John Block

One collector is trying to find a single signature from every man who ever played for the Jazz — all 370 of them, from the 1974 New Orleans team to today. For many of them, this page is the only one on the internet. Here is John Block: what he did on the floor, a few things most people never knew, and every card that carries his name. If you own something he signed — or you know who might — there is a note at the foot of this page.

Before the Jazz existed, Block was already a veteran — a USC product who led the expansion San Diego Rockets in scoring at 20.2 points a game in 1967-68 and made the 1973 All-Star Game. His most treasured night came off the Bucks' bench in January 1972, when his 17 points and 10 rebounds helped end the Lakers' 33-game winning streak.

The 1974-75 New Orleans Jazz were the sixth of his seven NBA stops in ten seasons — a career of 7,106 points that began with a rookie year spent studying Jerry West up close as a Laker, on the advice of teammate Rudy LaRusso.

HOW HE CAME & WENTNew Orleans took him in the 1974 expansion draft, making him an original Jazzman, but a hamstring limited him to four games before the club traded him to Chicago that November for Rick Adelman.

Full name

John William Block Jr.

New Orleans Jazz tenure

1974–75

Position

Forward/Center

Born

1944, Los Angeles

Height

6′9″ (206 cm)

Weight

207 lb (94 kg)

College

USC

Drafted

1966, 3rd round (No. 27), Los Angeles Lakers