Jerry Lucas
Encyclopedia
Jerry Ray Lucas was a basketball
player from the 1950s to the 1970s, and is now a memory education expert. In 1996, the NBA's 50th anniversary, he was named one of the 50 greatest players in National Basketball Association
history. He was named to Sports Illustrated
s five-man College All-Century Team in 1999.
Lucas was born in Middletown, Ohio
, then a community of 30,000+ halfway between Dayton
and Cincinnati
, that in the 1940s and 1950s boasted one of the most respected high school basketball programs in the United States.
Greatly encouraged, Lucas began pouring hours each day into the town's game during his early teens.
Lucas had become a local playground legend by age 15, in Sunset Park. Sunset Park was then a regional summer hotbed for high school, college and even some pro players. Future Cincinnati Royals teammates Wayne Embry and Oscar Robertson were visitors there. Lucas was already at almost his full-grown height of 6 ft 8 in (2.06 m) by age 15, out-playing college players with his advanced game.
With no real model to look up to for his game, Lucas simply utilized his rare 20-10 eyesight and remarkable hands to train his shooting and rebounding to remarkable degrees. He created his own drills, showing a gift for inventing games he would utilize later as well.
to undefeated seasons and back-to-back Ohio
state high school championships. Lucas, at first, rarely needed the ball to help his team. He simply focused on offensive rebounds for scoring. By putting back so many misses, Lucas padded scoring and shooting accuracy marks while letting upper-classmen shoot and pass. Meanwhile, this amazing rebounding also often held opponents to one shot at the other end.
As competition increased, Lucas became more important to the team's base offense. He learned to help his own game and the team by developing an advanced pivot passing game. Meanwhile, his hook shot became nearly automatic and his shooting eye was strong well past 20', then unusual for a center.
His star was born in the 1956 state quarterfinals. Lucas, still weeks from his 16th birthday, burned Cleveland East Technical for 53 points before a crowd of 5,000. He added 44 in the state final for a two game total of 97, still an Ohio high school record.
During his junior and senior seasons, Lucas and Middletown soared to remarkable levels in fame and attention. In a time with no television or internet, Lucas was written about by the New York Times as early as 1957. Game crowds of 10,000 were not uncommon for him in an era where the NBA typically drew 3500. At this time, the first national prep All-American teams were being named, and Lucas was soon considered among the best high schoolers in the country.
An academic ace as well, whose mnemonic skills made him an A+ student, Lucas cut quite the image of the handsome young star student-athlete.
Middletown ran their winning streak to an impressive 79 straight during his senior year. By this point, Middletown home games were jammed well past capacity, with hundreds more listening in their cars in the school parking lot. Coaches and scouts now traveled long distances to see Lucas. No Ohio high schooler would approach his level of fame until LeBron James nearly 40 years later.
By 1958 Lucas had drawn crowds of 10,000 to the Cleveland Arena and St. John's Arena in Columbus. That same year, the rivalry Middletown-Hamilton high school game was moved to Cincinnati Gardens. When Cincinnati Royals owner Les Harrison saw Lucas thrill a crowd of 12,000 with a 49-point 34-rebound performance, he made the 18 year old a territorial draft pick of the NBA team.
Statistically, Lucas averaged more than a point per minute for the 32-minute games. With numbers then not well-kept, his rebounding figures are unknown, but were likely about 17 per game. We do know he did hit a then very high 60% of his field goal attempts and over 80% of his free throws. Increasingly a passer, he may have also averaged 5–6 assists per game
Wearing #13 as a senior, Lucas made news by surpassing Wilt Chamberlain's high school scoring mark. College scouts now came around in remarkable numbers. Before Lew Alcindor in the mid-1960s, the only high schooler to earn more scholarship offers than Lucas was Chamberlain.
One of the many to recruit Lucas was Kentucky coach Adolph Rupp. As legend has it, the 17-year-old told the coach to go home after one of his rare visits to a player in person during Rupp's fourth championship season in 1958. The truth is, interest in Lucas had reached such an amazing degree, with over 150 scholarship offers, that the young man made it known he would deny anyone who directly approached him.
Lucas' Middletown team suffered its only loss in three years at the 1958 Ohio state finals. Losing by one point to an undefeated opponent shocked Middletown to such a degree that the school never honored its departing senior star with a ceremony, until 50 years later when the oversight was discovered.
Lucas was rated Ohio's top high school player all three varsity years 1956–1958. Lucas was the first player to be named three time First Team All-Ohio by the Associated Press and on February 17, 2009 Jerry's number 13 was retired at Wade E. Miller gymnasium.
Lucas raised some eyebrows by insisting on an academic scholarship. Highly intelligent, Lucas made education a priority over basketball. With the NBA in its financial infancy at this time, he had no thoughts about pro ball.
In 1958-59, the freshmen met the junior varsity several times before Buckeye varsity home games. Lucas and the freshmen drew 10,000 fans to these games. These fans then largely left before the varsity game, sometimes even including football coach Woody Hayes. In two games against the varsity, Lucas scored a total of 98 and pulled down over 40 rebounds.
When the three star recruits --- Nowell, Havlicek and Lucas --- became sophomores in 1959 , they teamed with junior Larry Siegfried
and senior Joe Roberts to run all the way to the national championship. Lucas led the way averaging 27 points, 17 rebounds, 60% shooting and perhaps five or six assists per game. It was a good balanced team, but one that ran well because Lucas was not a selfish star. All five starters scored in double-figures.
