An NCAA scoring champion, a coach in the "Greatest Game Ever Played," the original Sonics center, the inventor of the Dunk Contest, the Hall of Famer affectionately known as "Hondo," and the first player of color in NBA history are amongst the basketball people we lost in 2019.
1) John Havlicek (born 1940)
He almost became a wide receiver instead. Though Havlicek didn't play football at Ohio State (Woody Hayes recruited him but he declined), where he instead focused on leading the Buckeyes basketball team to the 1960 NCAA title, he was All-State on the gridiron at his high school in central Ohio and tried out for the Cleveland Browns when they drafted him in the seventh round. When he wound up as the last cut of training camp, Havlicek opted to report to the Celtics, teaming up with Bill Russell instead of Jim Brown. Eight championships, 13 All-Star appearances, one Finals MVP trophy, and one unforgettable radio call later ("Havlicek steals the ball!"), he was a certified NBA legend and #23 on our all-time list as of 2019. Having grown up the son of working class, coal miner immigrants, Havlicek understandably adopted a life of leisure after his playing career ended, living off money he had wisely invested in Wendy's franchises and spending many of his days indulging in his new favorite sport, fishing. He passed away from the effects of Parkinson's disease at the age of 79.
2) Lewis Lloyd (born 1959)
3) Al Bianchi (born 1932)
Known first and foremost by many as the general manager of the Knicks in the late '80s and early '90s when they acquired John Starks, Charles Oakley, and Greg Anthony, Bianchi was also a great player in his days. A New Yorker originally, attending high school in Long Island, he played college basketball at Bowling Green in Ohio before serving two years in the U.S. Army Medical Corps. Originally drafted by the Lakers in 1954, Bianchi was traded to the Syracuse Nationals during his two-year military service delay and spent his entire 10-year career with the franchise, a rarity for a role player. He averaged 8.1 points per game in his career, with seven years spent in Syracuse, and the final three in Philadelphia after the franchise moved and became the 76ers. Though his teams appeared in the Conference Finals five times, Bianchi never got a chance to participate in the NBA Finals. He was selected by the Bulls in the 1966 expansion draft, just the Sixers were about to make a title run, and opted to retire and become an assistant coach instead. He was eventually head coach of the Sonics for two-plus seasons, then the Virginia Squires of the ABA, with whom he won Coach of the Year honors in 1971 (and coached future 76ers legend Julius Erving). Eventually inducted into both the New York City and Ohio State Basketball Halls of Fame, Bianchi passed away at age 87 from heart failure.
4) Tom Nissalke (born 1932)
An early acolyte of Jerry Tarkanian at Riverside Community College in California, Rule was an overlooked underdog at every level who seemed to be developing into an NBA All-Star mainstay in the early '70s when an Achilles' tear ruined his career. Lightly recruited out of high school, Rule managed to parlay his performance at Riverside into a scholarship from Colorado State, and he led the Rams to an NCAA Tournament appearance in 1966. He was soon drafted in the second round by the expansion Sonics and against all odds instantly became the team's best scorer and biggest star. As a rookie, Rule averaged 18.1 points per game, a franchise record that stood for almost 40 years before Kevin Durant broke it. Despite being an undersized center on a struggling team, Rule still quickly became one of the league's best big men, averaging 24.3 points and 10.9 rebounds per game over the next two seasons, and getting named to the 1971 All-Star team. Tragedy struck early in the '71-'72 season, when Rule tore his Achilles' in just the third game, forcing him to miss the remainder of the year and never fully recovering. His post-career life was relatively private after his 1975 retirement, and he passed away in his sleep at age 75. He still stands as one of the greatest players in NBA history to never participate in the playoffs.
6) Gene Melchiorre (born 1927)
Things were different in the NBA in 1951, where a man nicknamed "Squeaky" who stood 5'8" could be the first overall pick in the draft. Unfortunately for Melchiorre, he soon became one of only two #1 picks in league history to never actually suit up for an NBA team, due to his involvement in a point shaving scandal. A four-sport star at Highland Park High School just outside of Chicago, he put off his basketball dreams for two years to serve in the Army but eventually wound up at Bradley. He almost led the Braves to the 1950 NCAA Tournament title, losing in a thriller in the championship game to CCNY, but a year later he was a pariah after admitting to participating in point shaving. Melchiorre and several of his teammates pled guilty to taking bribes to keep scores down in two games but he still was drafted first overall by the Baltimore Bullets and expected to play in the NBA. Commissioner Maurice Podoloff then opted to ban all players who were involved in point shaving, effectively ending Melchiorre's pro career before it could even start. Bowed but not defeated, he returned to Highland Park and eventually opened his own successful trucking company. Despite his involvement in the scandal, Bradley did finally induct him in their athletics Hall of Fame in 1979. He passed away at age 92 from natural causes.
