Walt Bellamy

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For the Canadian ice hockey player, see Walt Bellamy (ice hockey).

Walt Bellamy
New Orleans Jazz
Career highlights and awards
Career statistics
Points
20,941 (20.1 ppg)
Rebounds14,241 (13.7 rpg)
Assists2,544 (2.4 apg)
Stats Edit this at Wikidata at NBA.com
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com
Basketball Hall of Fame as player
College Basketball Hall of Fame
Inducted in 2006
Medals
Men's basketball
Representing  United States
Olympic Games
Gold medal – first place 1960 Rome Team competition

Walter Jones Bellamy (July 24, 1939 – November 2, 2013) was an American professional

NBA All-Star, he was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame
.

College career

Bellamy chose to play basketball at Indiana University. About the experience, he recalled: "In the summer after my junior year of high school I played with some guys from Indiana. Indiana at the time was the closest school to the South that would accept African-Americans. It was an easy transition for me to make. Not that I was naive to what was going on in Bloomington in terms of the times, but it didn't translate to the athletic department or the classroom. Every relationship was good."[1]

Bellamy graduated from Indiana University with the most school rebounds in a career with 1,087 in only 70 games, or 15.5 per game. He also averaged 20.6 points per game and shot 51.7 percent from the floor for his college career. As a senior, Bellamy averaged 17.8 rebounds per game (still Indiana's record).[2] He also holds the school records for most rebounds in a season (649) and most double-doubles in a career (59). In 2000, he was selected to Indiana University's All-Century Team.

In his final college game, he set an Indiana and Big Ten Conference record that still stands with 33 rebounds in an 82–67 win over Michigan.[3] Bellamy was named an All-American in both his junior and senior year (1960 and 1961). Bellamy was the first Hoosier taken No. 1 in the 1961 NBA draft and the first Hoosier named NBA Rookie of the Year.

1960 Olympics

Bellamy was the starting center on the

1960 American basketball team at the 1960 Summer Olympics. 10 of the 12 college players on the undefeated American squad went on to play professionally in the NBA, including fellow Big Ten player Terry Dischinger and fellow future Hall-of-Famers Jerry West, Oscar Robertson, and Jerry Lucas
.

NBA career

Bellamy (No. 8) averaged 31.6 points per game and 19.0 rebounds per game during his rookie season.

Bellamy had a stellar 14-year career in the

19 rebounds per game he averaged that season is the third-best all-time rookie mark (to Chamberlain's 27 and Bill Russell's 19.6). No NBA rookie has since surpassed Bellamy's 973 field goals during the 1961–62 season. Bellamy also led the NBA in field goal percentage in his rookie season, and had a 23-point, 17-rebound performance in the 1962 NBA All-Star Game
.

Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame
.

In the 1964–65 season, Bellamy scored 30 points and 37 rebounds in a win against the St. Louis Hawks. His 37 rebounds was his career-high in rebounds. Bellamy played with the

Jim Barnes
, and cash a few games into the 1965–66 season.

Due to trades to teams with offset game schedules during the 1968–69 season when he was traded (with

New Orleans Jazz
.

Bellamy ended his NBA career with 20,941 points and 14,241 rebounds, and is a two-time Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame inductee, being inducted in 1993 for his individual career, and in 2010 as a member of the 1960 United States men's Olympic basketball team.[5]

Personal life

After his retirement from the NBA, Bellamy was active with the NAACP, the Urban League and the YMCA in the Atlanta area.[6] He served as a Goodwill Ambassador and member of the Executive Committee of the NAACP's Georgia State Conference.

Bellamy was a member of Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity.[7] His half-brother is professional boxer Ron Bellamy.