Lucas rated behind only University of Cincinnati's Oscar Robertson as NCAA Player Of The Year, and that point was debated.
The 1960-61 team went into the NCAA Finals undefeated before losing to Cincinnati in an upset in overtime. During the 1961 NCAA Tournament, Luke became the only player ever to record a '30-30 ', 33 points and 30 rebounds in a single tournament game, versus Kentucky. In the 1961 final, Lucas had played well for OSU, but other Buckeyes had off games. A shocked Lucas then briefly left school and toured the Soviet Union with an AAU team coached by John McClendon.
The 1961-62 team made it to the NCAA Finals also, a remarkable three straight for Lucas. Seeing the final against Cincinnati as his last game ever, Lucas tried to play on a badly injured knee, likely costing his team a chance at a title.
Lucas was named Player Of The Year in both 1961 and 1962. He was Big Ten Player Of The Year all three years, had led the nation in shooting accuracy as a 20-point scorer all three years, and had led the nation in rebounding twice. More importantly, his team was a winner. The Buckeyes went 78-6 over three years. He was commonly rated the greatest collegian ever upon graduation.
Lucas also earned his bachelors degree in three years, and had spent his senior year in post-graduate studies.
His overall amateur record of two Ohio high school championships, then three NCAA Finals with one championship was a total amateur record that perhaps has no match in basketball history. To that, he also added an Olympic gold medal in Rome in 1960.
Lucas's #11 became the second uniform number to be retired by Ohio State University, ahead of many of the school's football legends. He is the only player to be Big Ten MVP three times.
team for the Rome Games
that year. Exhausted from the NCAAs, he had a mediocre Trials, but easily outrebounded everyone there by a clear margin. The team had four challenging games in the Olympic tournament, two against Italy, one versus the Soviets and one with Brazil.
Lucas figured strongly in every key win. He earned just six free throws from referees during the physical tournament, but tied Robertson, who had 52 free throw tries, for the team scoring lead at 17.0 per game.
Lucas also was noteworthy as he had taken the time to memorize paragraphs of Japanese, Italian and Russian to converse with opposing athletes.
The co-top scorer, top rebounder and shooter, U.S. coach Pete Newell
later called Lucas "the greatest player I ever coached, and the most unselfish."
, then the owner of the newly formed American Basketball League's Cleveland Pipers
, interested the young star with a contract unlike any in sports. The ABL, formed in 1961, played fewer games. They would even delay the start of the season for Lucas to finish his semester. Along with more pay, he also got stock options. Lucas was part of the team ownership before ever playing a pro game. The ABL signing of Lucas shocked the NBA. Soon, commissioner Maury Podoloff
had talked Steinbrenner's Pipers into jumping to the NBA. ABL head Abe Saperstein
sued. Then the NBA piled entry fees on Steinbrenner. The whole deal collapsed in August, 1962 and soon the whole ABL went down as well. Lucas, contracted to Steinbrenner in business deals, would miss the 1962-63 NBA season.
In May, 1963 Lucas signed with Warren Hensel, then in process of becoming owner of the NBA's Cincinnati Royals. The local Middletown star and Ohio legend quickly again became a sensation. Lucas was still so popular, that he would boost league attendance that season. He was even a factor, as a needed white star, in the league's new television contract. Lucas would easily be one of the NBA's most popular players throughout the 1960s.
The 1963-64 Royals also included three NBA All-Stars in Oscar Robertson
, Wayne Embry
and Jack Twyman
. With Lucas now added, Cincinnati was quickly named favorites to dethrone the Boston Celtics
as NBA champions in Luke's rookie season.
Moving to forward as a pro, while also playing backup to Embry at center, Lucas focused on rebounding to fit in on the team, which already had proven scorers. He would post several 30-rebound games that season and one of 40 in February, the only one ever for a NBA forward. Cincinnati won 55 of its 80 NBA games that year, then a remarkably high number. The team won twelve in a row at one point, and came within 2½ games of the Boston Celtics
for the Eastern Division
lead. With Lucas added, the Royals also won the season series over Boston, 7-5. Boston and Cincinnati emerged with easily the two best records in the league by season's end. He was easily named the NBA's Rookie Of The Year. Some experts even named Lucas, not Robertson, as the team's key player.
The famed Lucas was a target that season, however. The third-place Philadelphia 76ers played him very physically, often drawing his ire. In the playoffs, a 76ers player plowed into his lower back and injured him for the rest of the playoffs.
The highly anticipated Boston-Cincinnati playoff became anti-climactic as a result. Still Lucas played hurt. When his back improved, they won Game Four to avoid a sweep. In Game Five, Boston's K.C. Jones undercut him while Lucas pursued a rebound, sending Lucas to the floor for a concussion. Lucas never returned to the game and Boston won the series.
1964–1969, the Royals never contended again quite as closely. Lucas became known for what was then called ' the 20-20 '. That's a game or a full season of twenty points and twenty rebounds. Only Wilt Chamberlain had also consistently averaged 20–20. In an era of high tempo and increased shot attempts, Lucas had plenty of chances for his focus on rebounding. During those six years, only Chamberlain and Boston's Bill Russell out-rebounded Lucas. In 1967-68, Lucas out-rebounded Russell. Not the leaper or bull some others were, Lucas outsmarted other players to the ball, over and over again. From 1964 to 1968, Lucas averaged 19.8 rebounds per game.
He was also almost always among the league leaders in field goal percentage. More than just a tip-in guy, Lucas the forward took half his shots from 15 feet or more and still out-shot most dunkers. He shot 50% for his pro career.
