Basketball Hall of Famer Wes Unseld passes away at age 74

Wes Unseld (Google Images)

According to nba.com on Tuesday, Basketball Hall of Famer Wes Unseld of Louisville, Kentucky passed away at the age of 74 of pneumonia. Unseld played his entire National Basketball Association career with the Bullets’ organization from 1968 to 1981. The team played in Baltimore from 1968 to 1973, and then Washington from 1973 to 1981. In the Bullets’ first year in Washington, they were known as the Capital Bullets.

Unseld is one of only two players in NBA history to have been named the NBA’s most valuable player during his rookie season. The other was Wilt Chamberlain, who won the NBA MVP award with the Philadelphia Warriors in 1960. Unseld accomplished the feat in 1968-69, where he averaged a career-high 18.2 rebounds per game. Also in 1969, Unseld was named the NBA Rookie of the Year.

Unseld was a five-time all-star (1969, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975). He led the NBA in rebounds per game (14.8) in 1974-75 and field goal percentage in 1975-76.

A center, Unseld was drafted in the first round, second overall, by the Bullets in the 1968 NBA Draft. The only player who was drafted before him in 1968 was Elvin Hayes by the San Diego Rockets. In 984 regular season games, Unseld actually averaged more rebounds than points. The center had 14 rebounds per game and 10.8 points per game.

Unseld also did some damage in the playoffs. In 1978, he guided the Bullets to their only championship in franchise history. Unseld was named the NBA Finals MVP despite having only having two points each in games two and three of the 1978 NBA Finals. However, the reason why the Bullets beat the Seattle Supersonics four games to three in the NBA Finals was because of Unseld’s defensive prowess. He had 82 rebounds in the seven-game series. Ironically, Hayes joined the Bullets in 1972, and won the NBA Finals with Unseld in 1978.

Unseld had his number 41 retired by the Washington Bullets on November 3, 1981. He was then inducted into the Pro Basketball Hall of Fame in 1988.

On the international scene, Unseld won two gold medals for the United States in 1967. They came at the 1967 Pan American Games in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, and at the 1967 Summer Universiade in Tokyo. After his playing career, Unseld was the head coach of the Bullets from 1987 to 1994.