7) Cal Ramsey (born 1937)
8) Rob Babcock (born 1953)
9) John MacLeod (born 1937)
Though the franchise is now over 50 years old, only two coaches have ever guided the Phoenix Suns to the NBA Finals. MacLeod is one of them, leading his team to a surprise appearance in 1976, upsetting the Sonics and Warriors en route to a Finals loss to the Celtics. The series included "the greatest game ever played," where MacLeod, surrounded by rowdy fans that were basically storming the court in anticipation of a Celtics win, drew up a last-second jumper in the huddle for Gar Heard, which he hit at the buzzer to send the contest to a third overtime. Phoenix eventually lost the game and the series but MacLeod goes down as the first coach to take the Suns to the Finals, and the all-time franchise leader in regular season wins (579) and postseason wins (37). After 14 seasons in Phoenix, MacLeod later had brief gigs with the Mavericks (leading them to the 1988 Conference Finals) and Knicks, and then spent most of the '90s coaching Notre Dame. He was inducted into the Suns Ring of Honor in 2012 and the Arizona Sports Hall of Fame in 2016, before passing away at age 81 due to complications from Alzheimer's.
10) Andre Emmett (born 1982)
11) Billy Gabor (born 1922)
2) Lewis Lloyd (born 1959)
Lloyd first came to prominence at Overbrook High School in Philadelphia (which also produced Wilt Chamberlain) where he earned the nickname "Black Magic," and then at Drake, who eventually honored him as just the second player in program history to have his number retired. Though he lasted seven seasons in the NBA and averaged a respectable 13.2 points per game for his career, he's more widely remembered now for his offseason activities. During his four seasons with the Rockets, Lloyd and teammate Mitchell Wiggins gained a reputation for hard partying, taking copious amounts of cocaine and running up otherworldly bar tabs and hotel bills. Both he and Wiggins were eventually banned indefinitely from the NBA for testing positive for an illegal substance, and though he was reinstated two-and-a-half years later, Lloyd's career never recovered. Later in life, he spent his time running a vending business back in his hometown of Philly, and often worked at basketball clinics. He passed away at age 60 from what was labelled as an "accidental drug intoxication."
3) Al Bianchi (born 1932)
Known first and foremost by many as the general manager of the Knicks in the late '80s and early '90s when they acquired John Starks, Charles Oakley, and Greg Anthony, Bianchi was also a great player in his days. A New Yorker originally, attending high school in Long Island, he played college basketball at Bowling Green in Ohio before serving two years in the U.S. Army Medical Corps. Originally drafted by the Lakers in 1954, Bianchi was traded to the Syracuse Nationals during his two-year military service delay and spent his entire 10-year career with the franchise, a rarity for a role player. He averaged 8.1 points per game in his career, with seven years spent in Syracuse, and the final three in Philadelphia after the franchise moved and became the 76ers. Though his teams appeared in the Conference Finals five times, Bianchi never got a chance to participate in the NBA Finals. He was selected by the Bulls in the 1966 expansion draft, just the Sixers were about to make a title run, and opted to retire and become an assistant coach instead. He was eventually head coach of the Sonics for two-plus seasons, then the Virginia Squires of the ABA, with whom he won Coach of the Year honors in 1971 (and coached future 76ers legend Julius Erving). Eventually inducted into both the New York City and Ohio State Basketball Halls of Fame, Bianchi passed away at age 87 from heart failure.
