RIP George McGinnis

[Michael_ Gee]

Basketball Hall of Fame dead at age 73 after complications from heart attack. He was an awesome player in the ABA. Sadly his NBA career got derailed when he and Dr. J. could not really combine with the 76ers in the '70s. Still good, never great again. By all accounts a great guy, too.

 

[Liut]

Heard he'd been ill. Indiana legend. RIP.

 

[Small Town Guy]

Back in the day the Indiana-Kentucky All-Star series was a huge deal. In 1969, after the opening game, a player from Covington Prep in Kentucky said McGinnis, who was Mr. Basketball and led his team to the state title, was overrated. Next game, McGinnis went off for 53 points and 30 boards. Fun story from 1989 about it. Also love the tidbit about McGinnis and his high school teammates still getting together for weekly pickup games.

Kentucky New Era - Google News Archive Search

 

[Starman]

He was kind of like the proto-Barkley: a hugely muscled guy unstoppable in the midrange. He was the last big star out of IU before Knight arrived.

Watching the 30 for 30 documentary on Bill Walton brings back that 1977 Finals series. That Sixers team was fun to watch -- heck, both those teams were fun to watch.

 

[YMCA B-Baller]

If someone were to argue McGinnis was the best player to ever come out of the state of Indiana who contributed at every level of basketball within Indiana? I don't think there's even a debate about it.

He's definitely in the mix as one of the best to come from Indiana at all without the qualifier. Oscar Robertson is probably the only one who is hands down better. Larry Bird is more famous, but was nowhere near the player McGinnis was at the high school level if you're approaching the argument from that angle.

Led Indy Washington to just the second undefeated state championship season. First to score 1,000 points in a season, set the Final Four scoring record and had that legendary performance mentioned above in the Indiana-Kentucky game when it mattered.

Averaged 31 ppg in his lone season at Indiana University, the year before Bob Knight arrived.

It's a shame he's remembered as a mercurial Sixer. He's on the Mount Rushmore of ABA players at 25.2 ppg, 12.9 rpg, 3.5 apg. Led the Pacers to two of their three ABA titles. The NBA deserves a lot of scorn for the way it treats the historical record of the ABA. Players like McGinnis kept swept aside as footnotes. He was arguably the best non-Kareem player in pro basketball from 1972-77-ish.

RIP.

 

[franticscribe]

He'll always be a Pacer to me! I'm a touch too young to remember him playing, but my dad was a Pacers season ticket holder through most of my childhood and one of my earliest basketball memories was the excitement when they retired McGinnis, Mel Daniels and Roger Brown's numbers on the same night in the 85-86 season.

I'm glad he lived long enough to be around for his induction into the Hall of Fame, unlike Brown. Took way too long for all three of them to get that honor.

 

[rtse11]

Would he and Knight been able to co-exist?

 

[Deskgrunt50]

If someone were to argue McGinnis was the best player to ever come out of the state of Indiana who contributed at every level of basketball within Indiana? I don't think there's even a debate about it.

He's definitely in the mix as one of the best to come from Indiana at all without the qualifier. Oscar Robertson is probably the only one who is hands down better. Larry Bird is more famous, but was nowhere near the player McGinnis was at the high school level if you're approaching the argument from that angle.

Led Indy Washington to just the second undefeated state championship season. First to score 1,000 points in a season, set the Final Four scoring record and had that legendary performance mentioned above in the Indiana-Kentucky game when it mattered.

Averaged 31 ppg in his lone season at Indiana University, the year before Bob Knight arrived.

It's a shame he's remembered as a mercurial Sixer. He's on the Mount Rushmore of ABA players at 25.2 ppg, 12.9 rpg, 3.5 apg. Led the Pacers to two of their three ABA titles. The NBA deserves a lot of scorn for the way it treats the historical record of the ABA. Players like McGinnis kept swept aside as footnotes. He was arguably the best non-Kareem player in pro basketball from 1972-77-ish.

RIP.

Great post. Think I agree for the most part. Though, if not just playing, Larry Bird did coach the Pacers to the NBA Finals in 2000.

 

[DanOregon]

Loved watching McGinnis play. The King of the double-pump. Dude had some serious shoulders.

 

[Starman]

Would he and Knight been able to co-exist?

I think Knight was quoted at various times as not being a huge fan of McGinnis' style of play. He wasn't the kind of forward he usually favored.

 

[Starman]

McGinnis turned pro after his sophomore year at IU; that was very unusual at the time, I think only Spencer Haywood and Ralph Simpson (and I think maybe Jim McDaniels?) had gone pro early at that time.

I very vaguely recall when Knight was hired at IU he was asked to comment on McGinnis leaving early, and essentially he said "we'll be OK without him."

 

[YMCA B-Baller]

McGinnis turned pro after his sophomore year at IU; that was very unusual at the time, I think only Spencer Haywood and Ralph Simpson (and I think maybe Jim McDaniels?) had gone pro early at that time.

I very vaguely recall when Knight was hired at IU he was asked to comment on McGinnis leaving early, and essentially he said "we'll be OK without him."

Knight or no Knight, McGinnis wouldn't have played at Indiana for another year.

His dad died in a construction accident after his senior season. His family needed money. He was always going to be one of the original one-and-done's if he had the choice and he did.

McGinnis from Sports Illustrated in 1982:

"Probably my biggest disappointment is that I never played for Bobby (Knight). I don't know if it would have made me a better player, but I think it would have given me different values."

Knight, being the red ass that he was, was never going to concede that if he had McGinnis, it likely would have sped up his success at Indiana. Steve Downing, McGinnis's high school teammate, became Knight's early star instead.