TTHUNDERINGHUNDERING HERDHERD BASKETBALLBASKETBALL 2008-092008-09 HHISTORYISTORY & RRECORDSECORDS JJuleule RRivlinivlin LLeoeo BByrdyrd RREACHINGEACHING NNEWEW HEIGHTSHEIGHTS 99 TTHUNDERINGHUNDERING HERDHERD BASKETBALLBASKETBALL 2008-092008-09 “Consistency,” Hal Greer game. He also had the fi fth-best free-throw percentage in the league once told the Philadelphia at .834. As an acknowledgement of his superb off ensive performance, Daily News. “For me, that was Greer was named to the All-NBA Second Team at season’s end. the thing … I would like to Syracuse fi nished second in the Eastern Division with a 48-32 record, be remembered as a great, then lost to the Cincinnati Royals in the division semifi nals. consistent player.” The Nationals changed ownership after the 1962-63 season and Over the course of the 15 NBA moved to Philadelphia for 1963-64, to be reborn as the Philadelphia seasons turned in by the slight, 76ers. The new surroundings seemed to suit Greer just fi ne. He settled soft-spoken Hall of Fame guard into a seven-year stretch in which he averaged at least 20 points from West Virginia, consistency in each season. He made the All-NBA Second Team in six of those was indeed the thing. He turned years and played in the All-Star Game in all seven campaigns. Greer’s Marshall Great Hal Greer Marshall Great in quality performances almost production was aided by the arrival of Wilt Chamberlain during the every night, scoring 19.2 points 1964-65 season. “When you have Wilt, you don’t work as hard to get per game during his career, your shot,” Greer told one writer. playing in 1,122 games, and racking up 21,586 points (14th on the If Chamberlain was the team’s go-to-guy, then Greer was its all-time list). He remained with the same franchise throughout his quarterback, the man who made the action happen. But he wasn’t career, starting with Syracuse in 1958 and then moving with the fl ashy or fl amboyant and didn’t attract much attention from the Nationals when they became the Philadelphia 76ers in 1963. He was media. In fact, one Herald-Tribune sportswriter claimed that “if there an All-Star for 10 straight seasons and a seven-time member of the were an award given for a player who is most respected by basketball All-NBA Second Team. He was also the second-leading scorer on insiders, while getting the minimum public appreciation, Greer could Philadelphia’s vaunted championship team of 1966-67. win hands down.” Harold Everett “Hal” Greer grew up in Huntington, West Virginia, One of Greer’s strong points was his jump shot. His favorite spot where he starred for Douglas High School. The fi rst African-American to hit from was inside the top of the key. His one-time coach, Alex to receive a scholarship at Marshall College and the fi rst to play Hannum, said Greer could sink that shot about 70 percent of the time intercollegiate athletics in the state of West Virginia, he averaged and encouraged him to take it whenever he had the opportunity. “Hal’s 19.4 points in his three varsity seasons. He was an all-conference quickness enables him to free himself for the moment of daylight that selection in 1957 and 1958, and an All-American pick in 1958. After he needs,” Hannum said. “He’s so good on his jumper that it startles being selected by the Syracuse Nationals in the second round of the you when he misses.” 1958 NBA Draft, Greer came to his fi rst training camp as a skinny kid who lacked confi dence. But in his fi rst season Greer already showed the skills that would Hal Greer - along with NBA legends such as eventually make him a star: a deadly jump shot, quick penetrations Bill Russell, Wilt Chamberlain, Michael Jordan to the basket, and tenacious defense. He came off the bench for 11.1 and Larry Bird - was named one of the 50 points per game in 1958-59, shooting .454 from the fi eld and .778 Greatest Players in NBA History in 1996. He from the line. His fi eld-goal percentage was the fourth-highest mark averaged 19 points, fi ve rebounds, and four in the NBA that year. assists in his professional career. In 1959-60 Greer shot even better from the fi eld, hitting at a .476 clip to place second in the league. Syracuse fi nished with a 45-30 record but was eliminated in the fi rst round of the playoff s by the Greer played a major role on what many feel was the greatest team Philadelphia Warriors. of all time, the 1966-67 Philadelphia 76ers. That squad, which also In 1960-61, his third NBA season, Greer moved