Tom Boerwinkle
{{Short description|American basketball player (1945–2013)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2019}}
{{Infobox basketball biography
| name = Tom Boerwinkle
| image = Tom Boerwinkle 1969.JPG
| width =
| caption = Boerwinkle in 1969
| height_ft = 7
| height_in = 0
| weight_lb = 265
| birth_date = {{birth date|1945|08|23}}
| birth_place = Independence, Ohio, U.S.
| death_date = {{death date and age|2013|03|26|1945|08|23}}
| death_place = Willowbrook, Illinois, U.S.
| high_school = Millersburg Military Institute
(Millersburg, Kentucky)
| college = Tennessee (1965–1968)
| draft_year = 1968
| draft_round = 1
| draft_pick = 4
| draft_team = Chicago Bulls
| career_start = 1968
| career_end = 1978
| career_number = 18
| career_position = Center
| years1 = {{nbay|1968|start}}–{{nbay|1977|end}}
| team1 = Chicago Bulls
| highlights =
- 2× First-team All-SEC (1967, 1968)
| stat1label = Points
| stat1value = 4,596 (7.2 ppg)
| stat2label = Rebounds
| stat2value = 5,745 (9.0 rpg)
| stat3label = Assists
| stat3value = 2,007 (3.2 apg)
| bbr = boerwto01
}}
Thomas F. Boerwinkle (August 23, 1945 – March 26, 2013) was an American National Basketball Association (NBA) center who spent his entire career with the Chicago Bulls.
Early life
Tom Boerwinkle was born in Independence, Ohio, one of three children of John and Katherine Boerwinkle.{{Cite web|url=http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/chicagotribune/obituary.aspx?n=thomas-f-boerwinkle&pid=163969139&fhid=6954|title=Thomas F. Boerwinkle's Obituary on Chicago Tribune|website=Chicago Tribune|access-date=July 15, 2016}} John Boerwinkle, an engineer for an oil refinery,{{Cite web|url=https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:KW6P-HLD|title=FamilySearch.org|website=FamilySearch |accessdate=July 24, 2023}} was a native of Cleveland and the son of Dutch immigrants who had come to the United States in 1890.{{Cite web |url=https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MDRB-L8K |title=Family Search |website=FamilySearch |access-date=December 13, 2015 |archive-date=December 22, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151222131126/https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MDRB-L8K |url-status=dead }}
He attended high school at Millersburg Military Institute, a now-defunct prep school in Millersburg, Kentucky, later known as Forest Hill Military Academy.{{Cite web|url=http://www.databasebasketball.com/players/playerpage.htm?ilkid=BOERWTO01 |title=Tom Boerwinkle Past Stats, Playoff Stats, Statistics, History, and Awards |website=www.databasebasketball.com |access-date=July 15, 2016 |url-status=usurped |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305200822/http://www.databasebasketball.com/players/playerpage.htm?ilkid=BoerwTo01 |archivedate=March 5, 2016 }}
College career
Boerwinkle played for the University of Tennessee and helped the team win the 1967 Southeastern Conference championship. The next year, he was named a Helms Foundation first-team all-American.{{citation |last=Yardley |first=William |title=Tom Boerwinkle, Who Had Night to Remember as a Rebounder, Dies at 67 | newspaper=The New York Times |date=March 28, 2013 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/29/sports/basketball/tom-boerwinkle-bulls-center-dies-at-67.html?_r=0}}
In his junior and senior seasons, he averaged a double-double each season—10.2 points and 12.2 rebounds his junior season and 11.3 points and 15.2 rebounds his senior season.{{Cite web|url=http://knoxblogs.com/volhistorian/2013/03/28/one_last_hurrah/|title="One Last Hurrah"|last=Mattingly|first=Tom|date=March 28, 2013|website=Tom Mattingly's Vol Historian|publisher=|language=en-US|access-date=July 15, 2016}}
Professional career
Boerwinkle was drafted as the fourth pick of the 1968 NBA draft and played with the Bulls until 1978. Although largely unappreciated during his playing days, Boerwinkle was a very efficient player, using his brawny seven-foot frame to grab rebounds and set picks while teammates like Jerry Sloan, Chet Walker and Bob Love did most of the scoring.