Lucas was named the 1965 NBA All-Star Game MVP, and was named First Team All-NBA in 1965, 1966 and 1968. Three times he averaged more than 20 points per game for a season, while deferring to 30-point scorer Robertson.
Only Chamberlain consistently played more minutes than Lucas, who often logged 46 minutes per game, season after season. This despite bad knees that often required daily attention.
Defensively, Lucas, so important to the team's offense and playing huge minutes, paced himself carefully. He played opponents cleanly to avoid fouls and was not a player who often went for blocked shots. This kept him in position for rebounds. To help himself and his sore knees in huge minutes of play, Lucas used his brain and his memory. ' I knew the tendencies of every player and every offense in the league ', Lucas later said. ' I memorized them '. This often kept him a step ahead of bigger, quicker, and stronger NBA athletes.
Starting in 1964, Lucas drew the interest of NFL Cleveland Browns owner Art Modell. Lucas was still very popular in Cleveland, and Modell wanted a NBA franchise for the city. So, from 1966 to 1969, the Royals played 36 home games in Cleveland, boosting their overall attendance. Modell, Lucas and the Royals were factors in the Cleveland Cavaliers expansion franchise.
With the Royals in steady decline, Lucas began to focus more on off-court business opportunities. He became involved in a number of deals, even starting his own fast food chain, Jerry Lucas Beef-N-Shakes. He was a talented magician who knew hundreds of card tricks, which he later published. He also created educational puzzles and games for children. By 1969, he was one of just three millionaire
s playing in the NBA. He had made most of his money off-court in investments.
. Cousy felt the three-time First Team All-Pro did not hustle enough, and traded Ohio's most famous player ever to that point to the San Francisco Warriors
for two reserves. One of those reserves, Bill Turner, later joined him in San Francisco.
Lucas was injured and distracted during the 1969-70 season
with the Warriors. Banks had cancelled the line of credit on his restaurants. He had to declare bankruptcy
, taking investors down with him.
Re-focused on basketball
for 1970-71
, Lucas returned to All-Pro form and was named the starting power forward for the West All-Star team in the 1971 NBA All-Star Game
. Teaming with Nate Thurmond
, Clyde Lee
, Jeff Mullins, Al Attles and Ron Williams
, the Warriors also returned to playoffs.
opportunity. The Warriors, needing a small scoring forward like Cazzie Russell, dealt Lucas to the New York Knickerbockers
, who needed a big man who would work behind both Willis Reed
and Dave DeBusschere
. Lucas had long rated ahead of both as an NBA player, but easily agreed as New York was a serious championship contender.
Early in the 1971–72 season
, the injury-prone Reed went down for the season. Lucas, not a starting center since college, was pressed into service. In perhaps his most remarkable season, Lucas led the Knicks in rebounds and shooting accuracy, and was second in scoring and assists only to Walt Frazier
on the club. He was named the team's 1972 Most Valuable Player. Deferring to tenured teammates for All-Star honors, Lucas helped the team past Boston in the playoffs, and into the 1972 NBA Finals
. Injuries were a big factor in that series, with Lucas out-scoring and out-passing huge opposing center Wilt Chamberlain
. The Knicks lost in five games.
In 1972–73, Willis Reed had returned. But Lucas played more minutes than Reed at center that season, helping New York save Reed for the playoffs. Focusing more on passing at center, Luke averaged five assists per game. His role was crucial for New York's 1973 NBA championship
. Lucas had become the first American basketball player to win championships at every level --- high school, college, Olympics, and the pros.
Lucas also became a media darling in New York
, where he found a large market for his magic tricks, memory games, and other products. He amazed many by memorizing portions of the Manhattan
Phone Book or memorizing the names of an entire studio audience in sequence during television
appearances. He also had a knack for taking words apart and then respelling them alphabetically in rapidfire order ( his name would spell E-J-R-R-Y A-C-L-S-U ). Lucas showed many how mental games and memory exercises could build brain power and intelligence for people at any age.
In 1974, the Knicks made a run to repeat as NBA champs, but the team known was eliminated in the East Finals. Lucas, Reed and DeBusschere, all Hall of Famers, retired as players after that season. New York has not won an NBA title since.
At retirement, Lucas ranked fourth all-time in rebounds per game to Wilt Chamberlain, Bill Russell
and Bob Pettit
.
He was named to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1980, and was later named one of the 50 Greatest NBA Players in 1996. He was also later named to Sports Illustrated
's five-man college Team Of The Century in 1999.
in 1980 along side Les Harrison, Oscar Robertson
and Jerry West
.
After basketball, Lucas took up a role as an educator and memory expert and has written books and produced television programs on the subject. Three of his best sellers are The Memory Book, co-written with Harry Lorayne
, his well-known ' Ready, Set, Remember ' the basis of many of his other writings, and Remember the Word, for memorizing portions of the Bible
. His educational programs on image-based memory development are now being used in some Ohio school systems.
Lucas serves as a long-distance Director of Basketball Operations for Indiana Wesleyan University
, according to their 2006–2007 media guide, and helps in the nationwide recruiting effort for the Wildcats.
http://doctormemory.com/html/aboutjerry.html. Lucas is active today as a public speaker and in celebrity golf
tournaments.
Basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...
player from the 1950s to the 1970s, and is now a memory education expert. In 1996, the NBA's 50th anniversary, he was named one of the 50 greatest players in National Basketball Association
National Basketball Association
The National Basketball Association is the pre-eminent men's professional basketball league in North America. It consists of thirty franchised member clubs, of which twenty-nine are located in the United States and one in Canada...
history. He was named to Sports Illustrated
Sports Illustrated
Sports Illustrated is an American sports media company owned by media conglomerate Time Warner. Its self titled magazine has over 3.5 million subscribers and is read by 23 million adults each week, including over 18 million men. It was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the...
s five-man College All-Century Team in 1999.
Lucas was born in Middletown, Ohio
Middletown, Ohio
Middletown is an All-America City located in Butler and Warren counties in the southwestern part of the U.S. state of Ohio. Formerly in Lemon, Turtlecreek, and Franklin townships, Middletown was incorporated by the Ohio General Assembly on February 11, 1833, and became a city in 1886...
, then a community of 30,000+ halfway between Dayton
Dayton, Ohio
Dayton is the 6th largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Montgomery County, the fifth most populous county in the state. The population was 141,527 at the 2010 census. The Dayton Metropolitan Statistical Area had a population of 841,502 in the 2010 census...
and Cincinnati
Cincinnati, Ohio
Cincinnati is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio. Cincinnati is the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located to north of the Ohio River at the Ohio-Kentucky border, near Indiana. The population within city limits is 296,943 according to the 2010 census, making it Ohio's...
, that in the 1940s and 1950s boasted one of the most respected high school basketball programs in the United States.
Greatly encouraged, Lucas began pouring hours each day into the town's game during his early teens.
Lucas had become a local playground legend by age 15, in Sunset Park. Sunset Park was then a regional summer hotbed for high school, college and even some pro players. Future Cincinnati Royals teammates Wayne Embry and Oscar Robertson were visitors there. Lucas was already at almost his full-grown height of 6 ft 8 in (2.06 m) by age 15, out-playing college players with his advanced game.
With no real model to look up to for his game, Lucas simply utilized his rare 20-10 eyesight and remarkable hands to train his shooting and rebounding to remarkable degrees. He created his own drills, showing a gift for inventing games he would utilize later as well.
High school
In 1956 and 1957, Lucas led Middletown High SchoolMiddletown High School (Ohio)
Middletown High School is a public high school in Middletown, Ohio. It is the only public high school in the Middletown City School District.-Ohio High School Athletic Association State Championships:...
to undefeated seasons and back-to-back Ohio
Ohio
Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...
state high school championships. Lucas, at first, rarely needed the ball to help his team. He simply focused on offensive rebounds for scoring. By putting back so many misses, Lucas padded scoring and shooting accuracy marks while letting upper-classmen shoot and pass. Meanwhile, this amazing rebounding also often held opponents to one shot at the other end.
As competition increased, Lucas became more important to the team's base offense. He learned to help his own game and the team by developing an advanced pivot passing game. Meanwhile, his hook shot became nearly automatic and his shooting eye was strong well past 20', then unusual for a center.
His star was born in the 1956 state quarterfinals. Lucas, still weeks from his 16th birthday, burned Cleveland East Technical for 53 points before a crowd of 5,000. He added 44 in the state final for a two game total of 97, still an Ohio high school record.
During his junior and senior seasons, Lucas and Middletown soared to remarkable levels in fame and attention. In a time with no television or internet, Lucas was written about by the New York Times as early as 1957. Game crowds of 10,000 were not uncommon for him in an era where the NBA typically drew 3500. At this time, the first national prep All-American teams were being named, and Lucas was soon considered among the best high schoolers in the country.
An academic ace as well, whose mnemonic skills made him an A+ student, Lucas cut quite the image of the handsome young star student-athlete.
Middletown ran their winning streak to an impressive 79 straight during his senior year. By this point, Middletown home games were jammed well past capacity, with hundreds more listening in their cars in the school parking lot. Coaches and scouts now traveled long distances to see Lucas. No Ohio high schooler would approach his level of fame until LeBron James nearly 40 years later.
By 1958 Lucas had drawn crowds of 10,000 to the Cleveland Arena and St. John's Arena in Columbus. That same year, the rivalry Middletown-Hamilton high school game was moved to Cincinnati Gardens. When Cincinnati Royals owner Les Harrison saw Lucas thrill a crowd of 12,000 with a 49-point 34-rebound performance, he made the 18 year old a territorial draft pick of the NBA team.
Statistically, Lucas averaged more than a point per minute for the 32-minute games. With numbers then not well-kept, his rebounding figures are unknown, but were likely about 17 per game. We do know he did hit a then very high 60% of his field goal attempts and over 80% of his free throws. Increasingly a passer, he may have also averaged 5–6 assists per game
Wearing #13 as a senior, Lucas made news by surpassing Wilt Chamberlain's high school scoring mark. College scouts now came around in remarkable numbers. Before Lew Alcindor in the mid-1960s, the only high schooler to earn more scholarship offers than Lucas was Chamberlain.
One of the many to recruit Lucas was Kentucky coach Adolph Rupp. As legend has it, the 17-year-old told the coach to go home after one of his rare visits to a player in person during Rupp's fourth championship season in 1958. The truth is, interest in Lucas had reached such an amazing degree, with over 150 scholarship offers, that the young man made it known he would deny anyone who directly approached him.
Lucas' Middletown team suffered its only loss in three years at the 1958 Ohio state finals. Losing by one point to an undefeated opponent shocked Middletown to such a degree that the school never honored its departing senior star with a ceremony, until 50 years later when the oversight was discovered.
