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Chuck Share

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Chuck Share
Share during his senior season at Bowling Green
Personal information
Born(1927-03-14)March 14, 1927
Akron, Ohio
DiedJune 7, 2012(2012-06-07) (aged 85)
Chesterfield, Missouri
NationalityAmerican
Listed height6 ft 11 in (2.11 m)
Listed weight235 lb (107 kg)
Career information
High schoolWestern Hills (Cincinnati, Ohio)
CollegeBowling Green (1946–1950)
NBA draft1950: 1st round, 1st overall pick
Selected by the Boston Celtics
Playing career1950–1960
PositionCenter
Number18, 5, 70, 13, 44
Career history
1950–1951Waterloo Hawks
1951–1953Fort Wayne Pistons
1953–1960Milwaukee / St. Louis Hawks
1960Minneapolis Lakers
Career highlights and awards
Career NBA statistics
Points4,928 (8.3 ppg)
Rebounds4,986 (8.4 rpg)
Assists809 (1.4 apg)
Stats at NBA.com Edit this at Wikidata
Stats at Basketball Reference

Charles Edward Share (March 14, 1927 – June 7, 2012) was an American basketball player in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Share has the distinction of being the first NBA draft pick ever: he was selected by the Boston Celtics as the No. 1 overall pick in the inaugural 1950 NBA draft.

Early life

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Share attended Western Hills High School in Cincinnati, Ohio. He had an injured ankle and did not begin playing basketball until his junior year at Western Hills.[1][2]

College career

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Share attended Bowling Green State University in Bowling Green, Ohio, after being recruited by Coach Harold Anderson. He was named a 1950 All-American his senior year.[1]

Share graduated as the Bowling Green College Falcons' all-time scoring leader with 1,730 points. With Share, Bowling Green won 28 games in 1946–47, 27 games in 1947–48, 24 games in 1948-49 and 19 games in 1949–50. Share has his career-high 39 points against Loyola (Calif.) on Dec. 22, 1949 in Madison Square Garden.[3]

NBA career

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Celtics/Waterloo Hawks

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Share was drafted by the Celtics, whose fans wanted the team to draft local Holy Cross star, Bob Cousy with the pick. The Celtics' new Coach Red Auerbach defended the unpopular pick of Share, saying "We need a big man. Little men are a dime a dozen. I'm supposed to win, not go after local yokels."[4]

In an irony, future Hall of Famer Cousy ended up being drafted third by the Tri-Cities Blackhawks. Cousy then balked at playing in Moline, Illinois, eventually forcing his rights to be sold to the Chicago Stags. The Stags then folded before the season and the Celtics chose Cousy in the dispersal draft.[4][5]

For his part, Share did not sign with the Celtics. Instead he signed with the Waterloo Hawks in the fledgling National Professional Basketball League (1950–51), playing for Coach Jack Smiley. Share averaged 11.0 points for the Hawks, playing in 19 games. The NPBL, composed of some former NBA teams in small markets and new teams in major markets, folded after the season.[6][7]

Then on April 26, 1951, Share's rights were traded by the Celtics to the Fort Wayne Pistons for future Hall of Famer Bill Sharman, who had refused to sign with the Pistons.[8][4]

In two-and-a-half seasons with Fort Wayne, Share averaged 4.2 points and 5.1 rebounds in limited playing time.[8]

St. Louis: 3 NBA Finals, Championship

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On December 21, 1953, Share was traded by the Fort Wayne Pistons to the Milwaukee Hawks for Max Zaslofsky.[8]

In seven seasons with the Milwaukee/St Louis Hawks, Share averaged a near double-double of 9.2 points and 9.9 rebounds. His role as a rebounding force in the middle, setting screens and playing strong defense freed Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame teammates Bob Pettit, Ed Macauley, Cliff Hagan and Slater Martin to better play their games. Share was named as the team captain and the Hawks made the NBA Finals against the Celtics for three consecutive years.[9][10][11]

Share was the captain of the 1958 NBA champion St. Louis Hawks team.[10] In the 1958 NBA Finals victory against the Celtics, Share averaged 6.2 points and 6.0 rebounds in the six-game series, in a key reserve role.[12]

On February 1, 1960, the Hawks traded Share, Nick Mantis and Willie Merriweather to the Minneapolis Lakers for Larry Foust.[8] Initially, Share refused to go to the Lakers, but he reconsidered and went to Minneapolis in time for the playoffs. The Lakers were eventually defeated by the Hawks in the Western Division Finals.[13]

Share then retired at the end of the 1959–1960 season.[14]

Overall, Share played nine years in the NBA for the Fort Wayne Pistons, Milwaukee/St. Louis Hawks and the Minneapolis Lakers. He played 596 games, with 4,928 points and 4,986 rebounds. His career averages were 8.3 points and 8.4 rebounds. Share led the NBA in disqualifications during the 1954–55 season.[15][16]

