George Trapp
{{Short description|American basketball player}}
{{other people|George Trapp}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2024}}
{{Infobox basketball biography
| name = George Trapp
| image = George_Trapp_Long_Beach.jpg
| width =
| caption = Trapp as a senior at Long Beach State
| height_ft = 6
| height_in = 8
| weight_lb = 205
| birth_date = {{birth date|1948|07|11}}
| birth_place = Detroit, Michigan, U. S.
| death_date = {{death date and age|2002|01|21|1948|07|11}}
| death_place = Detroit, Michigan, U. S.
| high_school =
| college =
- Pasadena CC (1967–1969)
- Long Beach State (1969–1971)
| draft_year = 1971
| draft_round = 1
| draft_pick = 5
| draft_team = Atlanta Hawks
| career_start = 1971
| career_end = 1979
| career_number = 30, 31
| career_position = Power forward / center
| years1 = {{nbay|1971|start}}–{{nbay|1972|end}}
| team1 = Atlanta Hawks
| years2 = {{nbay|1973|start}}–{{nbay|1976|start}}
| team2 = Detroit Pistons
| years3 = 1978
| team3 = Rochester Zeniths
| years4 = 1978–1979
| team4 = U/Tex Wranglers
| years5 = 1979
| highlights =
- 2× PCAA Player of the Year (1970, 1971)
- 2× First-team All-PCAA (1970, 1971)
| stats_league = NBA
| stat1label = Points
| stat1value = 3,353 (8.8 ppg)
| stat2label = Rebounds
| stat2value = 1,466 (3.9 rpg)
| stat3label = Assists
| stat3value = 375 (1.0 apg)
}}
George Trapp Jr. (July 11, 1948 – January 21, 2002) was an American professional basketball player.
Amateur career
A 6'8" forward/center from Monrovia, California by way of Detroit, Trapp played his senior year of high school basketball at Monrovia High School in 1966–67 where Trapp contributed to the Wildcats first CIF basketball Championship. Trapp then went on to play college basketball, initially at Pasadena City College, leading the team to a state community college title, then transferring to Long Beach State, following PCC coach Jerry Tarkanian who had taken the head coaching position at LBSU.[http://www.longbeachstate.com/trads/hof/trapp-george.html George Trapp]. Long Beach State Athletics. Retrieved on August 4, 2009. Trapp won two Pacific Coast Athletic Association MVP Awards with Long Beach.Steve Addy and Jeffrey F. Karzen. [https://books.google.com/books?id=4cHAt8SeC4UC&dq=george+john+trapp+detroit&pg=PA79 The Detroit Pistons: Four Decades of Motor City Memories]. 2002. 79. In 1971, his senior year, Trapp led Long Beach State to the Elite Eight of the 1971 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament, but the team lost 57–55 to UCLA, the eventual winner of the tournament.
Professional career
After his college career ended, Trapp was selected by the Atlanta Hawks with the fifth pick of the 1971 NBA draft. He played six seasons in the NBA with the Hawks (1971–1973) and Detroit Pistons (1973–77), and averaged 8.8 points per game over his career.[https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/t/trappge01.html George Trapp statistics]. basketball-reference.com. Retrieved on August 4, 2009. He was known for his outside shooting and "electrifying drives to the hoop".{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/2002/01/25/obituaries/cc57ac4b-7f14-4d44-a748-79061cc662e5/ |title=Obituaries |date=2002-01-25 |newspaper=The Washington Post |place=Washington, D.C. |issn=0190-8286 |oclc=1330888409}}
His best scoring season was his second year with Atlanta when he averaged 11.3 ppg and 5.9 rpg in 24.1 mpg as a top reserve in the 1972-73 Atlanta Hawks season. He was traded to his hometown Detroit Pistons for a first-round draft choice that off-season. With Detroit, he became a key reserve, helping the Pistons to the post-season in each of his 4 years with the team.{{Cite web|url=https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/t/trappge01.html|title=George Trapp NBA Stats|website=Basketball Reference|publisher=Sports Reference LLC|accessdate=23 December 2024}} After his release by Detroit at the start of the 1976-77 season, he played for the Rochester in the Continental Basketball Association in the 1977–78 season,{{cite web | url=https://www.nasljerseys.com/EBA/Players/T/Trapp.George.htm | title=EBA-George Trapp }} and then briefly for the U/Tex Wranglers in the Philippine Basketball Association in 1979.{{cite web | url=https://edmon1974.wordpress.com/2015/05/13/1979-pba-rosters/ | title=1979 PBA rosters | date=13 May 2015 }}{{cite web | url=https://www.espn.com/basketball/pba/story/_/id/28980047/what-memorable-pba-finals-series-1970s | title=Classic PBA finals showdowns from the 1970s | date=April 2020 }}
