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Wes Unseld

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This article is about the former basketball player, coach and executive. For his son and active coach, see Wes Unseld Jr.
"Unseld" redirects here. For others with the surname, see Unseld (surname).

Wes Unseld
Unseld with the Washington Bullets in 1975
Personal information
Born(1946-03-14)March 14, 1946
Louisville, Kentucky, U.S.
DiedJune 2, 2020(2020-06-02) (aged 74)
Catonsville, Maryland, U.S.
Listed height6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)
Listed weight245 lb (111 kg)
Career information
High schoolSeneca (Louisville, Kentucky)
CollegeLouisville (1965–1968)
NBA draft1968: 1st round, 2nd overall pick
Selected by the Baltimore Bullets
Playing career1968–1981
PositionCenter
Number41
Coaching career1987–1994
Career history
As player:
1968–1981Baltimore / Capital / Washington Bullets
As coach:
1987–1988Washington Bullets (assistant)
1988–1994Washington Bullets
Career highlights and awards
Career NBA playing statistics
Points10,624 (10.8 ppg)
Rebounds13,769 (14.0 rpg)
Assists3,822 (3.9 apg)
Stats at NBA.com Edit this at Wikidata
Stats at Basketball Reference Edit this at Wikidata
Career coaching record
NBA202–345 (.369)
Record at Basketball Reference Edit this at Wikidata
Basketball Hall of Fame
Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame
Medals
Representing United States United States
Pan American Games
Gold medal – first place 1967 Winnipeg Team Competition
Universiade
Gold medal – first place 1967 Tokyo Team Competition

Westley Sissel Unseld Sr. (March 14, 1946 – June 2, 2020) was an American professional basketball player, coach and executive. He spent his entire National Basketball Association (NBA) career with the Baltimore/Capital/Washington Bullets. Unseld played college basketball for the Louisville Cardinals and was selected with the second overall pick by the Bullets in the 1968 NBA draft. He was named the NBA Most Valuable Player and NBA Rookie of the Year during his rookie season and joined Wilt Chamberlain as the only two players in NBA history to accomplish the feat. Unseld won an NBA championship with the Bullets in 1978, and the Finals MVP award to go with it. After retiring from playing in 1981,[1] he worked with the Bullets/Wizards as a vice president, head coach, and general manager.

Unseld was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1988 and the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame in 2006.[2][3] His son, Wes Unseld Jr., is currently assistant coach of the Chicago Bulls.

Early life

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Unseld was born in Louisville, Kentucky, to Charles and Cornelia Unseld as one of nine children.[4] His father was a prizefighter, construction worker, oilman, and baseball player for the Indianapolis Clowns.[4]

Unseld starred for the Seneca High School team that won Kentucky state championships in 1963 and 1964. He was recruited by over 100 colleges,[citation needed] and became the first African-American athlete to be offered an athletic scholarship to the University of Kentucky in Lexington.[4] Integration leaders in Louisville tried to persuade Unseld to attend the University of Kentucky and stated that "it would be good for Kentucky and the Southeastern Conference," but Unseld opted to stay in town and attend the University of Louisville, which was racially integrated.[4][5]

College career

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Unseld grabs a rebound during a 1967 game with the Louisville Cardinals

Unseld played center for the school's freshman team and averaged 35.8 points and 23.6 rebounds over 14 games. He lettered for Louisville as a sophomore (1965–66), junior (1966–67), and senior (1967–68), scored 1,686 points (20.6 average) and grabbed 1,551 rebounds (18.9 average) over 82 games.[6] He led the Missouri Valley Conference in rebounding all three years.[7][8]

Unseld earned NCAA All-American honors in 1967 and 1968 and led Louisville to a 60–22 record during his collegiate career, making trips to the National Invitation Tournament (NIT) in 1966 and the NCAA tournament in 1967 and 1968. He was a member of Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity.[9]

Professional career

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Unseld guarding Kareem Abdul-Jabbar of the Milwaukee Bucks c. 1971

Unseld was selected as the second overall pick by the Baltimore Bullets in the 1968 NBA draft.[10] He was also selected by his hometown Kentucky Colonels of the American Basketball Association (ABA) in the 1968 ABA draft.[11] Unseld was offered contracts by both teams but opted to sign with the Bullets of the more successful NBA despite them allegedly offering less money.[11] After signing Unseld, Bullets owner Earl Foreman proclaimed that "this contract represents the most attractive and rewarding contract that has or will be signed by any player in the NBA this year."[11]

