John Shove "Bud" Palmer (born John Palmer Flynn;[1] September 14, 1921 – March 19, 2013) was an American professional basketball player. He was a member of the New York Knicks during the team's first three seasons in the Basketball Association of America and was the leading scorer in the team's inaugural 1946–47 season. Palmer is considered to be one of the inventors of the jump shot.[2][3]
 Palmer in 1948 | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | September 14, 1921 Hollywood, California, U.S. |
| Died | March 19, 2013 (aged 91) West Palm Beach, Florida, U.S. |
| Listed height | 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) |
| Listed weight | 180 lb (82 kg) |
| Career information | |
| High school | |
| College | Princeton (1941–1943) |
| Playing career | 1946–1949 |
| Position | Forward / center |
| Number | 16 |
| Career history | |
| 1946–1949 | New York Knicks |
| Stats at NBA.com | |
| Stats at Basketball Reference | |
Born in Hollywood, California, Palmer was the son of football player and actor Maurice Bennett "Lefty" Flynn and singer Blanche Palmer.[2] He was nicknamed "Bud" due to being the budding image of his father; Palmer relinquished his father's surname from his name when his parents divorced.[1] Palmer was 5 ft 4 in (1.63 m) when he started playing basketball at Hun School of Princeton, and started using the jump shot to compensate for his height.[2] He grew a foot taller to 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) by the time he began playing college basketball at Princeton University, and played for three seasons before he enlisted in the U.S. Navy during World War II.[2]
After his NBA career ended, Palmer went on to have a successful career as a sportscaster.[2][4] He was Chief of Protocol and Official Greeter for the City of New York for seven years during John Lindsay's administration. Palmer modeled menswear, advertised Vitalis hair tonic, and wrote as an advice columnist in Glamour magazine.[1]
Palmer died at 91 of metastatic prostate cancer in 2013 in West Palm Beach, Florida.[2][5]
BAA career statistics
edit| Legend | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | Games played | FG% | Field-goal percentage | ||
| FT% | Free-throw percentage | APG | Assists per game | ||
| PPG | Points per game | Bold | Career high | ||
Regular season
edit| Year | Team | GP | FG% | FT% | APG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1946–47 | New York | 42 | .307 | .669 | 0.8 | 9.5 |
| 1947–48 | New York | 48 | .315 | .744 | 0.9 | 13.0 |
| 1948–49 | New York | 58 | .350 | .762 | 1.9 | 12.3 |
| Career | 148 | .326 | .739 | 1.3 | 11.7 | |
Playoffs
edit| Year | Team | GP | FG% | FT% | APG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1947 | New York | 5 | .351 | .600 | 0.8 | 15.6 |
| 1948 | New York | 3 | .421 | .769 | 0.0 | 14.0 |
| 1949 | New York | 6 | .422 | .771 | 1.7 | 13.5 |
| Career | 14 | .388 | .721 | 1.0 | 14.4 | |
References
edit- ^ a b c Tomlinson, Brett (February 5, 2014). "Lives: John 'Bud' Palmer '44". Princeton Alumni Weekly. Retrieved October 11, 2020.
- ^ a b c d e f Martin, Douglas (March 22, 2013). "Bud Palmer, Jump Shot Pioneer, Dies at 91". The New York Times. Accessed on June 22, 2017.
- ^ Christgau, John (1999). The Origins of the Jump Shot. Eight men who shook the world of Basketball. Lincoln (NE): University of Nebraska Press.
- ^ "Bud Palmer gave up a mike for hot dogs". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. December 26, 1975. p. 2B.
- ^ PBDN. "John 'Bud' Palmer, a sports broadcasting pioneer, dies". Palm Beach Daily News. Retrieved August 26, 2023.
External links
edit
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