Personal life
His brother John Trapp was drafted with the 15th overall pick in the 1968 NBA draft. Both Trapp brothers played at Pasadena City College (PCC) and are members of the PCC Athletics Hall of Fame, with George honored in 2013.{{Cite web|url=https://pcclancers.com/hof/index|title=PCC Sports Hall of Fame|website=Pasadena City College}} George is also a member of the Long Beach State Athletics Hall of Fame, inducted in 1991.{{Cite web|url=https://longbeachstate.com/honors/hall-of-fame/george-trapp/71|title=George Trapp (1991) - Hall of Fame|website=Long Beach State University Athletics}}
On January 9, 2002, Trapp was stabbed in the stomach during a fight with a roommate in Detroit. He died twelve days later.{{Cite web|url=https://basketball.realgm.com/wiretap/149751/Ex-Piston-Trapp-dies-after-stabbing|title=Ex-Piston Trapp dies after stabbing|website=basketball.realgm.com}}{{cite web | url=https://www.philstar.com/sports/2002/01/27/148491/obituary-ex-imports | title=Obituary for ex-imports | website=The Philippine STAR }}
Career statistics
{{NBA player statistics legend|leader=y}}
=NBA=
==Regular season==
| class="wikitable sortable" style="font-size:95%; text-align:right;" |
| Year
! Team ! GP ! MPG ! FG% ! FT% ! RPG ! APG ! SPG ! BPG ! PPG |
|---|
| style="text-align:left;" |{{nbay|1971}}
| style="text-align:left;" |Atlanta |60 |14.8 |.371 |.755 |3.1 |.9 | | |6.6 |
| style="text-align:left;"|{{nbay|1972}}
| style="text-align:left;"|Atlanta |77 |24.1 |.436 |.773 |5.9 |1.6 | | |11.3 |
| style="text-align:left;"|{{nbay|1973}}
| style="text-align:left;"|Detroit | style="background:#CFECEC;"|82* |18.2 |.481 |.739 |3.8 |1.0 |.6 |.4 |9.3 |
| style="text-align:left;" |{{nbay|1974}}
| style="text-align:left;" |Detroit |78 |18.9 |.442 |.756 |3.5 |.8 |.5 |.2 |8.7 |
| style="text-align:left;" |{{nbay|1975}}
| style="text-align:left;" |Detroit |76 |14.4 |.462 |.716 |3.0 |.7 |.4 |.3 |8.1 |
| style="text-align:left;" |{{nbay|1976}}
| style="text-align:left;" |Detroit |6 |11.3 |.517 |.750 |1.7 |.5 |.0 |.2 |5.5 |
| colspan="2" style="text-align:center;" |Career
|379 |18.1 |.444 |.752 |3.9 |1.0 |.5 |.3 |8.8 |
==Playoffs==
| class="wikitable sortable" style="font-size:95%; text-align:right;"
!Year !Team !GP !MPG !FG% !FT% !RPG !APG !SPG !BPG !PPG |
| style="text-align:left;" |1972
| style="text-align:left;" |Atlanta |6 |11.0 |.432 |.375 |3.0 |.8 | | |6.8 |
| style="text-align:left;" |1973
| style="text-align:left;" |Atlanta |6 |16.5 |.344 |.600 |3.5 |.5 | | |4.2 |
| style="text-align:left;" |1974
| style="text-align:left;" |Detroit |7 |17.0 |.588 |1.000 |3.1 |.3 |.0 |.7 |8.9 |
| style="text-align:left;" |1975
| style="text-align:left;" |Detroit |3 |27.0 |.545 |.714 |7.3 |1.3 |.0 |.0 |13.7 |
| style="text-align:left;" |1976
| style="text-align:left;" |Detroit |9 |17.0 |.416 |.833 |3.9 |1.0 |.4 |.4 |9.9 |
| colspan="2" style="text-align:center;" |Career
|31 |16.7 |.462 |.700 |3.8 |.7 |.2 |.5 |8.3 |
See also
References
{{reflist}}
{{1971 NBA draft}}
{{Big West Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Year navbox}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Trapp, George}}
Category:20th-century American sportsmen
Category:American expatriate basketball people in France
Category:American men's basketball players
Category:Atlanta Hawks draft picks
Category:Atlanta Hawks players
Category:Basketball players from Detroit
Category:Dallas Chaparrals draft picks
Category:Deaths by stabbing in Michigan
Category:Detroit Pistons players
Category:Long Beach State Beach men's basketball players
Category:Monrovia High School alumni
Category:Pasadena City Lancers men's basketball players
Category:People murdered in Michigan