into a starting role included Chamberlain, Chet Walker, Billy Cunningham, Wally Jones, and emerged as a star. He raised his production to 19.6 points per and Lucious Jackson, romped to a 68-13 record, the best in league game and earned his fi rst trip to the NBA All-Star Game. He ranked history until the Los Angeles Lakers went 69-13 in 1971-72. second on the team in scoring to Dolph Schayes, who averaged 23.6 The Sixers, who won 45 of their fi rst 49 games, rolled through the points. The Nationals made it through the Eastern Division Semifi nals postseason, fi nally defeating the San Francisco Warriors in six games in but were demolished in the division fi nals by the Boston Celtics, four the 1967 NBA Finals. For the season, Greer contributed 22.1 points per games to one. game, second on the club to Chamberlain’s 24.1. Greer then stepped Greer averaged 22.8 points the next year, adding 7.4 rebounds and up his game in the postseason, pouring in 27.7 points per contest. 4.4 assists per contest. With injuries limiting Schayes to 56 games, “It was a beautiful, beautiful season,” Greer told the Philadelphia Greer took over the team’s scoring mantle. He ranked 13th in the Daily News. “We had everything. We knew we were going to win most NBA in scoring and ninth in free-throw percentage (.819). In the 1962 of our games - it was just a matter of by how much.” NBA All-Star Game, Greer racked up a team-high nine assists - one Greer saved his fi nest individual performance of his career for the more than the legendary Bob Cousy - and hauled in 10 rebounds, just following year, 1967-68. He shot a career-best .478 from the fi eld and two fewer than another legend, Bill Russell. Greer led the Nationals averaged 24.1 points, fi fth best in the NBA. In the 1968 All-Star Game to the playoff s, where they fell to Warriors in the Eastern Division he was 8-for-8 from the fi eld and tossed in 5-of-7 free throw attempts Semifi nals. in only 17 minutes to lead the East to a 144-124 victory at Madison The smooth guard broke into the ranks of the top 10 NBA scorers Square Garden. His 21 points included a record 19 in one quarter and in 1962-63 by garnering 1,562 points, an average of 19.5 points per earned him the game’s MVP Award. 100 RREACHINGEACHING NNEWEW HEIGHTSHEIGHTS TTHUNDERINGHUNDERING HERDHERD BASKETBALLBASKETBALL 2008-092008-09 accomplish in basketball. The most important was to buy a new, shiny Hal Greer Marshall Great car, the kind that players who grew up in small towns often dreamed Greer was inducted into the Naismith about. In descending order, the other goals were to be an All-Star, to Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1982. win an NBA Championship, and to get into the Hall of Fame. While most NBA players achieve Greer’s fi rst goal quite easily, few accomplish The Sixers had another sensational year in 1967-68, fi nishing with a even one of the other three. 62-20 record, eight games ahead of second-place Boston int he Eastern Greer did it by virtue of a solid, workmanlike approach to the game Division. But in the division fi nals against the Celtics, Philadelphia blew that few players could emulate even then, and that even fewer could a two-game series lead, losing to Boston in seven games. probably maintain today. “Hal Greer always came to play,” Dolph Philadelphia traded Chamberlain to the Los Angeles Lakers before Schayes told the Philadelphia Daily News after Greer was inducted the 1968-69 season, and although the Sixers remained competitive into the Hall of Fame. “He came to practice the same way, to every they dropped from serious title contention. After a 55-27 regular team function the same way. Every bus and plane and train, he was season, Philadelphia managed just one postseason victory in a fi ve- on time. Hal Greer punched the clock. Hal Greer brought the lunch game conference semifi nal series agaisnt Boston. Billy Cunningham pail.” (24.8 ppg) and Greer (23.1 ppg) picked up some of Chamberlain’s *Courtesy of NBA.com (special thanks to Steve Alic) scoring load, ranking third and seventh in the league, respectively. Greer had his last All-Star season in 1969-70, averaging 22.0 points for a Sixers team that dropped to 42-40 and fourth place in the Eastern Division. Still going strong at age 33, Greer helped the franchise to its 12th playoff visit in his 12 seasons. It was a short trip, however, as Philadelphia lost to the Milwaukee Bucks in a fi ve- game conference semifi nal series.