In his first regular season game, Unseld recorded eight points and 22 rebounds in a 124–116 Baltimore win over the Detroit Pistons.[12] On October 19, Unseld recorded his first double-double of his career after recording 13 points and 20 rebounds in a 124–121 loss to the Philadelphia 76ers.[13] On November 22, Unseld recorded 20 points and a career-high 29 rebounds in a 121–110 loss to the 76ers.[14]

As a rookie, Unseld helped lead the Bullets (which had finished in last place in the Eastern division the previous year) to a 57–25 (.695) record and a division title. Unseld averaged 18.2 rebounds per game that year, and joined fellow future Hall of Famer Wilt Chamberlain to become the second player ever to win the Rookie of the Year Award and the Most Valuable Player Award in the same year.[9] Unseld was also named to the NBA All-Rookie First Team, and also claimed the Sporting News MVP that year.[15]

Unseld was one of the best defensive players of his era, and in the 1974–75, he led the NBA in rebounding. The following season, he led the NBA in field goal percentage with a .561 percentage.[10]

First with star ball-handler Earl Monroe and renowned two-way player Gus Johnson, and later with dominant center-turned-power-forward Elvin Hayes and experienced wing Bob Dandridge, Unseld played a key role in the Bullets making four NBA Finals appearances from 1971 to 1979, and won the championship in 1978 over the Seattle SuperSonics, in which he was named the Finals MVP. He ended his playing career in March 1981,[1] and his No. 41 jersey was retired by the Bullets shortly thereafter.[16]

Player profile

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Famed for his rebounding, bone-jarring picks and ability to ignite a fast break with his crisp, accurate outlet passes, Unseld made up for his lack of height as a center with brute strength and sheer determination. In 984 NBA games – all with the Bullets – Unseld averaged a double-double in points and rebounds, with averages of 10.8 points and 14.0 rebounds per game. He also averaged 3.9 assists, excellent for a center, in the 36 minutes he played per game. Unseld was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1988, and in 1996, he was named as one of the NBA's 50 Greatest Players of all time.[17] In 2021, he was named on the NBA 75th Anniversary Team.[18] To commemorate the NBA's 75th Anniversary The Athletic ranked their top 75 players of all time, and named Unseld as the 60th greatest player in NBA history.[19]

Executive and coaching career

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After Unseld's retirement in 1981, he moved into a front office position with the Bullets, where he served as vice president for six years before being named head coach in 1988.[20] He resigned following the 1994 season with a 202–345 record (.369).[21][22] Unseld became the Bullets' general manager in 1996 (they were renamed to the Wizards in 1997) and served in that role for seven years.[23] He guided the team to the playoffs once during his tenure as general manager.[24]

Personal life

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Unseld's wife, Connie, opened Unselds School in 1979. A coed private school located in southwest Baltimore, it has a daycare program, nursery school and a kindergarten-to-eighth grade curriculum. Connie and daughter Kimberly served as teachers at the school.[25][26] Unseld worked as an office manager and head basketball coach. He was the godfather of Cleveland Cavaliers all-star forward, Kevin Love, as Kevin's father Stan Love was a teammate of Unseld's on the Baltimore Bullets. His son, Wes Unseld Jr., was a coach in the NBA who became the head coach of the Wizards in 2021 and was fired in 2024.[27]

Death

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Unseld died on June 2, 2020, after suffering lengthy health battles.[28][29][30]

NBA career statistics

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Playing

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Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game
 FG%  Field goal percentage  3P%  3-point field goal percentage  FT%  Free throw percentage
 RPG  Rebounds per game  APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game
 BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game  Bold  Career high
 †  Won an NBA championship  *  Led the league

Source:[31]

