||
| 1973–74 | L.A. Lakers | 45 | 11.1 | .365 | .727 | 3.2 | 1.2 | .4 | .5 | 3.2 | |
| 1974–75 | New Orleans | 75 | 18.9 | .438 | .761 | 5.9 | 2.4 | .7 | .6 | 6.9 | |
| 1975–76 | New Orleans | 30 | 10.6 | .407 | .762 | 3.3 | 1.3 | .5 | .3 | 3.0 | |
| Career | 789 | 0 | 17.4 | .435 | .764 | 6.0 | 1.4 | .6 | .5 | 8.3 | |
Playoffs
| Year | Team | GP | MPG | FG% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1965† | Boston | 4 | 7.5 | .267 | 1.000 | 2.8 | .3 | 2.3 | ||
| 1966† | Boston | 10 | 8.2 | .359 | .882 | 4.0 | .3 | 4.3 | ||
| 1967 | L.A. Lakers | 3 | 9.7 | .263 | 1.000 | 2.7 | .0 | 4.7 | ||
| 1968 | L.A. Lakers | 15 | 20.4 | .535 | .677 | 8.9 | 1.6 | 8.6 | ||
| 1969 | L.A. Lakers | 18* | 24.6 | .385 | .761 | 7.9 | 1.4 | 11.2 | ||
| 1970 | L.A. Lakers | 14 | 15.1 | .420 | .846 | 5.3 | 1.1 | 6.1 | ||
| 1973 | L.A. Lakers | 17* | 19.2 | .459 | .780 | 6.1 | 1.6 | 9.1 | ||
| 1974 | L.A. Lakers | 4 | 8.5 | .500 | – | 1.5 | .5 | .5 | .5 | 3.0 |
| Career | 85 | 17.2 | .426 | .775 | 6.1 | 1.2 | .5 | .5 | 7.6 | |
References
- ^ Mel Counts. nba.com
- ^ [1]
- ^ Is Robert Whittaker a better version of Georges St-Pierre? . July 28, 2010.
- Basketball Reference. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved 11 April 2024.