4) Tom Nissalke (born 1932)
Coach of not only the Jazz when they played their first season in Salt Lake City in '79-'80 but also previously the city's ABA franchise, the Utah Stars, Nissalke settled into the area as his new home. When his coaching career ended in the '90s he became chairman of the Salt Lake City YMCA, spending his days fund raising and occasionally working as a radio analyst. He grew up in Wisconsin and got his NBA coaching start as an assistant with the inaugural Bucks in '68-'69. After winning a title ring in 1971, Nissalke leveraged it into his first head coaching gig with the Dallas Chaparrals of the ABA, with whom he won Coach of the Year in '71-'72. In addition to the two Utah franchises, he also made stops with the Cavaliers, Rockets (with whom he won NBA Coach of the Year in '76-'77), SuperSonics, Spurs, Hornets, and Nuggets. Basically a basketball lifer, he also spent time coaching in the CBA, the short-lived World Basketball League, and in the Olympics for Puerto Rico, whom he almost led to a stunning upset of the U.S. team in the 1976 tournament. He passed away in his adopted home of Salt Lake City at age 87.
5) Bob Rule (born 1944)
An early acolyte of Jerry Tarkanian at Riverside Community College in California, Rule was an overlooked underdog at every level who seemed to be developing into an NBA All-Star mainstay in the early '70s when an Achilles' tear ruined his career. Lightly recruited out of high school, Rule managed to parlay his performance at Riverside into a scholarship from Colorado State, and he led the Rams to an NCAA Tournament appearance in 1966. He was soon drafted in the second round by the expansion Sonics and against all odds instantly became the team's best scorer and biggest star. As a rookie, Rule averaged 18.1 points per game, a franchise record that stood for almost 40 years before Kevin Durant broke it. Despite being an undersized center on a struggling team, Rule still quickly became one of the league's best big men, averaging 24.3 points and 10.9 rebounds per game over the next two seasons, and getting named to the 1971 All-Star team. Tragedy struck early in the '71-'72 season, when Rule tore his Achilles' in just the third game, forcing him to miss the remainder of the year and never fully recovering. His post-career life was relatively private after his 1975 retirement, and he passed away in his sleep at age 75. He still stands as one of the greatest players in NBA history to never participate in the playoffs.
6) Gene Melchiorre (born 1927)
Things were different in the NBA in 1951, where a man nicknamed "Squeaky" who stood 5'8" could be the first overall pick in the draft. Unfortunately for Melchiorre, he soon became one of only two #1 picks in league history to never actually suit up for an NBA team, due to his involvement in a point shaving scandal. A four-sport star at Highland Park High School just outside of Chicago, he put off his basketball dreams for two years to serve in the Army but eventually wound up at Bradley. He almost led the Braves to the 1950 NCAA Tournament title, losing in a thriller in the championship game to CCNY, but a year later he was a pariah after admitting to participating in point shaving. Melchiorre and several of his teammates pled guilty to taking bribes to keep scores down in two games but he still was drafted first overall by the Baltimore Bullets and expected to play in the NBA. Commissioner Maurice Podoloff then opted to ban all players who were involved in point shaving, effectively ending Melchiorre's pro career before it could even start. Bowed but not defeated, he returned to Highland Park and eventually opened his own successful trucking company. Despite his involvement in the scandal, Bradley did finally induct him in their athletics Hall of Fame in 1979. He passed away at age 92 from natural causes.
7) Cal Ramsey (born 1937)
Standing just 6'4" but possessing the style of a power forward, Ramsey probably could have been an NBA All-Star if he had reached the league just a few years earlier than his selection in the 1959 draft. As it stood, larger power forwards and centers like Bill Russell, Bob Pettit, and Wilt Chamberlain were starting to dominate the league, and Ramsey's lack of ball handling skills left him wanting at the swing man positions. So despite a star turn at New York University and a preceding reputation on the playgrounds of Harlem where he grew up, Ramsey was unable to gain a foothold in the NBA, and his career lasted just 13 games over two seasons with the Hawks, Knicks, and Nationals. It was also likely a result of the unspoken quota on black players that existed in the '50s and '60s, which Ramsey himself would later call out during his extensive career broadcasting Knicks games. He was most notably New York's color analyst in 1973, when the Knicks won their second title, and in 1979, when he was first paired with a young Marv Albert. Ramsey later had gigs as the head coach at NYU, and as a community ambassador for the Knicks, working extensively with local youth. He passed away from cardiac arrest at age 81.