Lucas was rated Ohio's top high school player all three varsity years 1956–1958. Lucas was the first player to be named three time First Team All-Ohio by the Associated Press and on February 17, 2009 Jerry's number 13 was retired at Wade E. Miller gymnasium.
The Ohio State University
Offered more than 150 athletic scholarships, Lucas certainly had his pick, when Ohio State sent then-freshman coach Fred Taylor to meet him. The two had a good meeting while fishing, and Lucas chose the Buckeyes. After landing Lucas, Taylor was promoted to varsity coach also.Lucas raised some eyebrows by insisting on an academic scholarship. Highly intelligent, Lucas made education a priority over basketball. With the NBA in its financial infancy at this time, he had no thoughts about pro ball.
In 1958-59, the freshmen met the junior varsity several times before Buckeye varsity home games. Lucas and the freshmen drew 10,000 fans to these games. These fans then largely left before the varsity game, sometimes even including football coach Woody Hayes. In two games against the varsity, Lucas scored a total of 98 and pulled down over 40 rebounds.
When the three star recruits --- Nowell, Havlicek and Lucas --- became sophomores in 1959 , they teamed with junior Larry Siegfried
Larry Siegfried
Larry E. Siegfried was an American National Basketball Association player.-Early years:Siegfried led Ohio in scoring as a senior at Shelby High School....
and senior Joe Roberts to run all the way to the national championship. Lucas led the way averaging 27 points, 17 rebounds, 60% shooting and perhaps five or six assists per game. It was a good balanced team, but one that ran well because Lucas was not a selfish star. All five starters scored in double-figures.
Lucas rated behind only University of Cincinnati's Oscar Robertson as NCAA Player Of The Year, and that point was debated.
The 1960-61 team went into the NCAA Finals undefeated before losing to Cincinnati in an upset in overtime. During the 1961 NCAA Tournament, Luke became the only player ever to record a '30-30 ', 33 points and 30 rebounds in a single tournament game, versus Kentucky. In the 1961 final, Lucas had played well for OSU, but other Buckeyes had off games. A shocked Lucas then briefly left school and toured the Soviet Union with an AAU team coached by John McClendon.
The 1961-62 team made it to the NCAA Finals also, a remarkable three straight for Lucas. Seeing the final against Cincinnati as his last game ever, Lucas tried to play on a badly injured knee, likely costing his team a chance at a title.
Lucas was named Player Of The Year in both 1961 and 1962. He was Big Ten Player Of The Year all three years, had led the nation in shooting accuracy as a 20-point scorer all three years, and had led the nation in rebounding twice. More importantly, his team was a winner. The Buckeyes went 78-6 over three years. He was commonly rated the greatest collegian ever upon graduation.
Lucas also earned his bachelors degree in three years, and had spent his senior year in post-graduate studies.
His overall amateur record of two Ohio high school championships, then three NCAA Finals with one championship was a total amateur record that perhaps has no match in basketball history. To that, he also added an Olympic gold medal in Rome in 1960.
Lucas's #11 became the second uniform number to be retired by Ohio State University, ahead of many of the school's football legends. He is the only player to be Big Ten MVP three times.
1960 Olympics
In 1960, Lucas was also named to the U.S. OlympicOlympic Games
The Olympic Games is a major international event featuring summer and winter sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The Olympic Games have come to be regarded as the world’s foremost sports competition where more than 200 nations participate...
team for the Rome Games
Basketball at the 1960 Summer Olympics
Basketball at the 1960 Summer Olympics was the fifth appearance of the sport in Olympic competition. 16 nations were admitted into the Olympic tournament, with many others being eliminated in a pre-Olympic tournament held earlier in the year from 13 to 20 August 1960 at the Sports Palace at Bologna...
that year. Exhausted from the NCAAs, he had a mediocre Trials, but easily outrebounded everyone there by a clear margin. The team had four challenging games in the Olympic tournament, two against Italy, one versus the Soviets and one with Brazil.
Lucas figured strongly in every key win. He earned just six free throws from referees during the physical tournament, but tied Robertson, who had 52 free throw tries, for the team scoring lead at 17.0 per game.
Lucas also was noteworthy as he had taken the time to memorize paragraphs of Japanese, Italian and Russian to converse with opposing athletes.
The co-top scorer, top rebounder and shooter, U.S. coach Pete Newell
Pete Newell
Peter Francis Newell was an American college men's basketball coach and basketball instructional coach. He coached for 15 years at the University of San Francisco, Michigan State University and the University of California, Berkeley, compiling an overall record of 234 wins and 123 losses...
later called Lucas "the greatest player I ever coached, and the most unselfish."
Cleveland Pipers
"I never had any special desire to be a professional basketball player", Lucas later said about his pro career. Lucas turned down the Royals to pursue his doctorate in business marketing. But George SteinbrennerGeorge Steinbrenner
George Michael Steinbrenner III was an American businessman who was the principal owner and managing partner of Major League Baseball's New York Yankees. During Steinbrenner's 37-year ownership from 1973 to his death in July 2010, the longest in club history, the Yankees earned seven World Series...
, then the owner of the newly formed American Basketball League's Cleveland Pipers
Cleveland Pipers
The Cleveland Pipers was an American basketball team based in Cleveland, Ohio that played in the short-lived American Basketball League from 1961-62. General Manager, Mike Cleary hired John McLendon, the first African American head coach in professional basketball to lead the squad. Playing under...
