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Wes Unseld facts for kids

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This page 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).
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Wes Unseld
Wes Unseld 1975.jpeg
Unseld with the Washington Bullets in 1975
Personal information
Born (1946-03-14)March 14, 1946
Louisville, Kentucky, U.S.
Died June 2, 2020(2020-06-02) (aged 74)
Catonsville, Maryland, U.S.
High school Seneca (Louisville, Kentucky)
Listed height 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)
Listed weight 245 lb (111 kg)
Career information
College Louisville (1965–1968)
NBA Draft 1968 / Round: 1 / Pick: 2nd overall
Selected by the Baltimore Bullets
Pro career 1968–1981
Coaching career 1987–1994
Career history
As player:
1968–1981 Baltimore / Capital / Washington Bullets
As coach:
1987–1988 Washington Bullets (assistant)
1988–1994 Washington Bullets
Career highlights and awards
Career NBA statistics
Points 10,624 (10.8 ppg)
Rebounds 13,769 (14.0 rpg)
Assists 3,822 (3.9 apg)
Medals
Representing United States United States
Pan American Games
Gold 1967 Winnipeg Team Competition
Universiade
Gold 1967 Tokyo Team Competition

Westley Sissel Unseld Sr. (March 14, 1946 – June 2, 2020) was an American professional basketball player, coach, and manager. He spent his entire career in the National Basketball Association (NBA) with the Baltimore/Capital/Washington Bullets.

Unseld played college basketball for the Louisville Cardinals. He was picked second overall by the Bullets in the 1968 NBA draft. In his first year, he was named the NBA Most Valuable Player and NBA Rookie of the Year. He and Wilt Chamberlain are the only two players in NBA history to win both awards in their rookie season.

Wes Unseld won an NBA championship with the Bullets in 1978. He also won the Finals MVP award that year. After he stopped playing in 1981, he worked for the Bullets/Wizards as a vice president, head coach, and general manager. He was added to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1988. His son, Wes Unseld Jr., is also a basketball coach.

Early Life and High School Basketball

Wes Unseld was born in Louisville, Kentucky. He was one of nine children. His father, Charles, was a boxer, construction worker, and played baseball for the Indianapolis Clowns.

Unseld was a star player for the Seneca High School team. They won Kentucky state championships in 1963 and 1964. Over 100 colleges wanted him to play for them. He was the first African-American athlete to be offered a scholarship to the University of Kentucky. However, Unseld chose to stay in Louisville and attend the University of Louisville, which allowed students of all races.

College Basketball Career

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

Unseld played center for Louisville's freshman team. He averaged 35.8 points and 23.6 rebounds in 14 games. He played for the main Louisville team from 1965 to 1968. In 82 games, he scored 1,686 points (20.6 average) and grabbed 1,551 rebounds (18.9 average). He was the top rebounder in the Missouri Valley Conference for all three years.

Unseld was named an NCAA All-American in 1967 and 1968. He helped Louisville get a 60–22 record during his college years. They played in the National Invitation Tournament (NIT) in 1966 and the NCAA tournament in 1967 and 1968.

Professional Basketball Career

Wes Unseld and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
Unseld guarding Kareem Abdul-Jabbar of the Milwaukee Bucks around 1971

The Baltimore Bullets picked Unseld as the second player overall in the 1968 NBA draft. His hometown team, the Kentucky Colonels, also picked him in the ABA draft. Unseld chose to sign with the Bullets in the NBA.

In his very first NBA game, Unseld scored 8 points and grabbed 22 rebounds. This helped Baltimore win against the Detroit Pistons. On November 22, he had 20 points and a career-high 29 rebounds against the Philadelphia 76ers.

As a rookie, Unseld helped the Bullets turn things around. The year before, they were in last place. With Unseld, they won 57 games and became division champions. Unseld averaged 18.2 rebounds per game that year. He became only the second player ever, after Wilt Chamberlain, to win both the Rookie of the Year Award and the Most Valuable Player Award in the same season. He was also named to the NBA All-Rookie First Team.

Unseld was known as one of the best defensive players of his time. In 1974, he led the NBA in rebounding. The next season, he led the NBA in field goal percentage, making 56.1% of his shots.

Unseld was a key player for the Bullets. He played with stars like Earl Monroe, Gus Johnson, Elvin Hayes, and Bob Dandridge. The Bullets reached the NBA Finals four times between 1971 and 1979. In 1978, they won the championship against the Seattle SuperSonics. Unseld was named the Finals MVP for his amazing performance. He stopped playing in March 1981. Soon after, his No. 41 jersey was retired by the Bullets.

Player Style and Achievements

Wes Unseld was famous for his strong rebounding and tough screens. He was also great at starting fast breaks with his quick, accurate passes. Even though he wasn't the tallest center, he made up for it with his strength and determination.

In 984 NBA games, all with the Bullets, Unseld averaged a double-double in points and rebounds. He averaged 10.8 points and 14.0 rebounds per game. He also averaged 3.9 assists, which was excellent for a center.

Unseld was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1988. In 1996, he was named one of the NBA's 50 Greatest Players of all time. In 2021, he was also named to the NBA 75th Anniversary Team.

Life After Playing: Coach and Manager

After Unseld retired from playing in 1981, he joined the Bullets' front office. He worked as a vice president for six years. In 1988, he became the team's head coach. He coached until 1994, with a record of 202 wins and 345 losses.

In 1996, Unseld became the Bullets' general manager. The team was renamed the Wizards in 1997. He stayed in that role for seven years. During his time as general manager, he led the team to the playoffs once.

Personal Life

Wes Unseld's wife, Connie, started Unselds School in 1979. It is a coed private school in Baltimore. It offers a daycare program, nursery school, and classes from kindergarten to eighth grade. Connie and their daughter Kimberly work as teachers at the school. Wes Unseld worked there as an office manager and head basketball coach.

He was the godfather of NBA player Kevin Love. Kevin's father, Stan Love, was Unseld's teammate on the Baltimore Bullets. Wes Unseld's son, Wes Unseld Jr., is also a coach in the NBA. He became the head coach of the Wizards in 2021.

Death

Wes Unseld passed away on June 2, 2020. He had been dealing with health issues for a long time.

NBA Career Statistics

Playing Statistics

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

Source:

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 Statistics

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

  • List of National Basketball Association career rebounding leaders
  • List of National Basketball Association career playoff rebounding leaders
  • List of National Basketball Association annual rebounding leaders
  • List of National Basketball Association players with most rebounds in a game
  • List of NCAA Division I men's basketball career rebounding leaders
  • List of people from the Louisville metropolitan area
  • List of University of Louisville people
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