8) Rob Babcock (born 1953)
One of the most notorious front office executives in recent history, it's morbidly appropriate that Babcock's passing in the spring coincided so closely with the Raptors winning their first title. As Toronto's general manager from 2004 to 2006, Babcock was responsible for the most infamous roster move in franchise history, trading away a disgruntled Vince Carter to the Nets for essentially spare parts. It was a real lose-lose situation for the veteran executive, who had worked previously as a scout for the Nuggets, then a long-time director of player personnel for the Timberwolves. One of Carter's biggest beefs was the hiring of Babcock in the first place, as the Raptors star preferred Julius Erving for the job. In addition to the ignominious trade, Babcock also oversaw two disastrous drafts, selecting Brazilian stiff Rafael Araujo eighth overall in 2004, then reaching for Charlie Villanueva and Joey Graham in the first round in 2005. Babcock was mercilessly fired during the '05-'06 season and returned to the Timberwolves, where he worked as an assistant GM for over a decade. He is one of several family members with high-ranking positions on NBA franchises: younger brother Dave is director of player personnel for the Bucks, older brother Pete is a longtime executive who earned a title ring as a scout for the Cavaliers in 2016, eldest son Chris is a director player development for the 76ers, while younger son Nate is a special assistant to Nets coach Kenny Atkinson. Rob passed away at the age of 65 from pancreatic cancer.
9) John MacLeod (born 1937)
Though the franchise is now over 50 years old, only two coaches have ever guided the Phoenix Suns to the NBA Finals. MacLeod is one of them, leading his team to a surprise appearance in 1976, upsetting the Sonics and Warriors en route to a Finals loss to the Celtics. The series included "the greatest game ever played," where MacLeod, surrounded by rowdy fans that were basically storming the court in anticipation of a Celtics win, drew up a last-second jumper in the huddle for Gar Heard, which he hit at the buzzer to send the contest to a third overtime. Phoenix eventually lost the game and the series but MacLeod goes down as the first coach to take the Suns to the Finals, and the all-time franchise leader in regular season wins (579) and postseason wins (37). After 14 seasons in Phoenix, MacLeod later had brief gigs with the Mavericks (leading them to the 1988 Conference Finals) and Knicks, and then spent most of the '90s coaching Notre Dame. He was inducted into the Suns Ring of Honor in 2012 and the Arizona Sports Hall of Fame in 2016, before passing away at age 81 due to complications from Alzheimer's.
10) Andre Emmett (born 1982)
Before their 2019 Final Four run, many of Texas Tech's greatest moments in basketball program history were courtesy of Emmett. Born and raised in Dallas, he was recruited to nearby Texas Tech by James Dickey, but wound up playing most of his collegiate career under Bobby Knight. Emmett's 2,256 career points for the Red Raiders set the Big 12 career record (he's still third on the list), and he was named All-Big 12 1st-Team three times, and an All-American in his senior year. Though Emmett never guided Texas Tech past the second round of the NCAA Tournament, his carefree attitude and shooting prowess won over fans for life, and in March of 2019 was inducted into the school's inaugural Ring of Honor class. His pro career was nomadic, starting with the Grizzlies, who traded for him on draft day in 2004. He lasted just 14 games total in the NBA with Memphis and New Jersey, but wound up playing basketball professionally for 25 years all around the world, making stops in Lithuania, Belgium, France, Venezuela, China, Puerto Rico, Lebanon, Mexico, Philippines, and South Korea, in addition to several stints in the G-League. Emmett eventually became one of the biggest stars of the Big 3, finishing second in the league in scoring in the 2019. He was soon after murdered at age 37 outside his home in Dallas, in what police called an armed robbery attempt.
11) Billy Gabor (born 1922)
One of 12 players to have his jersey retired by Syracuse, Gabor was the school's first big star in the '40s and for almost 20 years held the program's all-time scoring record (Dave Bing eventually broke it). Born and raised in Upstate New York, he spent his entire pro career there as well, drafted by the Rochester Royals in 1948 and soon after traded to the Syracuse Nationals. Nicknamed "Bullet Billy" for his speed on the court, Gabor averaged a career high 11.3 points per game in '50-'51, and was named an All-Star in '52-'53. The Nationals reached the playoffs in all six seasons he played, though he was left off the postseason roster in 1955, when Dolph Schayes guided them to a championsip. He passed away just a few weeks after celebrating his 97th birthday, and was the oldest living former NBA player. The title was inherited by Whitey Von Neida, who was born about a month after Gabor.