, interested the young star with a contract unlike any in sports. The ABL, formed in 1961, played fewer games. They would even delay the start of the season for Lucas to finish his semester. Along with more pay, he also got stock options. Lucas was part of the team ownership before ever playing a pro game. The ABL signing of Lucas shocked the NBA. Soon, commissioner Maury Podoloff
Maurice Podoloff
Maurice Podoloff was a U.S. lawyer and basketball and ice hockey administrator. He was the first president of the National Basketball Association...
had talked Steinbrenner's Pipers into jumping to the NBA. ABL head Abe Saperstein
Abe Saperstein
Abraham M. Saperstein was an owner and coach of the Savoy Big Five, which later became the Harlem Globetrotters...
sued. Then the NBA piled entry fees on Steinbrenner. The whole deal collapsed in August, 1962 and soon the whole ABL went down as well. Lucas, contracted to Steinbrenner in business deals, would miss the 1962-63 NBA season.
Cincinnati Royals
The Cleveland ABL fiasco had surprised many. But Lucas was ready to make amends and play pro ball. Also his sore knees had healed in the year away from the game.In May, 1963 Lucas signed with Warren Hensel, then in process of becoming owner of the NBA's Cincinnati Royals. The local Middletown star and Ohio legend quickly again became a sensation. Lucas was still so popular, that he would boost league attendance that season. He was even a factor, as a needed white star, in the league's new television contract. Lucas would easily be one of the NBA's most popular players throughout the 1960s.
The 1963-64 Royals also included three NBA All-Stars in Oscar Robertson
Oscar Robertson
Oscar Palmer Robertson , nicknamed "The Big O", is a former American NBA player with the Cincinnati Royals and the Milwaukee Bucks...
, Wayne Embry
Wayne Embry
Wayne Richard Embry is a retired American basketball player; a center/forward whose 11-year career spanned from 1959 to 1969...
and Jack Twyman
Jack Twyman
John Kennedy "Jack" Twyman is an American former professional basketball player and sports broadcaster.-Playing career:...
. With Lucas now added, Cincinnati was quickly named favorites to dethrone the Boston Celtics
Boston Celtics
The Boston Celtics are a National Basketball Association team based in Boston, Massachusetts. They play in the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference. Founded in 1946, the team is currently owned by Boston Basketball Partners LLC. The Celtics play their home games at the TD Garden, which...
as NBA champions in Luke's rookie season.
Moving to forward as a pro, while also playing backup to Embry at center, Lucas focused on rebounding to fit in on the team, which already had proven scorers. He would post several 30-rebound games that season and one of 40 in February, the only one ever for a NBA forward. Cincinnati won 55 of its 80 NBA games that year, then a remarkably high number. The team won twelve in a row at one point, and came within 2½ games of the Boston Celtics
Boston Celtics
The Boston Celtics are a National Basketball Association team based in Boston, Massachusetts. They play in the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference. Founded in 1946, the team is currently owned by Boston Basketball Partners LLC. The Celtics play their home games at the TD Garden, which...
for the Eastern Division
Eastern Conference (NBA)
The Eastern Conference of the National Basketball Association is made up of fifteen teams, organized in three divisions of five teams each.The three division winners and the non-division winner with the best record are seeded 1 through 4 for the playoffs in order of their records, with all...
lead. With Lucas added, the Royals also won the season series over Boston, 7-5. Boston and Cincinnati emerged with easily the two best records in the league by season's end. He was easily named the NBA's Rookie Of The Year. Some experts even named Lucas, not Robertson, as the team's key player.
The famed Lucas was a target that season, however. The third-place Philadelphia 76ers played him very physically, often drawing his ire. In the playoffs, a 76ers player plowed into his lower back and injured him for the rest of the playoffs.
The highly anticipated Boston-Cincinnati playoff became anti-climactic as a result. Still Lucas played hurt. When his back improved, they won Game Four to avoid a sweep. In Game Five, Boston's K.C. Jones undercut him while Lucas pursued a rebound, sending Lucas to the floor for a concussion. Lucas never returned to the game and Boston won the series.
1964–1969, the Royals never contended again quite as closely. Lucas became known for what was then called ' the 20-20 '. That's a game or a full season of twenty points and twenty rebounds. Only Wilt Chamberlain had also consistently averaged 20–20. In an era of high tempo and increased shot attempts, Lucas had plenty of chances for his focus on rebounding. During those six years, only Chamberlain and Boston's Bill Russell out-rebounded Lucas. In 1967-68, Lucas out-rebounded Russell. Not the leaper or bull some others were, Lucas outsmarted other players to the ball, over and over again. From 1964 to 1968, Lucas averaged 19.8 rebounds per game.
He was also almost always among the league leaders in field goal percentage. More than just a tip-in guy, Lucas the forward took half his shots from 15 feet or more and still out-shot most dunkers. He shot 50% for his pro career.
Lucas was named the 1965 NBA All-Star Game MVP, and was named First Team All-NBA in 1965, 1966 and 1968. Three times he averaged more than 20 points per game for a season, while deferring to 30-point scorer Robertson.
Only Chamberlain consistently played more minutes than Lucas, who often logged 46 minutes per game, season after season. This despite bad knees that often required daily attention.
Defensively, Lucas, so important to the team's offense and playing huge minutes, paced himself carefully. He played opponents cleanly to avoid fouls and was not a player who often went for blocked shots. This kept him in position for rebounds. To help himself and his sore knees in huge minutes of play, Lucas used his brain and his memory. ' I knew the tendencies of every player and every offense in the league ', Lucas later said. ' I memorized them '. This often kept him a step ahead of bigger, quicker, and stronger NBA athletes.
