NBA Hall of Famer and two-time champion George McGuinness died on Thursday at the age of 73.
The Indiana State Basketball Club announced that McGuinness died a few hours after complications from a heart attack he suffered earlier Sunday.
McGinnis had had health problems in previous years and had difficulty walking after multiple spinal surgeries.
He played one season of college basketball at Indiana University before signing with the Pacers, with whom he won two championships, was named to the league’s best teams in various categories, and was the playoff MVP in 1973.
He had his best season in 1974/1975 when he was the league’s top scorer with an average of 29.8 points per game, second in steals (2.6), third in assists (6.3) and fifth in rebounds (14). ,3).
During his career, he had a triple-double performance of 51 points, 17 rebounds and 10 assists.
He also played for Philadelphia and Denver, and ended his career in Indiana in 1982.
During his career, he scored 17,009 points, had 9,233 rebounds, 3,089 assists, and was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2017.
McGinnis starred on an unbeaten Indianapolis Washington High School team that won the 1969 state championship, led the Big Ten in scoring and rebounding as a sophomore at Indiana University, then helped guide the Pacers to two of their three American Basketball Association championships. He was the ABA’s co-most valuable player (with Julius Erving) in the 1974-75 season. McGinnis then moved on to the Philadelphia 76ers in the National Basketball Association, where he was twice named an All-Star. He later played for the Denver Nuggets before returning to the Indiana Pacers, closing his 11-year professional career in 1982.
He is one of four Pacers (Roger Brown, Mel Daniels and Reggie Miller being the others) to have his Pacers jersey – No. 30 – retired. He was inducted into the Naismith Hall of Fame in 2017.
At 6-8, 235 pounds, McGinnis defined the position of “power” forward but also was a tremendous rebounder, floor leader and teammate. In the 1975 ABA playoffs, for example, he averaged 32.3 points, 15.9 rebounds and 8.2 assists.
As 1969 Mr. Basketball, he was best known for his 53-point, 30-point rebound performance in the Indiana All-Stars’ victory over Kentucky in Louisville’s Freedom Hall, NBA reports.
