Nick Mantis

{{Short description|American-Greek basketball player (1935–2017)}}

{{Infobox basketball biography

| name = Nick Mantis

| image =

| image_size =

| caption =

| height_ft = 6

| height_in = 3

| weight_lb = 190

| birth_date = {{birth date|1935|12|7}}

| birth_place = East Chicago, Indiana

| death_date = {{death date and age|2017|8|13|1935|12|7}}

| death_place = Schererville, Indiana

| nationality = American / Greek

| high_school = Washington (East Chicago, Indiana)

| college = Northwestern (1956–1959)

| draft_year = 1959

| draft_round = 5

| draft_pick = 37

| draft_team = St. Louis Hawks

| career_start = 1960

| career_end = 1964

| career_number = 16, 11, 23

| career_position = Shooting guard

| years1 = {{nbay|1959|end}}

| team1 = Minneapolis Lakers

| years2 = 1961–1962

| team2 = Kansas City Steers

| years3 = {{nbay|1962|start}}

| team3 = St. Louis Hawks

| years4 = {{nbay|1962|full=y}}

| team4 = Chicago Zephyrs

| years5 = 1962–1964

| team5 = Grand Rapids Tackers

| highlights =

MPBL MVP (1964)
All-ABL Second Team (1962)

| stats_league = NBA

| stat1label = Points

| stat1value = 236

| stat2label = Rebounds

| stat2value = 91

| stat3label = Assists

| stat3value = 92

| bbr = mantini01

| historical_profile = Nick_Mantis

}}

Nicholas Mantis (December 7, 1935 – August 13, 2017) was an American-Greek professional basketball player.{{cite web|url=https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/m/mantini01.html|title=Nick Mantis NBA stats|website=Basketball Reference|publisher=Sports Reference LLC|accessdate=24 December 2023}}

College career

After having a standout career as a high school player at East Chicago Washington High, while playing for head coach Johnny Baratto; Mantis enjoyed a stellar collegiate career at Northwestern, where he led the Wildcats in field goal percentage as a senior. That season (1958–59), he served as team captain, and led them to their best finish in the Big Ten - a tie for 2nd with an 8–6 conference record, 15–7 overall. The Wildcats won nine of their first ten games, dropping a stunner to #5 ranked North Carolina in the University of Louisville-hosted 'Bluegrass Festival Tournament.' The Wildcats spent seven consecutive weeks on the AP Poll, and knocked off the Jerry West-led West Virginia Mountaineers.http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/nw/sports/m-baskbl/auto_pdf/2012-13/misc_non_event/1213MBBYearbook.pdf {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130527081531/http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/nw/sports/m-baskbl/auto_pdf/2012-13/misc_non_event/1213MBBYearbook.pdf |date=May 27, 2013 }} {{Bare URL PDF|date=March 2022}}

Professional career

Mantis was selected in the 1959 NBA draft, by the St. Louis Hawks, after a collegiate career at Northwestern University. He played for the Hawks, Minneapolis Lakers, and Chicago Zephyrs, during a two-year NBA career. Mantis also played in the American Basketball League in the 1961–62 season, and in the Midwest Professional Basketball League, earning league MVP and first-team all-league honors, in the 1963–64 season.[http://www.apbr.org/mpbl6164.html Midwest Professional Basketball League History]. Retrieved on February 7, 2016.

Death

Mantis died on August 13, 2017, at the age of 81.{{cite news|last1=Hutton|first1=Mike|title=Nick Mantis, a man among boys in basketball at East Chicago Washington, dies |url=http://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/post-tribune/sports/|accessdate=August 15, 2017|work=Chicago Tribune|date=August 14, 2017}}

Career statistics

=NBA=

Source

==Regular season==

Year ! Team ! GP ! MPG ! FG% ! FT% ! RPG ! APG ! PPG
class="wikitable sortable" style="font-size:95%; text-align:right;"
style="text-align:left;"\| {{nbay\|1959}} \|style="text-align:left;"\| Minneapolis \| 10	7.1	.256	.500	.6	.9	2.1
style="text-align:left;"\| {{nbay\|1962}} \|style="text-align:left;"\| St. Louis \| 9	6.4	.400	.333	.7	.8	2.1
style="text-align:left;"\| {{nbay\|1962\|nolink=y}} \|style="text-align:left;"\| Chicago \| 33	19.0	.384	.600	2.4	2.3	5.9
class="sortbottom" \|style="text-align:center;" colspan="2"\|Career \| 52	14.5	.367	.549	1.8	1.8	4.5