Starting in 1964, Lucas drew the interest of NFL Cleveland Browns owner Art Modell. Lucas was still very popular in Cleveland, and Modell wanted a NBA franchise for the city. So, from 1966 to 1969, the Royals played 36 home games in Cleveland, boosting their overall attendance. Modell, Lucas and the Royals were factors in the Cleveland Cavaliers expansion franchise.
With the Royals in steady decline, Lucas began to focus more on off-court business opportunities. He became involved in a number of deals, even starting his own fast food chain, Jerry Lucas Beef-N-Shakes. He was a talented magician who knew hundreds of card tricks, which he later published. He also created educational puzzles and games for children. By 1969, he was one of just three millionaire
Millionaire
A millionaire is an individual whose net worth or wealth is equal to or exceeds one million units of currency. It can also be a person who owns one million units of currency in a bank account or savings account...
s playing in the NBA. He had made most of his money off-court in investments.
San Francisco
In the summer of 1969, Cincinnati brought in new management, and a new coach in Bob CousyBob Cousy
Robert Joseph "Bob" Cousy is a retired American professional basketball player. The 6'1" , 175-pound Cousy played point guard with the National Basketball Association's Boston Celtics from 1951 to 1963 and briefly with the Cincinnati Royals in the 1969–70 season...
. Cousy felt the three-time First Team All-Pro did not hustle enough, and traded Ohio's most famous player ever to that point to the San Francisco Warriors
Golden State Warriors
The Golden State Warriors are an American professional basketball team based in Oakland, California. They are part of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference in the National Basketball Association...
for two reserves. One of those reserves, Bill Turner, later joined him in San Francisco.
Lucas was injured and distracted during the 1969-70 season
1969-70 NBA season
The 1969–70 NBA Season was the 24th season of the National Basketball Association. The season ended with the New York Knicks winning the NBA Championship, beating the Los Angeles Lakers 4 games to 3 in the NBA Finals.-Notable occurrences:...
with the Warriors. Banks had cancelled the line of credit on his restaurants. He had to declare bankruptcy
Bankruptcy
Bankruptcy is a legal status of an insolvent person or an organisation, that is, one that cannot repay the debts owed to creditors. In most jurisdictions bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debtor....
, taking investors down with him.
Re-focused on basketball
Basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...
for 1970-71
1970-71 NBA season
The 1970–71 NBA season was the 25th season of the National Basketball Association. The season ended with the Milwaukee Bucks winning the NBA Championship, beating the Baltimore Bullets 4 games to 0 in the NBA Finals.- Notable occurrences :...
, Lucas returned to All-Pro form and was named the starting power forward for the West All-Star team in the 1971 NBA All-Star Game
1971 NBA All-Star Game
GAME 21: at the San Diego Sports Arena, Jan. 12, 1971MVP: Lenny WilkensCoaches: East: Red Holzman, West: Larry Costello.-Western Conference: -Eastern Conference: -Score by periods: *Halftime— West, 62-60*Third Quarter— East, 83-82...
. Teaming with Nate Thurmond
Nate Thurmond
Nathaniel "Nate" Thurmond is a retired American basketball player. Dominant at both center and power forward, he was a seven-time All-Star and the first player in NBA history to record a quadruple-double....
, Clyde Lee
Clyde Lee
Clyde Wayne Lee is an American former professional basketball player.A 6'10" forward/center, Lee starred at Vanderbilt University in the mid-1960s. Lee was known for his rebounding skills and inside scoring prowess. In his junior season , he led the Commodores to their first SEC championship...
, Jeff Mullins, Al Attles and Ron Williams
Ron Williams
Ronald Allen Williams is the Executive Chairman of Aetna, Inc.. In 2005, he was named one of Black Enterprise's 75 Most Powerful African Americans In Corporate America....
, the Warriors also returned to playoffs.
New York
By this point, Lucas rated as one of the most accurate shooters and top rebounders in league history. He had plenty of individual honors as well. What he sought was a championshipNBA Finals
The NBA Finals is the championship series of the National Basketball Association . The series was named the NBA World Championship Series until 1986....
opportunity. The Warriors, needing a small scoring forward like Cazzie Russell, dealt Lucas to the New York Knickerbockers
New York Knickerbockers
The New York Knickerbockers were one of the first organized baseball teams which played under a set of rules similar to the game today. The team was founded by Alexander Cartwright, considered one of the original developers of modern baseball....
, who needed a big man who would work behind both Willis Reed
Willis Reed
Willis Reed, Jr. is a retired American basketball player, coach and manager of basketball teams. He spent his entire professional playing career with the New York Knicks. In 1982, his outstanding record and achievements were recognized by his induction into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall...
and Dave DeBusschere
Dave DeBusschere
David Albert DeBusschere was an American NBA and major league baseball player and coach in the NBA. In 1996, DeBusschere was named as one of the 50 greatest players in NBA history....
. Lucas had long rated ahead of both as an NBA player, but easily agreed as New York was a serious championship contender.
Early in the 1971–72 season
1971–72 NBA season
The 1971–72 NBA season was the 26th season of the National Basketball Association. The season ended with the Los Angeles Lakers winning the NBA Championship, beating the New York Knicks 4 games to 1 in the NBA Finals....
