Today’s Sports Stat: January 18, 2018
If you were an NBA fan back in the 70s (like I was) you certainly remember Jo Jo White. He was a mainstay of those Celtics teams in the 70s, providing steady guard play for a couple of championship Boston teams. White died on Tuesday at the age of 71.
White was a Hall of Famer, member of the USA gold medal winning hoops team in 1968, and an NBA Finals MVP in 1976.
Here are a handful of stats/facts you may not know about Jo Jo White.
- White still holds the Celtics team record for most consecutive games played, 488.
- Not only was he drafted by the Celtics in the NBA, but White was also drafted in two other sports: the NFL by the Dallas Cowboys, and MLB by the Cincinnati Reds. If you add in that he was also drafted into the U.S. military, that’s four very high-profile organizations that drafted White. How many athletes can say that?
- White is one of 79 players in league history to play in all 82 games in a season five times. In fact, White played in 82 games each season in five straight years.
- He averaged 35.8 minutes played per game in his career. That ranks 49th all-time in the league (according to Pro Basketball Reference.com, Wilt Chamberlain tops this category averaging 45.8 minutes per game for a career). White is one of 80 players in NBA history to average 35 or more minutes per game for a career.
- White played collegiately at the University of Kansas. He ranks third on the list for most points scored in the NBA by a player who played at the University of Kansas. Chamberlain is number one on the list followed by another UK alum who played for the Celtics, Paul Pierce.
- White played in seven straight NBA All-Star Games from 1971-77.
- White was a first team All-NBA Rookie selection in 1969-70. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was a unanimous choice as Rookie of the Year that season.
- White was very consistent in his scoring throughout his career… he averaged 17.3 points for his career, 17.0 in home games, 17.5 in road games, and 17.8 at neutral site games.
Stats on Tapp
Basketball scoring leaders… by birth state!
Michael Jordan... Image via Wikipedia
Sports Stats ‘on Tapp’ is a biweekly blog published every Wednesday and Sunday with a bonus “SIX STATS…” posting every Friday.
Can you imagine a list of professional basketball’s greatest scorers and the list does not include Michael Jordan? Well, here’s that list. Jordan was born in New York state, but he is not the player born in the state of New York who scored the most points in their professional career. Jordan ranks second behind Kareem Abdul-Jabbar for most points scored by players born in the state of New York.
Following are the 50 states and the player born in that state who scored the most points in their professional basketball career.
ALABAMA: Charles Barkley… ALASKA: Mario Chalmers… ARIZONA: Paul Silas… ARKANSAS: Scottie Pippen… CALIFORNIA: Reggie Miller
COLORADO: Chauncey Billups… CONNECTICUT: Calvin Murphy… DELAWARE: Joey Graham… D.C.: Adrian Dantley… FLORIDA: Artis Gilmore
GEORGIA: Dale Ellis… HAWAII: Cedric Ceballos… IDAHO: Luke Ridnour… ILLINOIS: Dan Issel… INDIANA: Larry Bird
IOWA: Kirk Hinrich… KANSAS: Alvan Adams… KENTUCKY: Cliff Hagen… LOUISIANA: Karl Malone… MAINE: Jeff Turner
MARYLAND: Sam Cassell… MASSACHUSETTS: Bill Laimbeer… MICHIGAN: George Gervin… MINNESOTA: Kevin McHale… MISSISSIPPI: Spencer Haywood
MISSOURI: Jo Jo White… MONTANA: Phil Jackson… NEBRASKA: Bob Boozer… NEVADA: Ricky Davis…. NEW HAMPSHIRE: Matt Bonner
NEW JERSEY: Shaquille O’Neal… NEW MEXICO: Bill Bridges… NEW YORK: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar… NORTH CAROLINA: Walt Bellamy… NORTH DAKOTA: Mark Landsberger
OHIO: John Havlicek… OKLAHOMA: Ron Boone… OREGON: Mike Newlin… PENNSYLVANIA: Wilt Chamberlain… RHODE ISLAND: Marvin Barnes
SOUTH CAROLINA: Alex English… SOUTH DAKOTA: Mike Miller… TENNESSEE: Oscar Robertson…. TEXAS: Grant Hill… UTAH: Tom Chambers
VIRGINIA: Moses Malone… WASHINGTON: John Stockton… WEST VIRGINIA: Jerry West… WISCONSIN: Latrell Sprewell… WYOMING: Kenny Sailors
Of the players on the above list, six were active during the 2010-2011 season: Joey Graham, Luke Ridnour, Kirk Hinrich, Shaquille O’Neal (although he has since officially announced his retirement), Mike Miller and Grant Hill.
A pair of current Celtic players are within 3,000 career points of overtaking players from their birth state: Ray Allen is 2,993 behind Reggie Miller for players born in California; Kevin Garnett is 2,290 career points behind Alex English for most points by a player born in South Carolina.
Sports Stats 'on Tapp' 