On January 8, 1970, Boerwinkle set a Bulls record by grabbing 37 rebounds against the Phoenix Suns. He retired with career totals of 4,596 points, 5,745 rebounds, and 2,007 assists. Boerwinkle also had five triple doubles in his career.{{Cite web|url=https://www.nba.com/bulls/history/my-most-memorabull-game-tom-boerwinkle|title=Tom Boerwinkle: My Most MemoraBull Game|website=www.nba.com|accessdate=July 24, 2023}}
Later life
Boerwinkle later served as a radio color analyst for the Bulls.[http://www.nba.com/media/bulls/12media_0708.pdf Chicago Bulls media guide]. Retrieved on July 7, 2008. He was a longtime co-owner of the Olympic Oil Co. in Stickney, Illinois.{{Cite web|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/1985/03/08/old-bulls-coming-back-for-another-shot/|title=Old Bulls Coming Back For Another Shot|last=Logan|first=Bob|date=March 8, 1985|website=Chicago Tribune|publisher=|access-date=July 15, 2016}}
Boerwinkle died on March 26, 2013, in Willowbrook, Illinois, after struggling with myelodysplastic syndrome, a form of leukemia.{{Cite web|url=https://www.espn.com/chicago/nba/story/_/id/9105493/tom-boerwinkle-chicago-bulls-fame-dies-67|title=Former Bulls standout Boerwinkle dies at 67|last=|first=|date=March 27, 2013|website=ESPN|publisher=|access-date=July 15, 2016}}
Upon his death, longtime Bulls teammate Bob Love said, "He was a great teammate with a heart of gold. And I always tell people: Half of my baskets came from him. He's one of the best-passing big men of all-time." Hall of Fame center and Bulls teammate Artis Gilmore said, "He understood his role extremely well. He had a very big body and he absorbed a lot of space. With those behind-the-back and over-the-head passes, he was very good. He understood the game and he played intelligent basketball."{{Cite web|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/2013/03/27/former-bulls-center-tom-boerwinkle-dies-at-67/|title=Former Chicago Bulls center Tom Boerwinkle dies at 67|last=Mitchell|first=Fred|date=March 27, 2013|website=Chicago Tribune|publisher=|access-date=July 15, 2016}}
He was survived by his wife of 41 years, Linda, son Jeff and daughter Gretchen.
Career statistics
{{NBA player statistics legend}}
=NBA=
==Regular season==
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:right;"
|+NBA regular season playing statistics{{cite web|url=https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/b/boerwto01.html|title=Tom Boerwinkle|work=Basketball Reference|access-date=25 May 2022}}
!scope="col"|Year
!scope="col"|Team
!scope="col"|GP
!scope="col"|MPG
!scope="col"|FG%
!scope="col"|FT%
!scope="col"|RPG
!scope="col"|APG
!scope="col"|SPG
!scope="col"|BPG
!scope="col"|PPG
|-
!scope="row" style="text-align:left;"| {{nbay|1968}}
| style="text-align:left;"| Chicago
| 80 || 29.6 || .383 || .653 || 11.1 || 2.2 || – || – || 9.8
|-
!scope="row" style="text-align:left;"| {{nbay|1969}}
| style="text-align:left;"| Chicago
| 81 || 28.8 || .449 ||.664 || 12.5 || 2.8 || – || – || 10.4
|-
!scope="row" style="text-align:left;"|{{nbay|1970}}
| style="text-align:left;"| Chicago
| 82 || 28.9 || .485 || .724 || 13.8 || 4.8 || – || – || 10.8
|-
!scope="row" style="text-align:left;"| {{nbay|1971}}