, the injury-prone Reed went down for the season. Lucas, not a starting center since college, was pressed into service. In perhaps his most remarkable season, Lucas led the Knicks in rebounds and shooting accuracy, and was second in scoring and assists only to Walt Frazier
Walt Frazier
Walter "Clyde" Frazier is a retired American basketball player in the National Basketball Association . He was blessed with a unique combination of court vision, quickness, and size for a guard...
on the club. He was named the team's 1972 Most Valuable Player. Deferring to tenured teammates for All-Star honors, Lucas helped the team past Boston in the playoffs, and into the 1972 NBA Finals
1972 NBA Finals
The 1972 NBA Finals was played at the conclusion of the 1971–72 NBA season. The Western Conference Champion Los Angeles Lakers defeated the Eastern Conference Champion New York Knicks in five games...
. Injuries were a big factor in that series, with Lucas out-scoring and out-passing huge opposing center Wilt Chamberlain
Wilt Chamberlain
Wilton Norman "Wilt" Chamberlain was an American professional NBA basketball player for the Philadelphia/San Francisco Warriors, the Philadelphia 76ers and the Los Angeles Lakers; he also played for the Harlem Globetrotters prior to playing in the NBA...
. The Knicks lost in five games.
In 1972–73, Willis Reed had returned. But Lucas played more minutes than Reed at center that season, helping New York save Reed for the playoffs. Focusing more on passing at center, Luke averaged five assists per game. His role was crucial for New York's 1973 NBA championship
1973 NBA Finals
For the third time in four seasons, the New York Knicks of the Eastern Conference met the Los Angeles Lakers of the Western Conference for the NBA World Championship in the 1973 NBA Finals...
. Lucas had become the first American basketball player to win championships at every level --- high school, college, Olympics, and the pros.
Lucas also became a media darling in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, where he found a large market for his magic tricks, memory games, and other products. He amazed many by memorizing portions of the Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
Phone Book or memorizing the names of an entire studio audience in sequence during television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
appearances. He also had a knack for taking words apart and then respelling them alphabetically in rapidfire order ( his name would spell E-J-R-R-Y A-C-L-S-U ). Lucas showed many how mental games and memory exercises could build brain power and intelligence for people at any age.
In 1974, the Knicks made a run to repeat as NBA champs, but the team known was eliminated in the East Finals. Lucas, Reed and DeBusschere, all Hall of Famers, retired as players after that season. New York has not won an NBA title since.
At retirement, Lucas ranked fourth all-time in rebounds per game to Wilt Chamberlain, Bill Russell
Bill Russell
William Felton "Bill" Russell is a retired American professional basketball player who played center for the Boston Celtics of the National Basketball Association...
and Bob Pettit
Bob Pettit
Robert Lee "Bob" Pettit Jr. is a retired American professional basketball player. He played 11 seasons in the NBA, all with the Milwaukee/St. Louis Hawks . He was the first recipient of the NBA's Most Valuable Player Award. He was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1970...
.
He was named to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1980, and was later named one of the 50 Greatest NBA Players in 1996. He was also later named to Sports Illustrated
Sports Illustrated
Sports Illustrated is an American sports media company owned by media conglomerate Time Warner. Its self titled magazine has over 3.5 million subscribers and is read by 23 million adults each week, including over 18 million men. It was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the...
's five-man college Team Of The Century in 1999.
Retirement
Lucas was inducted into the Basketball Hall of FameBasketball Hall of Fame
The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, located in Springfield, Massachusetts, United States, honors exceptional basketball players, coaches, referees, executives, and other major contributors to the game of basketball worldwide...
in 1980 along side Les Harrison, Oscar Robertson
Oscar Robertson
Oscar Palmer Robertson , nicknamed "The Big O", is a former American NBA player with the Cincinnati Royals and the Milwaukee Bucks...
and Jerry West
Jerry West
Jerry Alan West is a retired American basketball player who played his entire professional career for the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association . His nicknames include "Mr...
.
After basketball, Lucas took up a role as an educator and memory expert and has written books and produced television programs on the subject. Three of his best sellers are The Memory Book, co-written with Harry Lorayne
Harry Lorayne
Harry Lorayne is an American magician and a memory-training specialist and writer who was once called "The Yoda of Memory Training" by Time magazine. He is well known for his mnemonic demonstrations and has appeared on numerous television shown including The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson...
, his well-known ' Ready, Set, Remember ' the basis of many of his other writings, and Remember the Word, for memorizing portions of the Bible
Bible
The Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the individual books , their contents and their order vary among denominations...
. His educational programs on image-based memory development are now being used in some Ohio school systems.
Lucas serves as a long-distance Director of Basketball Operations for Indiana Wesleyan University
Indiana Wesleyan University
Indiana Wesleyan University is a private, evangelical Christian, liberal arts university located in Marion, Indiana that is affiliated with the Wesleyan Church denomination...
, according to their 2006–2007 media guide, and helps in the nationwide recruiting effort for the Wildcats.
http://doctormemory.com/html/aboutjerry.html. Lucas is active today as a public speaker and in celebrity golf
Golf
Golf is a precision club and ball sport, in which competing players use many types of clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a golf course using the fewest number of strokes....
tournaments.
See also
- List of National Basketball Association career rebounding leaders
- List of National Basketball Association players with most rebounds in a game
- List of NCAA Division I men's basketball season rebounding leaders
External links
- Lucas' Basketball Hall of Fame page
- NBA biography of Jerry Lucas
- Career Stats
- More Career Stats
- 1961-62 Oscar Robertson Trophy USBWA College Player of the Year
- Official Site of Jerry Lucas
- Dr. Ms Universe™ Preview Video
- http://espn.go.com/classic/biography/s/lucas_jerry.html