NBA regular season playing statistics
Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
1968–69 Baltimore 82 — 36.2 .476 — .605 18.2 2.6 — — 13.8
1969–70 Baltimore 82* — 39.4 .518 — .638 16.7 3.5 — — 16.2
1970–71 Baltimore 74 — 39.2 .501 — .657 16.9 4.0 — — 14.1
1971–72 Baltimore 76 — 41.7 .498 — .629 17.6 3.7 — — 13.0
1972–73 Baltimore 79 — 39.1 .493 — .703 15.9 4.4 — — 12.5
1973–74 Capital 56 — 30.8 .438 — .655 9.2 2.8 1.0 .3 5.9
1974–75 Washington 73 — 39.8 .502 — .685 14.8* 4.1 1.6 .9 9.2
1975–76 Washington 78 — 37.5 .561* — .585 13.3 5.2 1.1 .8 9.6
1976–77 Washington 82 — 34.9 .490 — .602 10.7 4.4 1.1 .5 7.8
1977–78† Washington 80 — 33.1 .523 — .538 11.9 4.1 1.2 .6 7.6
1978–79 Washington 77 — 31.2 .577 — .643 10.8 4.1 .9 .5 10.9
1979–80 Washington 82 — 36.3 .513 .500 .665 13.3 4.5 .8 .7 9.7
1980–81 Washington 63 — 32.3 .524 .500 .640 10.7 2.7 .8 .6 8.0
Career 984 — 36.4 .509 .500 .633 14.0 3.9 1.1 .6 10.8
All-Star 5 0 15.4 .500 — .600 7.2 1.2 .4 .0 6.2
NBA playoff playing statistics
Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
1969 Baltimore 4 — 41.3 .526 — .789 18.5 1.3 — — 18.8
1970 Baltimore 7 — 41.3 .414 — .789 23.6 3.4 — — 10.4
1971 Baltimore 18 — 42.2 .462 — .568 18.8 3.8 — — 13.2
1972 Baltimore 6 — 44.3 .492 — .526 12.5 4.2 — — 12.3
1973 Baltimore 5 — 40.2 .417 — .474 15.2 3.4 — — 9.8
1974 Capital 7 — 42.4 .492 — .600 12.1 3.9 .6 .1 10.1
1975 Washington 17 — 43.2 .546 — .656 16.2 3.8 .9 1.2 10.7
1976 Washington 7 — 44.3 .462 — .542 12.1 4.0 .9 .6 7.0
1977 Washington 9 — 40.9 .556 — .583 11.7 4.9 .9 .7 7.4
1978† Washington 18 — 37.6 .530 — .587 12.0 4.4 .9 .4 9.4
1979 Washington 19 — 38.7 .494 — .609 13.3 3.4 .9 .7 10.3
1980 Washington 2 — 43.5 .500 .000 .667 14.0 3.5 .0 1.5 9.0
Career 119 — 41.1 .493 .000 .608 14.9 3.8 .8 .7 10.6

Coaching

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Source:[32]

Legend
Regular season G Games coached W Games won L Games lost W–L % Win–loss %
Playoffs PG Playoff games PW Playoff wins PL Playoff losses PW–L % Playoff win–loss %
Coaching record
Team Year G W L W–L% Finish PG PW PL PW–L% Result
Washington 1987–88 55 30 25 .545 2nd in Atlantic 5 2 3 .400 Lost in first round
Washington 1988–89 82 40 42 .488 4th in Atlantic — — — — Missed playoffs
Washington 1989–90 82 31 51 .378 4th in Atlantic — — — — Missed playoffs
Washington 1990–91 82 30 52 .366 4th in Atlantic — — — — Missed playoffs
Washington 1991–92 82 25 57 .305 6th in Atlantic — — — — Missed playoffs
Washington 1992–93 82 22 60 .268 7th in Atlantic — — — — Missed playoffs
Washington 1993–94 82 24 58 .293 7th in Atlantic — — — — Missed playoffs
Career 547 202 345 .369   5 2 3 .400  

