- Larry Costello
Lawrence Ronald "Larry" Costello (born
July 2 1931 inMinoa, New York – diedDecember 13 ,2001 ) was an American professionalbasketball player and coach.He was known as the
National Basketball Association 's last two-handed set shooter. After playing atNiagara University , he joined the Philadelphia Warriors in 1954. Two years later he was traded to the Syracuse Nationals. He retired in 1965 from thePhiladelphia 76ers (the former Syracuse Nationals), but eventually came back for the1966-67 NBA season after new head coachAlex Hannum told him he needed a veteran point guard. With 42 games into the season, Costello ripped hisAchilles tendon onJanuary 6 1967 and was replaced byWali Jones . He did, however, come back to participlate in the 1967 playoffs. Costello ended his career for the second and final time in 1968.During his NBA career, Costello was selected to six NBA All-Star Games (playing in five). He led the league in
free throw percentage in the 1962-63 and 1964-65 seasons.Costello began his coaching career at East Syracuse-Minoa High School where he coached the boys varsity basketball team to the state championship for the first time in school history. He took over as head coach of the expansion team
Milwaukee Bucks in 1968 and coached them to a league-best 66-16 mark in 1970-71 including a then-NBA record 20 game win streak. They won the championship in the post-season with a 4-0 sweep of the Baltimore Bullets. After a 3-15 start into the 1976-77 season, he was fired. He coached theChicago Bulls for 56 games in 1978-79 before returning to Milwaukee to coach theMilwaukee Does of theWomen's Professional Basketball League for part of the 1979-1980 season.Costello's last coaching job was at
Utica College in the 1980s. The school was making the transition fromDivision III toDivision I as an independent. Costello coached one season in Division III. In his second year in Division I, the Pioneers were the 7th most improved team in the country based on their won-loss record. He retired in 1987.Costello appeared on
NBA Live videogame series, as member of the 50's NBA Live Legend All-Stars Team.Costello died on
December 13 ,2001 after battling cancer for more than a year. [ [http://www.nba.com/bucks/news/costello_011212.html BUCKS: Larry Costello, Bucks First Head Coach, Dies at Age 70 ] ]Notes
External links
* [http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/c/costela01.html Player stats] @ basketball-reference.com
* [http://www.basketball-reference.com/coaches/costela01c.html Coaching stats] @ basketball-reference.com
* [http://www.buffalosportshallfame.com/Class_of_1998/Larry_Costello/larry_costello.html]
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