George Gervin
Teams
Virginia Squires (ABA) - 1973-74
San Antonio Spurs (ABA/NBA) - 1974-85
Chicago Bulls - 1985-86
Playoffs
Appearances - 13 (1973,1974,1975,1976,1977,1978,1979,1980,1981,1982,1983,1985,1986)
Conference Finals - 3 (1979,1982,1983)
NBA Finals - 0
Championships - 0
Awards and Honors
All-NBA First Team - 5 (1978,1979,1980,1981,1982)
All-NBA/ABA Second Team - 4 (1974,1975,1976,1977,1981,1983)
Hall of Fame - 1996
*(actual in bold, deserved in italics)
All-Time Ranks
Points Per Game - #11
Total Points - #17
Total Steals - #78
Total Blocks - #91
Free Throw Percentage - #94
League Leads
Total Points (#1-1978,1979,1980,1982, #3-1981,1983, #5-1974,1975)
Points Per Game (#1-1978,1979,1980,1982, #3-1981, #4-1974,1983)
Free Throw Percentage (#4-1976,1982,1983, #5-1986)
Field Goal Percentage (#4-1977)
George Gervin averaged 29.5 points and 15.3 rebounds as a sophomore at Eastern Michigan, but his college career ended early after he punched an opponent during a tournament game, earning him a year-long suspension and dismissal from the team. He signed with a CBA team, where he was noticed by the Virginia Squires of the ABA, who signed him midway through the 1972-73 season, thus beginning his pro career.
Gervin played well for Virginia, but the team was in financial trouble, and soon after they sold Julius Erving, they sold Gervin as well, sending him to the San Antonio Spurs after only a year with the Squires. At the end of that season, he had become eligible to join the NBA, and was drafted in the 3rd round by the Phoenix Suns, but he decided to stick with the Spurs in the ABA.
Gervin averaged over 20 points per game in each of his 2.5 years with the Spurs in the ABA days, and was named to the All-ABA Second Team twice, but the Spurs never won a playoff series in the ABA with Gervin on the team. However, the Spurs' high-paced style of play with Gervin won them a lot of fans, and helped make them one of the teams that was allowed to join the NBA in the 1976 merger.
In his second season with the Spurs in the NBA, Gervin led the league in scoring, winning it on the final day of the season. David Thompson had scored 73 points in his final game, meaning that Gervin needed 63 to win the title, which he did midway through the 3rd quarter of the final game before sitting out the final quarter and a half with the title in hand. That was the first of 5 straight seasons where Gervin was named to the All-NBA First Team.
He repeated as scoring champ the next year, averaging 29.6 per game, then led the Spurs to the Conference Finals, where they took a 3-1 lead on the Washington Bullets before losing 3 games in a row to fall just short of the NBA Finals. It was the closest Gervin would ever get to the ultimate series.
He won his 3rd straight scoring title the next year, with a career high of 33.1 points, and matched the average in the playoffs, but the Spurs fell in the first round. He led the league in scoring for a 4th time in 1982, putting up 32.3 per game, and led them to another Conference Finals, but this time they were swept by the Lakers.
The team traded for Artis Gilmore after that season to take a bit of the scoring load off Gervin, but he still scored 26.2 per game, and they made a repeat trip to the Conference Finals, with a similar result, losing to the Lakers in 6 games this time. He played two more years with the Spurs, but age was starting to catch up with him, and after the 1985 season, the new coach wanted to move him to the bench, which he didn't want, so he was traded to the Chicago Bulls.
He was expected to back up Michael Jordan in Chicago, but after Jordan went down with an injury, Gervin ended up starting almost the whole season, averaging 16.2 points per game and helping get the Bulls to the playoffs. Jordan returned in time for the playoffs, and Gervin's playing time was decimated, playing only 11 minutes in the first two playoff games and not playing at all in the third, finishing the series without a point. After that season, he left the NBA for good, playing in Europe for several years before the retired for good.
Gervin was a great scorer throughout his career, scoring at least 20 points per game in all 12 of his seasons with San Antonio and taking home 4 scoring titles. His career average of 25.1 per game is 11th in history, and he is #9 in history when only counting his NBA years. His biggest downfall was his lack of postseason success. He only reached the Conference Finals 3 times and never reached the Finals, making him the second-best player ever to never reach the Finals, but he obviously belongs on the list of the greatest players ever.
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