George Gervin
Born: April 27, 1952
Position: Shooting Guard
Height: 6-7 (2.01 m)
In the NBA/ABA:
Nickname: "The Iceman" (because of his cool and effortless style of play)
His Game:
George Gervin, with his deadly jump shot and his favourite finger roll, was an unstoppable scoring machine who made the most difficult baskets look easy. Coach Dick Motta said about him: "You don't stop George Gervin. You just hope that his arm gets tired after 40 shots. I believe the guy can score when he wants to. I wonder if he gets bored out there."
His Career:
Gervin started his career as a pro in the ABA. He was signed by the Virginia Squires in the 1972-'73 midseason and averaged 14.1 points as a rookie. During the next season he was traded to the San Antonio Spurs and he was scoring 23.4 points per game. His scoring remained in high levels during the next two years he played in the ABA.
In 1976, the Spurs joined the NBA. In 1977-'78 Gervin averaged 27.2 points. The following season he scored 29.6 and his team reached the Eastern Conference Finals where they lost to the Washington Bullets 3-4. The Spurs advanced to the Western Finals in 1982 and 1983 where they lost to the Los Angeles Lakers.
Gervin spent 12 seasons in San Antonio before being traded in 1985 to the Chicago Bulls. 1985-'86 was his last season in the NBA. He scored 16.2 points per game, being the second-leading scorer of the Bulls who played without injured Jordan during most of the season.
Honors:
The Iceman has played in 9 consecutive NBA and 3 ABA All-Star Games (MVP in 1980). He led the league in scoring four times (1978-'80, 1982) and he was selected to 5 first All-NBA Teams (1978-1982) and 2 second All-NBA Teams (1977, 1983). He is 7th in the NBA career scoring average and left the San Antonio Spurs as their all-time scoring leader (23,602 points) and owner of more than 60 other team records. His jersey (#44) has been retired by the San Antonio Spurs and he is a member of the Hall Of Fame.
Highlights:
Gervin's career highlight comes from the 1977-'78 season when he was competing with David Thompson for the scoring title. Thompson scored 73 points on the season's closing night. Gervin needed to score at least 58 in order to become the league's leading scorer and in the next game he scored 63, 33 of which in the 2nd quarter! He averaged 27.22 points while Thompson finished the season with 27.15 ppg, in the most exciting battle for the scoring title ever.
Statistics:
YEAR |
Team |
Games |
Pts |
FT % |
FG % |
3PM |
3-pt % |
Reb. |
Trn |
Ast |
St |
Blk |
Min. |
Star? |
1973 |
Virginia (ABA) |
30 |
14.1 |
.814 |
.472 |
6 |
.231 |
4.3 |
1.8 |
1.1 |
- |
- |
23.0 |
No |
1974 |
Virginia (ABA) |
74 |
23.4 |
.815 |
.471 |
8 |
.143 |
8.4 |
3.4 |
1.9 |
1.4 |
1.6 |
33.9 |
YES |
1975 |
San Antonio (ABA) |
84 |
23.4 |
.830 |
.474 |
17 |
.309 |
8.3 |
3.0 |
2.5 |
1.6 |
1.6 |
37.1 |
YES |
1976 |
San Antonio (ABA) |
81 |
21.8 |
.857 |
.499 |
14 |
.255 |
6.7 |
2.7 |
2.5 |
1.4 |
1.5 |
33.9 |
YES |
1977 |
San Antonio |
82 |
23.1 |
.833 |
.544 |
0 |
.000 |
5.5 |
- |
1.9 |
1.3 |
1.3 |
33.0 |
YES |
1978 |
San Antonio |
82 |
27.2 |
.830 |
.536 |
0 |
.000 |
5.1 |
3.7 |
3.7 |
1.7 |
1.3 |
34.8 |
YES |
1979 |
San Antonio |
80 |
29.6 |
.826 |
.541 |
0 |
.000 |
5.0 |
3.6 |
2.7 |
1.7 |
1.1 |
36.1 |
YES |
1980 |
San Antonio |
78 |
33.1 |
.852 |
.528 |
32 |
.314 |
5.2 |
3.3 |
2.6 |
1.4 |
1.0 |
37.6 |
YES |
1981 |
San Antonio |
82 |
27.1 |
.826 |
.492 |
9 |
.257 |
5.1 |
3.1 |
3.2 |
1.2 |
0.7 |
33.7 |
YES |
1982 |
San Antonio |
79 |
32.3 |
.864 |
.500 |
10 |
.278 |
5.0 |
2.7 |
2.4 |
1.0 |
0.6 |
35.7 |
YES |
1983 |
San Antonio |
79 |
26.2 |
.853 |
.487 |
12 |
.364 |
4.6 |
3.3 |
3.4 |
1.1 |
0.9 |
36.3 |
YES |
1984 |
San Antonio |
76 |
25.9 |
.842 |
.490 |
10 |
.417 |
4.1 |
2.9 |
2.9 |
1.0 |
0.6 |
34.0 |
YES |
1985 |
San Antonio |
72 |
21.2 |
.844 |
.508 |
0 |
.000 |
3.3 |
2.8 |
2.5 |
0.9 |
0.7 |
29.0 |
YES |
1986 |
Chicago |
82 |
16.2 |
.879 |
.472 |
4 |
.211 |
2.6 |
2.0 |
1.8 |
0.6 |
0.3 |
25.2 |
No |
ABA |
Career |
269 |
21.9 |
.831 |
.480 |
45 |
.234 |
7.4 |
2.9 |
2.2 |
1.4 |
1.6 |
33.7 |
YES |
NBA |
Career |
791 |
26.2 |
.844 |
.511 |
77 |
.297 |
4.6 |
3.0 |
2.8 |
1.2 |
0.8 |
33.5 |
YES |
ABA + NBA |
Career |
1060 |
25.1 |
.841 |
.504 |
122 |
.271 |
5.3 |
3.0 |
2.6 |
1.2 |
1.0 |
33.6 |
YES |
In Europe:
Gervin played in Italy for Banco Roma during the 1986-'87 season, scoring 26.1 points per game.
In 1992, at age 40, he played 17 games in Spain with TDK Manresa, before coach Melendez waived him.