12) Johnny Neumann (born 1950)
One year after LSU's Pete Maravich led the NCAA in scoring and became a household name, another SEC star was drawing comparisons to the "Pistol." Nuemann averaged 40.1 points per game for Mississippi in '70-'71 as a sophomore and it was the highest mark in the nation. He had reportedly turned down a scholarship offer from Adolph Rupp at Kentucky to attend Mississippi, but quit before his one season on the varsity was even over. When Nuemann's father had a heart attack in the spring of 1971, he returned to his hometown of Memphis and signed a contract with the Tams of the ABA to help financially support his family. He was one of the first players to take advantage of the league's new "hardship" clause, which allowed players to join the ABA even if they still had college eligibility left, provided they could prove financial "hardship" (the NBA would add a similar clause a couple years later due to a lawsuit from Spencer Haywood). Talented but immature, Neumann averaged 19.0 points per game in his first two seasons, but spent the rest of his career bouncing around various roles on various teams, eventually logging 83 games of NBA service with the Braves, Lakers, and Pacers post-merger. After playing for and later coaching teams in several countries, including Saudi Arabia, Belgium, Japan, and Germany, he eventually did earn a degree from Mississippi in 2016 at age 65.
13) Kelly Coleman (born 1938)
Almost a half-century before LeBron James, a different prep star earned the nickname "King" in Kentucky. Coleman finished his career at Wayland High School in 1956 with 4,337 points, a record that still stands. In fact, no other player in Kentucky prep history has even come within 600 points of his mark, and this was long before the days of the three-point shot. Considered the top NCAA recruit in 1956, ahead of even Oscar Robertson and Jerry West, Coleman spurned a scholarship offer at Kentucky from Adolph Rupp and planned to team up with West at West Virginia. But the NCAA soon ruled that he had accepted improper gifts while at Wayland, so Coleman instead wound up at Kentucky Wesleyan, a Division II school. He led the nation in scoring as a freshman, and led the Panthers to the Division II Final Four in his first and final seasons on campus. All set to take the NBA by storm after being drafted by the Knicks in 1960, Coleman instead found himself kicked off a team before he could even suit up. After a dispute with player-coach Carl Braun in the preseason, Coleman was shockingly waived by the Knicks on the eve of his rookie season. He instead played for several years in the EPBL, the ABL, and the Harlem Globetrotters before retiring from basketball having never played in NCAA Division I or the NBA. Though he spent much of his later life in Michigan as a successful entrepreneur, Coleman eventually did return to his native Kentucky, and passed away at age 80 just down the road from where he grew up in Wayland.
14) Pep Saul (born 1924)
The Minneapolis Lakers-Rochester Royals rivalry defined the NBA in its earliest days in the late '40s and early '50s, and Saul was the rare player who contributed on both sides of the divide. Already 25 by the time he was drafted by the Royals in 1949, having served in the U.S. Army in World War II, Saul joined a team that was new to the NBA but had a long history in the NBL. Though Saul never contributed much statistically, peaking at 7.4 points per game in '52-'53, he played for title contenders his entire career. Rochester lost in the Conference Finals in Saul's rookie season, then won the only title in franchise history (they're now the Sacramento Kings) in his second campaign. He was traded to the Baltimore Bullets before '51-'52 but was soon sold by the floundering franchise in-season to the Lakers, with whom he took over as starting shooting guard alongside Slater Martin in the back court. Thus, he became the first player in NBA history to win three or more consecutive championships with two different teams after the Lakers took home the title in 1952, 1953, and 1954 (only Steve Kerr and Patrick McCaw have accomplished it since). One of the inaugural inductees in the Seton Hall Athletics Hall of Fame for having set the school record for career scoring, Saul was also inducted in the Sports Hall of Fame of his native state, New Jersey. He passed away at age 95 from natural causes.
15) Carl Scheer (born 1936)
Much has been made of the watershed moment of the 1976 ABA Slam Dunk Contest, with Julius Erving and others setting the stage for decades of entertaining basketball exhibitions. But often overlooked is Scheer, the contest's inventor, who conceived of it while he was general manager of the Denver Nuggets. It was in that capacity that he had drafted one of the contest's biggest stars, David Thompson, and built a team that reached the last ABA Finals in 1976. Scheer remained in the Denver front office for eight seasons after the NBA-ABA merger and eventually took over as the first-ever general manager of the Charlotte Hornets for the their inaugural '88-'89 season, where he laid the groundwork for their entertaining '90s teams. In addition to his Dunk Contest innovation, Scheer is also notable for having designed the Nuggets' classic "rainbow skyline" logo. He passed away at age 82 from complications due to dementia.
16) Wataru Misaka (born 1923)