George Gervin

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

George Gervin
George Gervin
Position(s): Shooting guard	Jersey #(s): 44
Born: April 27, 1952 (1952-04-27) (age 56) Detroit, Michigan
Career information
Year(s): 1973–1986
NBA Draft: 1974 / Round: 3 / Pick: 40
College: Long Beach State Eastern Michigan
Professional teams
Virginia Squires (1972–1974) San Antonio Spurs (1974–1985) Chicago Bulls (1985–1986)
Career stats
Points	26,595
Assists	5,602
Rebounds	2,798
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com
Career highlights and awards
ABA All-Rookie Team 3x ABA All-Star ABA All-Time Top 30 Team 7x All-NBA Team 9x NBA All-Star NBA All-Star MVP (1980) NBA's 50th Anniversary All-Time Team San Antonio Spurs #44 retired
Basketball Hall of Fame

George "The Iceman" Gervin (born April 27, 1952 in Detroit, Michigan) is a retired American professional basketball player; a shooting guard for the American Basketball Association's (ABA) Virginia Squires and San Antonio Spurs and the National Basketball Association's (NBA) San Antonio Spurs and Chicago Bulls. Gervin averaged at least 14 points in all 14 of his ABA and NBA seasons, and finished with an NBA career average of 26.2 points per game. Despite his lack of defensive recognition, Gervin retired with the second-most blocks of any NBA guard.

1 Career
2 Awards and Records
3 Personal and Family Life
4 See also
5 References
6 External links

[edit] Career

Nicknamed Iceman (or Ice) for his cool demeanor on the court, Gervin was primarily known for his scoring talents. He led teams at both Eastern Michigan University in Ypsilanti, Michigan and Long Beach State. After leaving college due to an altercation, Gervin was set to try out for the Virginia Squires of the ABA. It is rumored that Gervin made 22 of 25 three-point attempts, after which he was signed without Virginia officials having seen him play competitively.

His first scoring crown, which took place in 1978, was one of the most memorable moments in NBA history. He defeated David Thompson by seven hundredths of a point (27.22 to 27.15). Although Thompson came up with a memorable performance for the last game of the regular season, scoring 73 points, Gervin maintained his slight lead by scoring 63 points (including an NBA-record 33 in the second quarter) in a loss in his last game of the season. With the scoring crown in hand, he sat out some of the third, and all of the fourth quarter. Gervin went on to lead the NBA in scoring average three years in a row from 1978 to 1980 (with a high of 33.1 points per game in 1979-80), and again in 1982. The Spurs drafted high scoring guards Oliver Robinson of UAB and Tony Grier from South Florida to take some offensive pressure off Gervin. Prior to Michael Jordan, Gervin had the most scoring titles of any guard in league history.

When he left NBA he played several years in Europe: in Italy for Banco Roma during the 1986-87 and in Spanish National Basketball League, in TDK Manresa team (when he was already 38).^[1]^[2] At this point in his career he had lost some of his quickness, but his scoring instinct remained; he averaged 25.5 points, 5 rebounds and 1.2 assists and in his last match he scored 31 points and got 15 rebounds to stay Manresa in the first Spanish division.^[1]

His trademark shot was the finger roll, a shot where one rolls the basketball along his or her fingertips. While others mimicked this style when shooting layups, Gervin was known to "finger roll" from as far as the free throw line.

While sitting out 3 games due to injury, Gervin's replacement, Ron Brewer, averaged over 30 ppg. When Gervin returned, he scored 40+ points. When asked if he was sending a message, Gervin said, "Just the way the Lord planned it" and added, "Ice be cool" (with Ron Brewer).

Gervin's legacy has inspired other athletes, such as Gary Payton who said Gervin was his favorite player to watch as a kid. Asked to elaborate, Payton said that it was because "he was just so saucy." He was also idolized by former NFL and Heisman-winning quarterback Ty Detmer. Detmer records in his autobiography that he was elated to receive Gervin's autograph one day as a youth in San Antonio.

[edit] Awards and Records

Gervin was inducted to the Basketball Hall of Fame, had his #44 jersey retired by the Spurs and was named to the NBA's 50 Greatest Players.^[1] Gervin was ranked #25 on SLAM Magazine's Top 75 NBA Players of All Time in 2003.

He remains active in the San Antonio community in part through the George Gervin Youth Center. Gervin is beloved in San Antonio. Former teammate Larry Kenon, also a quality NBA player, once complained that the city of San Antonio had "Gervinitis."

At the time of his trade to the Bulls, he held nearly every significant scoring record in Spurs history. Many of his records have been shattered by David Robinson, but Gervin is still the Spurs' all-time leader in field goals made (9,201), field goal attempts (18,111) and points (23,602).

Though a revered NBA and ABA All-Star and Hall of Famer, Gervin never made an appearance with a team in either an NBA or ABA championship series during his 13-year career in American professional basketball.

Gervin holds the distinction of being a former teammate of both Julius Erving (with the Squires) and Michael Jordan (with the Bulls).

[edit] Personal and Family Life

Gervin met his wife when playing high school ball. She attended an opponent's school. When rooting against Gervin in high school, she used to implore her team to "not let them throw the ball to that skinny kid."

Gervin's brother, Derrick Gervin, played collegiately at University of Texas at San Antonio where his number is retired. Has a son, George Gervin Jr, nicknamed Gee, who has played for the Harlem Globetrotters and is one of the best players ever to play in the Swedish League, for Norrköping Dolphins.