Slater Martin

Slater Nelson "Dugie" Martin, Jr. (born October 22 1925) is a former pro-basketball player who played 11 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He was born in El Mina, Texas. He was a member of five World Championship teams and played in seven NBA All-Star games.

Martin was one of the NBA's best defensive players in the 1950s while playing for the George Mikan-led Minneapolis Lakers that won four NBA championships between 1950 and 1954. In 1956 he joined Bob Pettit's St. Louis Hawks and won another NBA title in 1958.

Martin is an alumnus of Jefferson Davis High School, where he led his school to two state basketball championships in1942 and 1943. ^{[http://www.washingtonwatchdog.org/environmental_justice/documents/cr/02/oc/21/cr21oc02-9.html]} He is also a graduate of University of Texas at Austin, where he set a record in 1949 for putting up 49 points playing for the Texas Longhorns against the opposing Texas Christian University team. Throughout his career with the Longhorns, Martin averaged 12.7 points per game. ^{[http://www.texassports.com/index.php?s=&url_channel_id=16&url_article_id=2794&url_subchannel_id=&change_well_id=2]} His former high school now holds an annual funder raiser in his name, the "Slater Martin Golf Tournament", which successfully raises tens of thousands of dollars each year as an aid to high school student clubs and sports teams.

Martin was the head coach of the Houston Mavericks of the American Basketball Association in the 1967-68 season and in part of the 1968-1969 season. He led the Mavericks to the 1968 ABA Playoffs.

He was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame on May 3, 1982 in Springfield, Massachusetts. He is the only Longhorn to accomplish the feat.

References

* [http://www.losangeleslakersonline.com/slatermartin.php Slater Martin biography] provided by losangeleslakersonline.com
* [http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/m/martisl01.html Slater Martin biography] provided by basketball-reference.com
* [http://www.hoophall.com/halloffamers/Martin.htm Hall of Fame biography] at hoophall.com
* [http://www.statesman.com/horns/content/sports/stories/longhorns/11/15timeline.html Timeline: A history of Texas basketball] ^{(free registration may be required)}

ee also

*List of National Basketball Association players with most championship rings