Artis Gilmore

Artis Gilmore was regarded as one of the strongest men ever to play professional basketball. Artis was one of the league's most intimidating centers during the 1970s and 1980s. Most players knew better than to bring the ball to the hoop when the 7-2 Gilmore was in the middle.

During his long career that spanned 12 seasons in the NBA and five in the American Basketball Association, Gilmore was known as a workhorse, playing 670 consecutive games at one stretch. He barely spoke above a whisper and rarely got in fights or argued with referees. Instead of lashing out verbally, the media-shy Gilmore responded to critics who called him lazy and uninspired by staging comeback after comeback and by remaining a potent force until the end of his career.

Gilmore was an All-Star in 11 of his 17 years as a pro, his last selection coming at age 36. Scoring most of his more than 15,000 NBA points with dunks, finger-rolls and baby hook shots, the lefthanded Gilmore posted a career .599 field-goal percentage, the highest ever in the league. He shot .600 or better in six different seasons, and he led the NBA in field-goal percentage four times. His 1,747 NBA blocked shots rank him near the top in that category as well. Gilmore also earned All-ABA First Team honors in each of his five seasons with the Kentucky Colonels, and he was the league's Most Valuable Player and Rookie of the Year in 1971-72.

Multimillion-dollar contracts and NBA stardom were as far from Gilmore's rural southern upbringing as one could get. He was born in Chipley, a town of about 5,000 in Florida's Panhandle. As a 6-5, 145-pound high school freshman, Gilmore wanted to play tight end on the football team, but his parents couldn't afford the required insurance.

Gilmore's father, a fisherman who worked irregularly, could barely scrape together enough money to house and feed his 10 children. And Gilmore's mother (like her son, taller than average at 6-foot) was too busy taking care of the kids to bring in much money on her own. Sometimes the children went without food, clothes, and school supplies. The young Artis went barefoot when his shoe size grew beyond 13; the local stores didn't have anything that big. And his friends worried that he wasn't eating enough.

Gilmore's parents, although of limited education, did their best to teach their son right from wrong. "They had been taught there was one way to live-the right way-and they instilled it into us," Gilmore told the Chicago Tribune in 1977.

As a 6-9½ high school senior, Gilmore moved to Dothan, Alabama, 30 miles to the north. He quickly took to his new surroundings and was named a third-team high school All-American at center, behind Howard Porter and Jim McDaniels.

After two years at Gardner-Webb Junior College in Boiling Springs, North Carolina, Gilmore had reached his full height and had bulked up to enormous size. He was ready for the big time -- Jacksonville University, which was closer to his family. As a senior in 1970-71, he led the Dolphins to a 27-2 record and the NCAA Championship Game. They lost to a UCLA team led by Henry Bibby and Sidney Wicks. In two years at Jacksonville, Gilmore became one of the few college players ever to average at least 20 points and 20 rebounds over a career. He led the nation in rebounding as both a junior and a senior, and he still holds the highest career rebounding average (22.7 rpg) in NCAA Division I history.

Then came the bidding war between the NBA and the ABA. The ABA's Kentucky Colonels wanted Gilmore, and they were willing to pay top dollar. He signed a 10-year, $2.5 million contract with the team. The investment immediately paid big dividends.

The youngster with the mutton chop sideburns, 31-inch waist, and 27-inch thighs was an instant star. Gilmore led the Colonels to an ABA-record .810 winning percentage during the 1971-72 season. They won 68 of 84 games, 24 more than the previous year. Gilmore won both the Rookie of the Year and Most Valuable Player Awards, finished 10th in the league in scoring (23.8 ppg), first in rebounds (17.8 rpg), and first in field-goal percentage (.598). He was named to the All-Star Team, as he would be in all five of his ABA seasons. In the playoffs, however, the Colonels lost to the New York Nets in the first round, four games to two.

The ABA was at its peak around the time Gilmore entered the league. The names of future NBA stars such as Julius Erving, George McGinnis, Dan Issel, Rick Barry, George Gervin, Spencer Haywood and David Thompson graced the top of the statistical charts.

Gilmore would star as long as the league lasted. Over the next four seasons he helped carry the Colonels to the playoffs every year. In his five-year ABA career he played in all 420 games and led the league in rebounding four times and in field-goal percentage twice. He also finished in the top 10 in scoring all five seasons and set ABA records for career blocks (750), blocks during a season (422 in 1971-72), career field-goal percentage (.557), and rebounds in one game (40 versus New York, on Feb. 3, 1974).