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b "Bullets' Wes Unseld: He's out". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). Associated Press. March 19, 1981. p. 6B. Archived from the original on June 2, 2024. Retrieved April 10, 2021.
  2. ^ "Wes Unseld: Hall of Fame center dies aged 74". sports.yahoo.com. June 2, 2020. Archived from the original on June 3, 2020. Retrieved June 2, 2020.
  3. ^ Wells, Adam (June 2, 2020). "Hall of Famer, NBA Legend Wes Unseld Dies at Age 74". Bleacher Report. Archived from the original on June 3, 2020. Retrieved June 2, 2020.
  4. ^ a b c d "Unseld, Wes 1946–". Encyclopedia.com. August 11, 2020. Archived from the original on June 2, 2024. Retrieved August 13, 2020.
  5. ^ "Adolph Rupp: Fact and Fiction". bigbluehistory.net. Archived from the original on March 22, 2020. Retrieved March 22, 2020.
  6. ^ "Wes Unseld, one of the all-time greats from Kentucky, dies at 74". Lexington Herald-Leader. June 2, 2020. Archived from the original on June 2, 2024. Retrieved June 2, 2020.
  7. ^ Marzzacco, Michael (June 2, 2020). "Wes Unseld: Laying the Foundation for Winning Basketball in DC". The Sports Daily. Archived from the original on September 19, 2020. Retrieved June 2, 2020.
  8. ^ Rutherford, Mike (June 2, 2020). "Louisville legend Wes Unseld dead at age 74". CardChronicle.com. Archived from the original on June 10, 2020. Retrieved June 2, 2020.
  9. ^ a b Williams, Bethanni (June 2, 2020). "Born and raised in Louisville, Unseld was an All-American before spending his NBA career with the Washington Bullets". whas11.com. Archived from the original on June 3, 2020. Retrieved June 3, 2020.
  10. ^ a b "Wes Unseld". Basketball-Reference.com. Archived from the original on March 1, 2011. Retrieved May 24, 2012.
  11. ^ a b c Abrams, Brett L.; Mazzone, Raphael (2013). The Bullets, the Wizards, and Washington, DC, Basketball. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 87.
  12. ^ "Detroit Pistons at Baltimore Bullets Box Score, October 16, 1968". Basketball-Reference. Archived from the original on March 29, 2023. Retrieved October 17, 2019.
  13. ^ "Philadelphia 76ers at Baltimore Bullets Box Score, October 19, 1968". Basketball-Reference. Archived from the original on March 29, 2023. Retrieved October 17, 2019.
  14. ^ "Baltimore Bullets at Philadelphia 76ers Box Score, November 22, 1968". Basketball-Reference. Archived from the original on March 29, 2023. Retrieved October 17, 2019.
  15. ^ "NBA & ABA Sporting News MVP Award Winners". basketball-reference.com. Archived from the original on December 4, 2021. Retrieved June 2, 2020.
  16. ^ "Remembering Wes Unseld". National Basketball Association. June 2, 2020. Retrieved June 2, 2020.
  17. ^ "Wes Unseld". NBA Encyclopedia Playoff Edition. NBA Media Ventures, LLC. Archived from the original on June 16, 2016. Retrieved May 24, 2012.
  18. ^ "NBA 75th Anniversary Team announced". NBA.com. October 21, 2021. Archived from the original on October 20, 2022. Retrieved October 28, 2021.
  19. ^ Aldridge, David (November 22, 2021). "NBA 75: At No. 60, Wes Unseld brought force and an uncompromising ethic: 'If you're going to do it, do it right'". The Athletic. Archived from the original on June 2, 2024. Retrieved March 7, 2023.
  20. ^ "N.b.a.; Unseld Is Named Bullets' New Coach". The New York Times. January 4, 1988. Archived from the original on March 28, 2023. Retrieved February 14, 2018.
  21. ^ "Bullets' Unseld Quits as Coach". The New York Times. April 25, 1994. Archived from the original on February 15, 2018. Retrieved February 14, 2018.
  22. ^ Terry, Mike (April 25, 1994). "Unseld resigns after 7 seasons as Bullets coach". Washington Post. Archived from the original on March 30, 2018. Retrieved February 14, 2018.
  23. ^ "Westley S. Unseld". University of Louisville. Archived from the original on September 26, 2020. Retrieved June 2, 2020.
  24. ^ "Unseld takes leave on 'my own terms'". ESPN. May 2, 2003. Archived from the original on August 14, 2021. Retrieved June 2, 2020.
  25. ^ "Eye on the Entrepreneur – Silver anniversary for Unseld's School". The Daily Record. Baltimore. February 27, 2004. Archived from the original on May 16, 2008. Retrieved December 19, 2010.
  26. ^ Neale, Barrett (December 14, 2010). "Unselds Are Still Heroes, But In Scholastic Arena". No. 156. Press Box (Baltimore, Maryland). Archived from the original on August 4, 2018. Retrieved June 3, 2020.
  27. ^ Wojnarowski, Adrian (July 17, 2021). "Washington Wizards hire Wes Unseld Jr. as new head coach". ESPN. Archived from the original on October 21, 2021. Retrieved July 17, 2021.
  28. ^ "Statement from the Unseld family". NBA.com. June 2, 2020. Archived from the original on June 3, 2020. Retrieved June 2, 2020.
  29. ^ Sheinin, Dave (June 2, 2020). "Wes Unseld, Hall of Famer instrumental in Washington's only NBA title, dies at 74". Washington Post. Archived from the original on June 2, 2020. Retrieved June 2, 2020.
  30. ^ Sandomir, Richard (June 2, 2020). "Wes Unseld, Powerful Hall of Fame N.B.A. Center, Dies at 74". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on June 3, 2020. Retrieved June 6, 2020.
  31. ^ "Wes Unseld Stats". Basketball Reference. Retrieved June 4, 2020.
  32. ^ "Wes Unseld". basketball-reference.com. Archived from the original on June 3, 2020. Retrieved June 4, 2020.
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