Bellamy died on November 2, 2013, at the age of 74.[8] He was survived by his wife of 53 years, Helen Hollie Ragland Bellamy, son Derrin Bellamy, and two grandsons. He was buried at Atlanta's South-View Cemetery.[9]

NBA career statistics

Legend
  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

Regular season

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
1961–62 Chicago 79 – 42.3 .519 – .644 19.0 2.7 – – 31.6
1962–63 Chicago 80 – 41.3 .527 – .674 16.4 2.9 – – 27.9
1963–64 Baltimore 80 – 42.4 .513 – .651 17.0 1.6 – – 27.0
1964–65 Baltimore 80 – 41.3 .509 – .685 14.6 2.4 – – 24.8
1965–66 Baltimore 8 – 33.5 .452 – .597 12.8 2.3 – – 19.0
1965–66 New York 72 – 42.8 .512 – .627 16.0 3.0 – – 23.2
1966–67 New York 79 – 38.1 .521 – .636 13.5 2.6 – – 19.0
1967–68 New York 82 – 32.9 .541 – .662 11.7 2.0 – – 16.7
1968–69 New York 35 – 32.5 .507 – .619 11.0 2.2 – – 15.2
1968–69 Detroit 53 – 38.2 .512 – .663 13.5 1.9 – – 18.8
1969–70 Detroit 56 – 20.9 .547 – .562 7.1 1.0 – – 10.0
1969–70 Atlanta 23 – 37.2 .491 – .605 13.5 3.8 – – 15.5
1970–71 Atlanta 82 – 35.5 .493 – .604 12.9 2.8 – – 14.7
1971–72 Atlanta 82 – 38.9 .545 – .585 12.8 3.2 – – 18.6
1972–73 Atlanta 74 – 37.9 .505 – .538 13.0 2.4 – – 16.1
1973–74 Atlanta 77 – 31.7 .486 – .608 9.6 2.5 .7 .6 13.1
1974–75 New Orleans 1 – 14.0 1.000 – 1.000 5.0 .0 .0 .0 6.0
Career 1,043 – 37.3 .516 – .632 13.7 2.4 .7 .6 20.1
All-Star 4 3 20.8 .500 – .526 7.5 1.0 – – 12.0

Playoffs

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
1965
 Baltimore 10 – 42.7 .468 – .663 15.1 3.4 – – 20.9
1967
 New York 4 – 39.3 .519 – .586 16.5 3.0 – – 18.3
1968
 New York 6 – 46.2 .421 – .625 16.0 3.5 – – 20.0
1970
 Atlanta 9 – 40.9 .468 – .717 15.6 3.9 – – 16.8
1971
 Atlanta 5 – 43.2 .594 – .759 14.4 2.0 – – 20.8
1972
 Atlanta 6 – 41.2 .488 – .628 13.7 1.8 – – 18.5
1973
 Atlanta 6 – 41.2 .395 – .452 12.2 2.2 – – 13.7
Career 46 – 42.2 .471 – .642 14.8 3.0 – – 18.5

See also

  • List of National Basketball Association career scoring leaders
  • List of National Basketball Association career free throw scoring leaders
  • List of National Basketball Association career rebounding leaders
  • List of National Basketball Association career minutes played leaders
  • List of National Basketball Association top rookie scoring averages

References

  1. ^ Houser, Lynn (January 9, 2007). "Bellamy still a staple of IU record book". Herald Times. Retrieved April 1, 2012.
  2. ISBN 1-58261-068-1
    .
  3. ^ "2018–19 Big 10 Men's Basketball Record_Book" (PDF). p. 38. Retrieved July 9, 2020.
  4. ^ "Former IU Basketball Player, Walt Bellamy, Dies at 74", Indiana's NewsCenter, November 2, 2013
  5. ^ "The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame - Hall of Famers". Archived from the original on February 15, 2011. Retrieved May 5, 2012.
  6. ^ Goldstein, Richard (November 3, 2013), "Walt Bellamy, Hall of Famer and Footnote, Dies at 74", The New York Times
  7. ^ "Walt Bellamy". The Sphinx. 84 (2). Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity: 51. Spring 1999.
  8. ^ Golliver, Ben (November 2, 2013). "Hall of Famer Walt Bellamy dies at 74". Sports Illustrated. Archived from the original on November 4, 2013. Retrieved November 2, 2013.
  9. ^ "Walter BELLAMY Jr. Obituary (2013) Atlanta Journal-Constitution". Legacy.com.

External links

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