Personal life

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After retiring from basketball, Share never left the St. Louis area and pursued business ventures. Share started Sharick Packaging, Inc.and then sold Sharick in 1985. He then formed Sylvan-Edge Farm with his wife, Rose.[2]

Share died on June 7, 2012, in Chesterfield, Missouri, at age 85. He had lived in Creve Coeur, Missouri, and was survived by his wife Rose and daughters Ann and Cindy.[2]

Career statistics

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Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game
 FG%  Field goal percentage  3P%  3-point field goal percentage  FT%  Free throw percentage
 RPG  Rebounds per game  APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game
 BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game  Bold  Career high
 †  Won an NBA championship  *  Led the league

NBA

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Source[8]

Regular season

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Year Team GP MPG FG% FT% RPG APG PPG
1951–52 Fort Wayne 63 14.0 .322 .619 5.3 1.0 3.9
1952–53 Fort Wayne 67 15.6 .358 .735 5.6 1.1 5.3
1953–54 Fort Wayne 21 7.4 .257 .600 3.0 .5 1.7
1953–54 Milwaukee 47 30.2 .391 .694 10.5 1.5 11.2
1954–55 Milwaukee 69 24.4 .407 .713 9.9 1.2 11.9
1955–56 St. Louis 72 27.4 .430 .695 10.8 1.8 13.6
1956–57 St. Louis 72* 23.2 .439 .684 8.9 1.1 10.3
1957–58† St. Louis 72* 25.3 .396 .648 10.4 1.8 8.6
1958–59 St. Louis 72* 23.8 .386 .755 9.1 1.4 6.0
1959–60 St. Louis 38 16.7 .381 .658 5.7 1.6 4.3
1959–60 Minneapolis 3 6.0 .750 1.000 2.0 .7 2.3
Career 596 21.9 .400 .693 8.4 1.4 8.3

Playoffs

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Year Team GP MPG FG% FT% RPG APG PPG
1952 Fort Wayne 2 17.5 .727 .600 5.0 1.5 9.5
1953 Fort Wayne 8 24.8 .407 .667 6.5 1.5 6.0
1956 St. Louis 8 28.9 .493 .646 9.1 1.6 12.9
1957 St. Louis 10* 16.8 .431 .600 6.3 .6 9.2
1958† St. Louis 11* 18.3 .393 .658 6.2 1.0 6.6
1959 St. Louis 6 20.3 .296 .714 8.7 1.5 4.3
1960 Minneapolis 9 13.7 .429 .909 3.8 .6 2.4
Career 57 19.9 .435 .659 6.5 1.1 7.1

Honors

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  • Share was inducted into the St. Louis Sports Hall of Fame in 2017.[11]
  • Share was inducted into the Bowling Green State University Athletics Hall of Fame in 1964.[17][18]

References

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  1. ^ a b "CHUCK SHARE".
  2. ^ a b c santhony@post-dispatch.com > 314-340-8169, SHANE ANTHONY • (June 10, 2012). "Charlie Share dies; captain of '58 NBA champ St. Louis Hawks". stltoday.com.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  3. ^ "Centennial Season Look Back: Falcon Legends are Born – 1945-55". Bowling Green State University Athletics.
  4. ^ a b c BELOCK, JOE (May 17, 2017). "The Celtics' last No. 1 pick in NBA draft, in 1950, didn't go so well - NY Daily News". nydailynews.com.
  5. ^ Fromal, Adam. "Metrics 101: Best and Worst Trades of No. 1 Pick in NBA History". Bleacher Report.
  6. ^ "1950 Waterloo Hawks Statistics on StatsCrew.com". www.statscrew.com.
  7. ^ "Charles Share Statistics on StatsCrew.com". www.statscrew.com.
  8. ^ a b c d e "Chuck Share NBA stats". Basketball Reference. Sports Reference, LLC. Retrieved August 1, 2023.
  9. ^ "1957-58 St. Louis Hawks Roster and Stats". Basketball-Reference.com.
  10. ^ a b Anthony, Shane (June 10, 2012), "Charlie Share dies; captain of '58 NBA champ St. Louis Hawks", St. Louis Post-Dispatch
  11. ^ a b "Charlie Share – St Louis Sports Hall of Fame".
  12. ^ "1958 NBA Finals - St. Louis Hawks vs. Boston Celtics". Basketball-Reference.com.
  13. ^ "1960 NBA Western Division Finals - Minneapolis Lakers vs. St. Louis Hawks". Basketball-Reference.com.
  14. ^ "Peach Basket Society". peachbasketsociety.blogspot.com.
  15. ^ The Official NBA Basketball Encyclopedia. Villard Books. 1994. p. 379. ISBN 0-679-43293-0.
  16. ^ "NBA Players: Chuck Share Profile and Basic Stats". www.landofbasketball.com.
  17. ^ "A century on the court". Bowling Green State University.
  18. ^ "Charles Share (1964) - Hall of Fame". Bowling Green State University Athletics.
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