| style="text-align:left;"| Chicago
| 80 || 25.3 || .438 || .656 || 11.2 || 3.5 || – || – || 7.0
|-
!scope="row" style="text-align:left;"|{{nbay|1972}}
| style="text-align:left;"| Chicago
| 8 || 22.0 || .375 || .600 || 6.8 || 5.0 || – || – || 3.8
|-
!scope="row" style="text-align:left;"| {{nbay|1973}}
| style="text-align:left;"| Chicago
| 46 || 13.1 || .487 || .700 || 4.6 || 2.0 || .3 || .4 || 3.4
|-
!scope="row" style="text-align:left;"| {{nbay|1974}}
| style="text-align:left;"| Chicago
| 80 || 14.7 || .487 || .768 || 4.8 || 3.4 || .4 || .6 || 4.2
|-
!scope="row" style="text-align:left;"| {{nbay|1975}}
| style="text-align:left;"| Chicago
| 74 || 27.6 || .500 || .667 || 10.7 || 3.8 || .6 || .7 || 8.8
|-
!scope="row" style="text-align:left;"| {{nbay|1976}}
| style="text-align:left;"| Chicago
| 82 || 13.0 || .491 || .540 || 3.8 || 2.3 || .2 || .2 || 3.7
|-
!scope="row" style="text-align:left;"| {{nbay|1977}}
| style="text-align:left;"| Chicago
| 22 || 10.3 || .460 || .769 || 2.7 || 2.0 || .1 || .2 || 2.5
|- class="sortbottom"
!scope="row" style="text-align:center;" colspan=2| Career
| 635 || 22.7 || .453 || .675 || 9.0 || 3.2 || .4 || .5 || 7.2
{{S-end}}
==Playoffs==
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:right;"
|+NBA playoff playing statistics
!scope="col"|Year
!scope="col"|Team
!scope="col"|GP
!scope="col"|MPG
!scope="col"|FG%
!scope="col"|FT%
!scope="col"|RPG
!scope="col"|APG
!scope="col"|SPG
!scope="col"|BPG
!scope="col"|PPG
|-
!scope="row" style="text-align:left;"| 1970
| style="text-align:left;"| Chicago
| 5 || 35.4 || .506 || .615 || 14.4 || 3.2 || – || – || 17.6
|-
!scope="row" style="text-align:left;"|1971
| style="text-align:left;"| Chicago
| 7 || 24.1 || .463 || .714 || 9.6 || 4.4 || – || – || 6.1
|-
!scope="row" style="text-align:left;"| 1972
| style="text-align:left;"| Chicago
| 1 || 8.0 || .000 || – || 6.0 || 3.0 || – || – || .0
|-
!scope="row" style="text-align:left;"| 1973
| style="text-align:left;"| Chicago
| 4 || 7.5 || .667 || 1.000 || 2.3 || 2.8 || – || – || 2.3
|-
!scope="row" style="text-align:left;"| 1974
| style="text-align:left;"| Chicago
| 2 || 3.5 || .000 || 1.000 || .5 || .0 || .0 || .0 || 1.0
|-
!scope="row" style="text-align:left;"| 1975
| style="text-align:left;"| Chicago
| 13 || 29.0 || .439 || .800 || 12.7 || 4.2 || .3 || .8 || 8.2
|-
!scope="row" style="text-align:left;"| 1977
| style="text-align:left;"| Chicago
| 3 || 5.7 || .200 || – || 3.3 || 2.3 || .0 || .3 || .7
|- class="sortbottom"
!scope="row" style="text-align:center;" colspan=2| Career
| 35 || 22.4 || .459 || .750 || 9.4 || 3.5 || .2 || .6 || 7.1
{{S-end}}
See also
Notes
{{reflist}}
External links
- {{Basketballstats|bbr=b/boerwto01}}
{{1968 NBA draft}}
{{authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Boerwinkle, Tom}}
Category:20th-century American sportsmen
Category:American men's basketball players
Category:American people of Dutch descent
Category:Basketball players from Cleveland
Category:Chicago Bulls announcers
Category:Chicago Bulls draft picks
Category:Chicago Bulls players
Category:Deaths from myelodysplastic syndrome
Category:Denver Rockets draft picks
Category:People from Independence, Ohio