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Guard · 1979–81

Ron Boone

Professional basketball's iron man played 1,041 consecutive games across the ABA and NBA — and claimed he never missed one from fourth grade to retirement. Just 5-foot-7 when he left Omaha Technical High, Boone grew at an Iowa junior college, starred at Idaho State, and chose the ABA's Dallas Chaparrals in 1968. His crowning run came with the Utah Stars, helping win the 1971 ABA championship alongside Zelmo Beaty and Willie Wise.

Utah never really let him go. After his NBA years, which closed with a Jazz stint from 1979 to 1981, Boone stayed in Salt Lake City and became the color commentator on Jazz broadcasts, the voice fans still hear today.

HOW HE CAME & WENTThe Lakers traded him to Utah for a 1981 third-round pick on October 25, 1979, returning him to the city where he had been a champion. The Jazz waived him in January 1981 — and he has been on their broadcasts ever since.

Full name
Ronald Bruce Boone
Utah Jazz tenure
1979–81
Position
Guard
Born
1946, Oklahoma City
Height
6′2″ (188 cm)
Weight
201 lb (91 kg)
College
Idaho State
Drafted
1968, ABA
Signatures in the archive
  • 1977 Topps Card #119 Kansas City Kings PSA/DNA #83449039
  • 8x10 Utah Jazz Free Shipping #4

No photograph of this signature is online yet.

With the Jazz

RON BOONE · 1979–81 · PER GAME
SEASONTEAMGMPGPPGRPGAPGSPGBPGFG%3P%FT%
1979–80UTA7530.512.92.94.01.20.0.447.380.894
1980–81UTA5222.07.81.63.10.60.2.431.282.798
JAZZ TOTAL2 SEASONS12727.010.82.43.61.00.1.442.337.862

Season by season, regular season, with this franchise only. More info: Basketball-Reference ↗  ·  Wikipedia ↗

Did you know

RON BOONE · 8 NOTES
  • Just 5-foot-7 when he finished high school, he sprouted to 6-foot-2 at an Iowa junior college and averaged 26 points a game.
  • A YMCA official once scoffed that he could never play major college basketball — Boone says the slight fueled his whole career.
  • He grew up in the Logan Fontenelle housing project in North Omaha and played high school baseball for Josh Gibson, Bob Gibson's older brother.
  • His high school coach found him a scholarship at Idaho State sight unseen, on nothing more than a recommendation.
  • He credits making the Dallas roster to blocking player-coach Cliff Hagan's famous hook shot a couple of times in a camp drill.
  • He finished third on the ABA's all-time scoring list and is the only one of its five leading scorers not in the Hall of Fame.
  • He hosts the annual Ron Boone Golf Classic, which raises money for the Huntsman Cancer Institute in Salt Lake City.
  • Waived by the Jazz in January 1981, he had offers from other clubs but did not pursue them, saying it was the right time to retire.