Walt Bellamy facts for kids
Bellamy in 1972
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| Personal information | ||||||||||||||
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| Born | July 24, 1939 New Bern, North Carolina, U.S. |
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| Died | November 2, 2013 (aged 74) College Park, Georgia, U.S. |
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| High school | J.T. Barber (New Bern, North Carolina) |
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| Listed height | 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) | |||||||||||||
| Listed weight | 225 lb (102 kg) | |||||||||||||
| Career information | ||||||||||||||
| College | Indiana (1958–1961) | |||||||||||||
| NBA Draft | 1961 / Round: 1 / Pick: 1st overall | |||||||||||||
| Selected by the Chicago Packers | ||||||||||||||
| Pro career | 1961–1974 | |||||||||||||
| Career history | ||||||||||||||
| 1961–1965 | Chicago Packers / Zephyrs / Baltimore Bullets | |||||||||||||
| 1965–1968 | New York Knicks | |||||||||||||
| 1968–1970 | Detroit Pistons | |||||||||||||
| 1970–1974 | Atlanta Hawks | |||||||||||||
| 1974 | New Orleans Jazz | |||||||||||||
| Career highlights and awards | ||||||||||||||
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| Career statistics | ||||||||||||||
| Points | 20,941 (20.1 ppg) | |||||||||||||
| Rebounds | 14,241 (13.7 rpg) | |||||||||||||
| Assists | 2,544 (2.4 apg) | |||||||||||||
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Medals
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Walter Jones Bellamy (born July 24, 1939 – died November 2, 2013) was a famous American professional basketball player. He was chosen as an NBA All-Star four times. He was also honored by being put into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.
Contents
College Basketball Journey
Walt Bellamy decided to play basketball at Indiana University. He remembered that Indiana was one of the closest schools that welcomed African-American students at the time. This made it an easy choice for him. He felt comfortable there, both in sports and in his classes.
Bellamy set many records at Indiana University. He had the most rebounds in the school's history, with 1,087 rebounds in just 70 games. This means he averaged 15.5 rebounds per game. He also scored 20.6 points per game and made 51.7% of his shots.
In his senior year, Bellamy averaged 17.8 rebounds per game, which is still an Indiana record. He also holds the school records for most rebounds in one season (649) and most "double-doubles" (scoring double digits in two different stats, like points and rebounds) in his college career (59). In 2000, he was named to Indiana University's All-Century Team.
In his very last college game, he grabbed 33 rebounds. This is still a record for both Indiana and the Big Ten Conference. Bellamy was named an All-American in 1960 and 1961. He was the first player from Indiana to be picked first in the 1961 NBA draft. He was also the first Indiana player to be named NBA Rookie of the Year.
Olympic Gold Medal
Bellamy was the main center for the U.S. basketball team at the 1960 Summer Olympics. His team won the gold medal and did not lose a single game. Many players from that team later played professionally in the NBA. This included future Hall of Famers like Jerry West, Oscar Robertson, and Jerry Lucas.
Amazing NBA Career
Walt Bellamy had a fantastic 14-year career in the NBA. He was the very first player picked in the 1961 NBA draft. He was named the NBA Rookie of the Year in 1962. Many people think his rookie season was one of the best ever, along with those of Wilt Chamberlain and Oscar Robertson.
Rookie Season Highlights
In his rookie year, Bellamy averaged 31.6 points per game. This is the second-highest scoring average for a rookie in NBA history. Only Wilt Chamberlain scored more. Bellamy also averaged 19 rebounds per game, which is the third-best rookie rebounding mark ever. No other NBA rookie has made more field goals than Bellamy's 973 during the 1961–62 season. He also led the NBA in field goal percentage that year. In the 1962 NBA All-Star Game, he scored 23 points and grabbed 17 rebounds.
In the 1964–65 season, Bellamy had an amazing game where he scored 30 points and grabbed 37 rebounds. This was his career-high for rebounds in a single game. Bellamy started his career with the Chicago Packers. This team later became the Baltimore Bullets. He played there for four seasons. Then, he was traded to the New York Knicks during the 1965–66 season.
Playing for Different Teams
During the 1968–69 season, Bellamy was traded from the Knicks to the Detroit Pistons. Because of how the game schedules worked, he set a record that still stands today. He played 88 games in one season, which is more than the usual 82. He played 35 games with the Knicks and 53 with the Pistons. After that, he played for the Atlanta Hawks for several seasons. He finished his career with the New Orleans Jazz.
Bellamy ended his NBA career with a total of 20,941 points and 14,241 rebounds. He was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame twice. First, in 1993 for his amazing individual career. Second, in 2010 as a member of the gold medal-winning 1960 United States men's Olympic basketball team.
Life After Basketball
After he stopped playing basketball, Walt Bellamy stayed very active. He worked with important groups like the NAACP, the Urban League, and the YMCA in the Atlanta area. He also served as a Goodwill Ambassador and was part of the Executive Committee for the NAACP in Georgia.
Bellamy was a member of the Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity. His half-brother, Ron Bellamy, is a professional boxer.
Walt Bellamy passed away on November 2, 2013, when he was 74 years old. He was survived by his wife of 53 years, Helen Hollie Ragland Bellamy, his son Derrin Bellamy, and two grandsons. He was buried in Atlanta's South-View Cemetery.
See also
In Spanish: Walt Bellamy para niños
- List of National Basketball Association career scoring leaders
- List of National Basketball Association career free throw scoring leaders
- List of National Basketball Association career rebounding leaders
- List of National Basketball Association career minutes played leaders
- List of National Basketball Association top rookie scoring averages
