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Paul Walther

{{short description|American basketball player}}

{{distinguish|Paul Walter}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2019}}

{{Infobox NBA biography

| name = Paul Walther

| image =

| width =

| caption =

| number = 14, 5

| position = Guard / small forward

| height_ft = 6

| height_in = 2

| weight_lb = 160

| birth_date = {{birth date|1927|03|23}}

| birth_place = Covington, Kentucky, U.S.

| death_date = {{death date and age|2014|12|21|1927|03|23}}

| death_place = Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.

| high_school = Covington Catholic
(Park Hills, Kentucky)

| college = Tennessee (1944–1949)

| draft_year = 1949

| draft_round = –

| draft_pick = –

| draft_team = Minneapolis Lakers

| career_start = 1949

| career_end = 1955

| years1 = {{nbay|1949|start}}

| team1 = Minneapolis Lakers

| years2 = {{nbay|1949|start}}–{{nbay|1952|end}}

| team2 = Indianapolis Olympians

| years3 = {{nbay|1953|full=y}}

| team3 = Philadelphia Warriors

| years4 = {{nbay|1954|full=y}}

| team4 = Fort Wayne Pistons

| highlights =

| stats_league = NBA

| stat1label = Points

| stat1value = 2,838 (7.7 ppg)

| stat2label = Rebounds

| stat2value = 1,168 (3.7 rpg)

| stat3label = Assists

| stat3value = 974 (2.6 apg)

| bbr = walthpa01

| letter = w

}}

Paul P. Walther (March 23, 1927 – December 21, 2014) was an American basketball player.

Life

Walther was a native of Covington, Kentucky and a graduate of Covington Catholic High School.{{cite news |url=http://rcnky.com/articles/2014/12/24/covington-native-nba-all-star-dies |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141227065333/http://rcnky.com/articles/2014/12/24/covington-native-nba-all-star-dies |url-status=usurped |archive-date=December 27, 2014 |title=Covington Native, NBA All Star Dies |date=December 24, 2014 |accessdate=March 4, 2015}}{{cite web |url=http://www.draftexpress.com/profile/Paul-Walther-4756/playerblog/ |title=Paul Walther |publisher=draftexpress.com |accessdate=March 4, 2015}} He was a 6'2" guard/forward at the University of Tennessee, where he was coached by Emmett Lowery. His playing career was split by World War II, when he served in the United States Navy. He was team captain at Tennessee during 1948–49, his final season there.

Walther played six seasons (1949–1955) in the National Basketball Association as a member of the Minneapolis Lakers, Indianapolis Olympians, Philadelphia Warriors, and Fort Wayne Pistons. He averaged 7.7 points per game in his career and appeared in the 1952 NBA All-Star Game.{{cite web |url=https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/w/walthpa01.html |title=Paul Walther |publisher=basketball-reference.com |accessdate=December 20, 2009}}

After his basketball career, Walther worked 32 years for Merrill Lynch in Chicago.{{cite news |url=https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/12072902/former-nba-player-paul-walther-dies-87 |title=Former player Paul Walther dies at 87 |date=December 23, 2014 |agency=Associated Press |publisher=ESPN |access-date=December 23, 2014}}

Walther died in Atlanta at the age of 87.{{cite web|url=http://www.knoxnews.com/govolsxtra/basketball/paul-walther-basketball-allamerican-for-ut-dies-at-87_98330856|title=Paul Walther, basketball All-American for UT, dies at 87|publisher=Knox News.com|accessdate=December 23, 2014}}

NBA career statistics

{{NBA player statistics legend}}

= 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;" |1949–50

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

|22

| –

|.400

|.524

| –

|.5

|3.4

style="text-align:left;" |1949–50

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

|31

| –

|.390

|.591

| –

|1.5

|7.0

style="text-align:left;" |1950–51

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

|63

| –

|.336

|.694

|3.6

|3.6

|9.1

style="text-align:left;" |1951–52

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

|55

|34.6

|.401

|.750

|4.5

|2.5

|12.2

style="text-align:left;" |1952–53

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

|67

|36.8

|.352

|.746

|4.2

|3.1

|10.7

style="text-align:left;" |1953–54

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

|64

|32.3

|.352

|.704

|4.0

|3.4

|6.6

1954–55

|Fort Wayne

|68

|12.1

|.348

|.614

|2.3

|1.9

|2.4

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

|370

|28.6

|.362

|.708

|3.7

|2.6

|7.7

= Playoffs =

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

!Year

!Team

!GP

!MPG

!FG%

!FT%

!RPG

!APG

!PPG

style="text-align:left;" |1950

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

|6

| –

|.293

|.474

| –

|1.3

|5.5

style="text-align:left;" |1951

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

|3

| –

|.429

|.733

|1.7

|3.0

|5.7

style="text-align:left;" |1952

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

|2

|42.5

|.500

|.889

|3.5

|3.0

|16.0

style="text-align:left;" |1953

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

|2

|37.5

|.250

|.941

|4.0

|2.0

|13.0

style="text-align:left;" |1955

| style="text-align:left;" |Fort Wayne

|10

|9.5

|.545

|.611

|2.0

|.8

|3.5

style="text-align:left;" |

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

|23

|18.2

|.377

|.724

|2.4

|1.5

|6.2

References

{{reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Walther, Paul}}

Category:1927 births

Category:2014 deaths

Category:American men's basketball players

Category:Fort Wayne Pistons players

Category:Indianapolis Olympians players

Category:Merrill (company) people

Category:Minneapolis Lakers draft picks

Category:Minneapolis Lakers players

Category:NBA All-Stars

Category:Philadelphia Warriors players

Category:Tennessee Volunteers basketball players

Category:Undrafted NBA players

Category:Covington Catholic High School alumni

Category:Small forwards

Category:Guards (basketball)

Category:United States Navy personnel of World War II

Category:20th-century American sportsmen

{{1920s-US-basketball-bio-stub}}