On this day in 1971: Artis Gilmore’s ABA debut — 29 points, 20 rebounds for the Colonels

Fifty-five years ago today, Artis Gilmore made his ABA debut and immediately looked like the league’s next big center. On October 16, 1971, at Freedom Hall in Louisville, the Kentucky Colonels beat the New York Nets 107-98 in front of 8,813 fans. The 7-foot-2 Jacksonville product scored 29 points on 12-of-17 shooting, grabbed 20 rebounds and blocked four shots in a night that previewed an MVP and Rookie of the Year season.

According to Basketball-Reference’s box score, Kentucky opened 1-0. Dan Issel added 26 points and 14 rebounds beside Gilmore. Across the floor, Rick Barry led the Nets with 24 and Bill Melchionni had 22 points and 11 assists, but neither could slow the A-Train’s first professional tip.

• Result: Colonels 107, Nets 98 — October 16, 1971, Freedom Hall, Louisville.
• Attendance: 8,813.
• Gilmore’s debut line: 29 points (12-17 FG, 5-11 FT), 20 rebounds, 4 blocks, 4 fouls.
• Kentucky leaders: Artis Gilmore 29/20, Dan Issel 26/14, Darel Carrier 16, Louie Dampier 8, Goose Ligon 8.
• New York leaders: Rick Barry 24 points and 9 rebounds, Bill Melchionni 22 points and 11 assists, Trooper Washington 11 points and 11 rebounds, Manny Leaks 10.
• Team shooting: Kentucky 40-87 from the field and 27-41 from the line; New York 39-87 and 19-28.

A 29-and-20 opening statement

Gilmore did not ease into the ABA. He went 12-of-17 from the field in his first box score, converted five free throws, and finished with a 20-rebound, four-block night that already matched the nickname fans would stick on him — the A-Train. Issel, the previous year’s ABA Rookie of the Year, stayed busy with 26 and 14, so Kentucky’s frontcourt tandem announced itself before the rest of the league had fully filed the paperwork.

The Nets brought star power. Barry scored 24 and Melchionni dealt 11 assists, while Billy Paultz and Jim Ard tried to hold the paint. It was not enough. Kentucky held a 50-47 rebounding edge and got to the free-throw line 41 times. Freedom Hall’s first look at Gilmore ended with a nine-point home win and a 1-0 start.

From Jacksonville to ABA MVP in one season

Gilmore arrived from Jacksonville University as the center every ABA club wanted. The Chicago Bulls had also selected him in the seventh round of the 1971 NBA Draft, but he signed with Kentucky and stayed in Louisville for five ABA seasons. In 1971-72 he averaged 23.8 points, 17.8 rebounds and 5.0 blocks over 84 games in 43.6 minutes a night, then swept ABA Rookie of the Year and ABA Most Valuable Player — a rare double that started with that October 16 debut.

The Colonels finished that season 68-16. Gilmore made five All-ABA teams, won the 1975 ABA championship with Kentucky, then moved to the NBA with Chicago after the merger and later played for San Antonio and Boston. Basketball-Reference lists him for 1,329 combined ABA/NBA games, 18.8 points and 12.3 rebounds per night, and Hall of Fame induction in 2011.

Why the debut still reads clean

Debut nights often hide the player who will define a franchise. This one did not. Twenty-nine points, 20 rebounds and four blocks against Barry’s Nets is a complete first chapter: scoring touch, glass control, and rim protection in the same box score. Fifty-five years later the ledger still opens the same way — Colonels 107, Nets 98, Gilmore 29 and 20, and an ABA career that never really looked like a warm-up.