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Center · 1974–75

Walt Bellamy

Before one final NBA game with the 1974-75 New Orleans Jazz, Bellamy had already built a Hall of Fame resume: starting center on the undefeated 1960 Olympic gold-medal team, first overall pick in 1961, and author of one of the greatest rookie seasons ever — 31.6 points and 19 rebounds a game for the Chicago Packers. A four-time All-Star, he became just the second player after Wilt Chamberlain to total 20,000 points and 14,000 rebounds.

Raised in New Bern, North Carolina, where money was tight and a street now bears his name, Bellamy was enshrined in Springfield twice — in 1993 for his career and in 2010 with the entire 1960 Olympic team. He died on November 2, 2013, at 74.

HOW HE CAME & WENTThe Hall of Fame centre closed his career with the Jazz in 1974-75. The club waived him after what proved to be his final NBA game.

Full name
Walter Jones Bellamy
New Orleans Jazz tenure
1974–75
Position
Center
Born
1939, New Bern, North Carolina
Died
2013
Height
6′11″ (211 cm)
Weight
225 lb (102 kg)
College
Indiana
Drafted
1961, 1st round (No. 1), Chicago
Signature in the archive 1995 Action Packed HOF Card #9 PSA/DNA #83713681

No photograph of this signature is online yet.

With the Jazz

WALT BELLAMY · 1974–75 · PER GAME
SEASONTEAMGMPGPPGRPGAPGSPGBPGFG%3P%FT%
1974–75NOJ114.06.05.00.00.00.01.0001.000
JAZZ TOTAL1 SEASON114.06.05.00.00.00.01.0001.000

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

Did you know

WALT BELLAMY · 6 NOTES
  • Was taken from Atlanta in the 1974 expansion draft that stocked the brand-new franchise.
  • Once played 88 games in a single NBA season, still the league record, after a mid-season trade in 1968–69.
  • Spent his retirement decades in Atlanta civic life, active in voter-registration and community causes.
  • In his first game against Wilt Chamberlain, the giant blocked his first nine shots and held him scoreless for a half.
  • He chose Indiana because, as he put it, it was the closest school to the South that would accept African-American students.
  • An All-State performer in two sports, he played on a state championship football team and once scored 47 in a basketball playoff game.