Walt Simon

{{short description|American basketball player}}

{{other people|Walter Simon}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2024}}

{{Infobox basketball biography

| name = Walt Simon

| image =

| image_size =

| caption =

| height_ft = 6

| height_in = 6

| weight_lbs = 200

| birth_date = {{Birth date|1939|12|1}}

| birth_place = Delcambre, Louisiana, U.S.

| death_date = {{Death date and age|1997|10|10|1939|12|1}}

| death_place = Louisville, Kentucky, U.S.

| high_school = Commerce
(New York City, New York)

| college = Benedict (1957–1961)

| draft_year = 1961

| career_start =

| career_end =

| career_number = 4, 2

| career_position = Small forward

| years1 = 1961–1967

| team1 = Allentown Jets

| years2 = 1967–1970

| team2 = New Jersey Americans / New York Nets

| years3 = 1970–1974

| team3 = Kentucky Colonels

| highlights =

• ABA All-Star (1969)
• 3× EPBL champion (1962, 1963, 1965)
• EPBL Most Valuable Player (1965)
• All-EPBL First Team (1965)
• 2× All-EPBL Second Team (1964, 1967)

}}

Walter John Simon (December 1, 1939 – October 10, 1997) was an American basketball player. A 6'6" small forward from Benedict College, he played seven seasons (1967–1974) in the American Basketball Association for the New Jersey Americans/New York Nets and Kentucky Colonels. He appeared in the 1969 ABA All-Star Game, and he scored 6,414 career points. Simon is the only alumnus of Benedict College to play professionally at the ABA or NBA level.

Initially undrafted by the NBA out of college, Simon starred for six seasons in the minor league Eastern Professional Basketball League (EPBL) for the Allentown Jets before moving to the ABA. In the EBPL, Simon was named league MVP in 1964 and averaged 24.4 points and 9.4 rebounds per game over his 167-game EPBL career{{cite web |title=Walt Simon minor league basketball statistics |url=https://www.statscrew.com/minorbasketball/stats/p-simonwal001 |website=Stats Crew |access-date=February 16, 2025}} - leading the league in scoring once (1964–65) and finishing second in scoring twice (1963–64 and 1966–67). He won EPBL championships with the Jets in 1962,{{cite web |title=1961-62 Allentown Jets Statistics |url=https://www.statscrew.com/minorbasketball/stats/t-CBAALJ/y-1961 |website=Stats Crew |access-date=March 5, 2025}} 1963{{cite web |title=1962-63 Allentown Jets Statistics |url=https://www.statscrew.com/minorbasketball/stats/t-CBAALJ/y-1962 |website=Stats Crew |access-date=March 5, 2025}} and 1965.{{cite web |title=1964-65 Allentown Jets Statistics |url=https://www.statscrew.com/minorbasketball/stats/t-CBAALJ/y-1964 |website=Stats Crew |access-date=March 5, 2025}}

After retiring from basketball, he went on to work for John Y. Brown, Jr. (who had owned the Kentucky Colonels with his wife, Ellie Brown) at Kentucky Fried Chicken.[https://books.google.com/books?id=_soDAAAAMBAJ&dq=%22Kentucky+Colonels%22&pg=PA26 Jet magazine, August 29, 1974, Vol. 46, No. 23, p.26] Simon became the first black Vice President of a Fortune 500 Company.

Born in Delcambre, Louisiana, Simon left a wife, Marge Simon, and three children: Michael, Chris, and Geanai.[https://www.nytimes.com/1997/10/13/sports/walt-simon-56-star-player-in-the-aba.html Walt Simon, 56, Star Player in the A.B.A.]