George Brown (basketball)

{{Infobox basketball biography

| name = George Brown

| image =

| image_size =

| caption =

| height_ft = 6

| height_in = 6

| weight_lb = 190

| birth_date = {{birth date|1935|10|30}}

| birth_place =

| death_date = September 2016 (aged 80)

| death_place =

| nationality = American

| high_school = Cass Technical (Detroit, Michigan)

| college = Wayne State (1953–1957)

| draft_year = 1957

| draft_round = 4

| draft_pick = 27

| draft_team = Minneapolis Lakers

| career_start =

| career_end =

| career_position = Forward

| career_number = 22

| years1 = {{nbay|1957|start}}

| team1 = Minneapolis Lakers

| years2 = 1958

| team2 = Harlem Globetrotters

| years3 = 1960–1961

| team3 = Cook's Texaco Oilers

| years4 = 1961–1962

| team4 = Toledo Twisters

| years5 = 1962–1963

| team5 = Grand Rapids Tackers

| years6 = 1963–1964

| team6 = Battle Creek Braves

| highlights =

2× First-team All-PAC (1956, 1957)

}}

George Raff Brown (October 30, 1935 – September 2016) was an American basketball player for the Minneapolis Lakers in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball at Wayne State University. Brown was selected by the Lakers in the fourth round of the 1957 NBA draft. He played one game for the Lakers. He also played for the Harlem Globetrotters and later in the Midwest Professional Basketball League.

College career

After playing basketball for Cass Technical High School,{{cite web|url=https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/b/brownge01.html|title=George Brown NBA stats|website=Basketball Reference|publisher=Sports Reference, LLC|accessdate=26 November 2023}} Brown played collegiately at Wayne State,{{cite news|first=Austin|last=Knoblauch|title=George Brown|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|url=https://projects.latimes.com/lakers/player/george-brown/index.html|access-date=April 2, 2022}} where he also competed on the school's track and field team.{{cite news|first=Halsey|last=Hall|title=Spring Time for Brown; Laker Rookie Track Star|date=October 8, 1957|newspaper=The Minneapolis Star|page=12B|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/98899347/|access-date=April 2, 2022|via=Newspapers.com}} He led the basketball team in scoring in his final two seasons, averaging 17.4 and 19.1 points per game, respectively. He averaged 15 rebounds per game over his last three seasons.{{cite news|title=2 Small College Stars Sign Up With Trotters|date=December 20, 1957|newspaper=Appleton Post-Crescent|page=23|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/98899834/|access-date=April 2, 2022|via=Newspapers.com}}

As a junior, Brown helped lead the team to the 1956 NCAA tournament, the second postseason tournament appearance in the school's history. They were the second team from Michigan to ever play in the tournament.{{cite news|title=Tartars Nip DePaul Five|date=March 17, 1956|newspaper=Detroit Tribune|page=5|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/98912576/|access-date=April 2, 2022|via=Newspapers.com}} The Tartars advanced to the second round before losing to Kentucky.{{cite news|title=Kentucky Squelches Wayne|date=March 17, 1956|newspaper=The Detroit Free Press|page=15|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/98914784/|access-date=April 2, 2022|via=Newspapers.com}} In his senior year, Brown was voted the team's outstanding player of the year and was named an honorary co-captain for the season.{{cite news|title=Wayne Honrs Letterwinners, Gives Awards|date=May 28, 1957|newspaper=The Detroit Free Press|page=28|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/98898665/|access-date=April 2, 2022|via=Newspapers.com}} He was inducted into the school's athletics hall of fame in 1983.{{cite web |title=George R. Brown* (1983) - Hall of Fame - Wayne State University Athletics |url=https://wsuathletics.com/honors/hall-of-fame/george-r-brown-/43 |publisher=wsuathletics.com |access-date=16 March 2022}}

