Tony Lavelli
BAA draft 1949: 1st round, 4th overall pick | | |
Selected by the Boston Celtics | ||
Playing career | 1949–1951 | |
---|---|---|
Position | Small forward | |
Number | 4, 11, 6, 16 | |
Career history | ||
1949–1950 | Boston Celtics | |
1950–1951 | New York Knicks | |
Career highlights and awards | ||
| ||
Career NBA statistics | ||
Points | 591 (6.9 ppg) | |
Rebounds | 59 (2.0 rpg) | |
Assists | 63 (0.7 apg) | |
Stats at NBA.com | ||
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com | ||
Anthony Lavelli, Jr. (July 11, 1926 – January 8, 1998) was an American professional basketball player and musician. He averaged 6.9 points per game[1] during his two-year National Basketball Association (NBA) career (1949–1951) while also providing half-time entertainment with his accordion performances.
College
A native of Somerville, Massachusetts, Lavelli attended Yale University as a music student and was a member of Skull and Bones.[2]: 169 [3] He aspired to compose musical comedies after he graduated.[4] He wrote over a dozen songs while in college, with titles like "I Want a Helicopter" [4] and "You're the Boppiest Bee-Bop",[5] and he also appeared as an accordion soloist for the New Haven Symphony Orchestra.[6] As a senior, he applied to the Juilliard School, the Curtis Institute of Music, and the New England Conservatory of Music.[4]
However, Lavelli's musical talents were often overshadowed by his achievements on the basketball court. Lavelli claimed that he had only learned basketball as a teenager to impress his friends, who were mostly apathetic to his music.
College statistics
Year | Team | GP | FG% | FT% | PPG |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1948–49
|
Yale | 30 | .350 | .824 | 22.4 |
Professional basketball
Despite his athletic accomplishments, Lavelli's first love was music, and he initially refused to sign with the Celtics so that he could enroll at Juilliard.[5] Eventually, based on suggestions made by sports executive Leo Ferris, Lavelli proposed to join the team on the condition that they would pay him an extra $125 per game to play his accordion during half-time breaks at Boston Garden and certain visitors' arenas.[8] The Celtics conceded to his demands.
Lavelli made his Celtics debut on November 24, 1949, in a game against the
Lavelli signed with the rival
During the mid-1950s, Lavelli played with the College All-Stars, who primarily served as opponents to the Harlem Globetrotters, and his accordion performances became a fixture of the Globetrotters’ halftime shows.[11]
Post-basketball career
After retiring from basketball in the late 1950s, Lavelli embarked on a long career as a songwriter and nightclub performer.[11] He released two records during his life: All-American Accordionist and Accordion Classics.[14]
Personal life
Lavelli's cousin,
Death
In 1998, he suffered a heart attack at his home in Laconia, New Hampshire and died shortly afterwards.[11]
NBA career statistics
Legend | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
GP | Games played | MPG | Minutes per game | ||
FG% | Field-goal percentage | FT% | Free-throw percentage | ||
RPG | Rebounds per game | APG | Assists per game | ||
PPG | Points per game | Bold | Career high |
Regular season
Year | Team | GP | FG% | FT% | RPG | APG | PPG |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1949–50 | Boston | 56 | .372 | .853 | – | 0.7 | 8.8 |
1950–51 | New York | 30 | .344 | .854 | 2.0 | 0.8 | 3.3 |
Career | 86 | .367 | .853 | 2.0 | 0.7 | 6.9 |
Playoffs
Year | Team | GP | FG% | FT% | RPG | APG | PPG |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1951
|
New York | 2 | .200 | 1.000 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 2.0 |
Career | 2 | .200 | 1.000 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 2.0 |
Notes
- ^ a b "Tony Lavelli". Databasebasketball.com. Archived from the original on 2015-10-30. Retrieved September 18, 2015.
- ISBN 0-316-72091-7.
- ISBN 9780313309526. Retrieved April 8, 2011.
- ^ a b c d e f "Baskets in 4/4 Time". Time. March 14, 1949.[dead link]
- ^ New York Times: 18. April 16, 1949.
- ^ "Tony Lavelli solos with New Haven Symphony". Accordion World. 1949. Archived from the original on 2015-10-30. Retrieved September 18, 2015.
- ^ "1949 BAA Draft". The Official NBA Encyclopedia. New York: Doubleday. 2000. p. 368.
- ^ Burwell, Brian (2001). At the Buzzer!. New York: Doubleday. p. 145.
- ^ "Celtics bow, Lavelli gets 20". New York Times: 34. November 25, 1949.
- ^ a b Cavanaugh, Jack (April 16, 1995). "The last days of a garden where memories grew". New York Times: S7.
- ^ a b c d e f Goldstein, Richard (January 13, 1998). "Tony Lavelli, 71, musician with a memorable hook shot". New York Times: D21. Retrieved 8 November 2019.
- ^ "Tony from Yale likes accordion, cage combination; halftime 'concerts' prove biggest success". The Charleston Gazette. November 28, 1949.
- NBA.com. Archivedfrom the original on 2015-10-14. Retrieved September 18, 2015.
- ^ "Tony Lavelli". Recordsbymail.com. Retrieved September 18, 2015.
External links
- Career statistics and player information from NBA.com and Basketball-Reference.com
- Tony Lavelli at Databasebasketball.com
- Tony Lavelli at IMDb