Bob Boozer

Robert Louis "Bob" Boozer (born April 26 1937) is a retired American professional basketball player. Boozer was born and raised in North Omaha, Nebraska and graduated from Tech High in Omaha.

He attended Kansas State University, where he received All-America honors in 1958 and 1959. A versatile 6’ 8” forward, he was selected by the Cincinnati Royals with the first non-territorial pick of the 1959 NBA Draft, but he postponed his NBA career for one year so that he could remain eligible to play in the 1960 Summer Olympics. During that year he played with the Peoria Caterpillars, where he won the National AAU Tournament title and earned MVP honors for the tournament. [ [http://www.gpshof.org/Inductees/caterpillarbasketball1960.html 1960 CATERPILLAR BASKETBALL Greater Peoria Sports Hall Of Fame ] ]

In the fall of 1960, Boozer joined the Royals with Olympic teammate Oscar Robertson. While Robertson took the league by storm in his rookie season, averaging a triple-double, Boozer contributed a modest 8.4 points and 6.2 rebounds as a reserve player. The following season, however, Boozer earned a spot in the Royals’ starting lineup and averaged 13.7 points and 10.2 rebounds. Boozer continued to improve, averaging 14.3 points and 11.1 rebounds during the 1962-1963 season, but the emergence of forward Jerry Lucas, a future Hall-of-Famer, soon pushed Boozer out of the Royals' long-term plans. Boozer's contract was sold to the New York Knicks in the middle of the 1963-64 season, and Boozer spent the next 1½ seasons in New York. Though Boozer was a productive player during his tenure with the Knicks, he was traded once again, this time to the Los Angeles Lakers, in 1965.

After one season in Los Angeles, where he played a supporting role amid players like Jerry West and Elgin Baylor, Boozer was selected by the Chicago Bulls in the 1966 NBA Expansion draft. Boozer flourished in his first year with Chicago, averaging 18.0 points and 8.5 rebounds and leading the young franchise into the playoffs. The following year, he averaged 21.5 points and 9.8 rebounds and became the third Bull to appear in the NBA All-Star Game (after Guy Rodgers and Jerry Sloan). During the 1968-1969 season, Boozer averaged a career-high 21.7 points per game, but the Bulls failed to make the playoffs, and Boozer was soon traded to the Seattle SuperSonics. He spent one productive season with the Sonics and then joined the Milwaukee Bucks before retiring in 1971. He ended his career with 12,964 total points and 7,119 total rebounds.

Bob Boozer Drive is a street named in his honor in his native Omaha.

References

*Sachare, Alex. "The Chicago Bulls Encyclopedia". Chicago: Contemporary Books, 1999.