Professional career

Brown was selected by the Minneapolis Lakers in the fourth round (27th pick overall) of the 1957 NBA draft. He became the first Wayne State player to be drafted by a pro basketball team.{{cite news|title=Wayne State Makes Pro|date=June 23, 1957|newspaper=The Arizona Republic|at=Section 3, p. 4|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/98898395/|access-date=April 2, 2022|via=Newspapers.com}} He appeared in one regular season game for the Lakers, on October 30, 1957, where he scored 1 point, becoming one of 11 players in NBA history to score their current career high on their birthday.{{cite web | title = Daily Dime | publisher = ESPN | url = http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/dailydime?page=dime-090223 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090225095022/http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/dailydime?page=dime-090223 | url-status = dead | archive-date = February 25, 2009 | accessdate = Feb 23, 2009}} He was waived by the Lakers on November 4, 1957.{{cite news|title=Waivers on Brown sought by Lakers|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/98141823/the-daily-plainsman/|newspaper=The Daily Plainsman|date=November 5, 1957|page=8|via =Newspapers.com|access-date = March 22, 2022}} {{Open access}}

Following his release from the Lakers, he played with the Harlem Globetrotters barnstorming team.{{cite news|title=Wayne U. star with Trotters|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/98142643/the-times-herald/|newspaper=The Times Herald|date=January 8, 1958|page=15|via =Newspapers.com|access-date = March 22, 2022}} {{Open access}}{{cite news|title=Harlem Globetrotters make first appearance here Friday night|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/98142984/the-evening-review/|newspaper=The Evening Review|date=January 21, 1958|page=12|via =Newspapers.com|access-date = March 22, 2022}} {{Open access}} During the 1960–61 season, he played for the Cook's Texaco Oilers. Considered a pro player, he was released in February 1961, when the team was preparing to become a member of the Amateur Athletic Union in Michigan.{{cite news|title=Oilers Expect to Join AAU; Club Drops Brown, 2 Others|date=February 2, 1961|newspaper=The Holland Evening Sentinel|location=Holland, Michigan|page=11|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/98900955/|access-date=April 2, 2022|via=Newspapers.com}} He spent the next few seasons in the Midwest Professional Basketball League with the Toledo Twisters, Grand Rapids Tackers and the Battle Creek Braves.{{cite news|title=Toledo Twisters Go Battle Dayton in Midwest Playoff|date=March 29, 1962|newspaper=The Daily News|page=8|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/98901486/|access-date=April 2, 2022|via=Newspapers.com}}{{cite news|title=Grand Rapids Tackers Open Season Saturday|date=November 8, 1962|newspaper=The Holland Evening Sentinel|page=17|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/98901794/|access-date=April 2, 2022|via=Newspapers.com}}{{cite news|first=Wendy|last=Foltz|title=Warriors Are Bringing Pro Basketball Back to the City|date=November 14, 1963|newspaper=The Battle Creek Enquirer and News|at=Sec. 4, p. 2|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/98901748/|access-date=April 2, 2022|via=Newspapers.com}}

Personal life

Brown died in September 2016 at age 80.{{cite news|first=Karl|last=Henkel|title=A Memorable Phone Call|date=October 18, 2016|website=WSUAthletics.com|url=https://wsuathletics.com/news/2016/10/18/general-feature-amemorable-phone-call.aspx|access-date=April 2, 2022}}

Career statistics

=NBA=

Source

==Regular season==

class="wikitable sortable" style="font-size:95%; text-align:right;"
Year !Team !GP !MPG !FG% !FT% !RPG !APG !PPG
style="text-align:left;" \|{{nbay\|1957}} \| style="text-align:left;" \|Minneapolis \|1 \|6.0 \|.000 \|.500 \|1.0 \|.0 \|1.0

class="wikitable sortable" style="font-size:95%; text-align:right;"

Year

!Team

!GP

!MPG

!FG%

!FT%

!RPG

!APG

!PPG

style="text-align:left;" |{{nbay|1957}}

| style="text-align:left;" |Minneapolis