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Game state source: whynba · Retrieved Oct 9, 7:43 pm EDTNBA legend. Inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. Biography, honors and career statistics below.
Bill Bradley
Career at a glance
Bill Bradley played 10 NBA regular seasons between 1967 and 1977, appearing in 742 games and averaging 12.4 points, 3.2 rebounds and 3.4 assists per game. He spent his whole career with New York (1967–77, 742 games). His best scoring season was 1972–73 with New York: 16.1 points per game over 82 games.
Championship seasons: 1969–70 (New York), 1972–73 (New York). In the playoffs he appeared in 8 postseason runs (95 games, 12.9 points per game). Multiplying each season’s games by its scoring average gives roughly 9,200 regular-season points (an estimate from per-game figures, not an official total).
whynba analysis of the season-by-season statistics below (Wikipedia revision, CC BY-SA 4.0). Totals are estimates from per-game averages.
About Bill Bradley
William Warren Bradley (born July 28, 1943) is an American politician and former professional basketball player. After playing in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for 10 seasons with the New York Knicks, he served as a United States senator from New Jersey from 1979 to 1997. A member of the Democratic Party, he was a candidate for the party's nomination for president in the 2000 election, losing to Vice President Al Gore.
Bradley was born and raised in Crystal City, Missouri, a small town 45 miles (72km) south of St. Louis. He excelled at basketball from an early age. He did well academically and was an all-county and all-state basketball player in high school. He was offered 75 college scholarships, but declined them all to attend Princeton University. He won a gold medal as a member of the 1964 Olympic basketball team and was the Most Outstanding Player of the 1965 NCAA Tournament, when Princeton finished third. After graduating in 1965, he attended Oxford on a Rhodes Scholarship where he was a member of Worcester College, delaying a decision for two years on whether or not to play in the National Basketball Association (NBA).
While at Oxford, Bradley played one season of professional basketball in Europe and eventually decided to join the New York Knicks in the 1967–68 season, after serving six months in the Air Force Reserve. He spent his entire ten-year professional basketball career playing for the Knicks, winning NBA titles in 1970 and 1973. Retiring in 1977, he ran for a seat in the United States Senatethe following year, from his adopted home state of New Jersey. He was re-elected in 1984 and 1990, before deciding against seeking a fourth term in 1996. He was an unsuccessful candidate for the 2000 Democratic presidential nomination.
- Born
- William Warren Bradley July 28, 1943 (age 83) Crystal City, Missouri, U.S.
- Listed height
- 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)
- Listed weight
- 205 lb (93 kg)
- Position
- Small forward
- High school
- Crystal City (Crystal City, Missouri)
- College
- Princeton (1962–1965)
- NBA draft
- 1965: territorial pick
- Playing career
- 1965–1977
Career highlights and awards
- 2× NBA champion (1970, 1973)
- NBA All-Star (1973)
- No. 24 retired by New York Knicks
- EuroLeague champion (1966)
- 101 Greats of European Basketball (2018)
- NCAA Final Four MOP (1965)
- USBWA College Player of the Year (1965)
- AP College Player of the Year (1965)
- Helms Foundation College Player of the Year (1965)
- 2× Sporting News Player of the Year (1964, 1965)
- UPI College Player of the Year (1965)
- 2× Consensus first-team All-American (1964, 1965)
- James E. Sullivan Award (1965)
- BUSF British University champion (1966)
- ABBA English National champion (1966)
- Mr. Basketball USA (1961)
- First-team Parade All-American (1961)
- Second-team Parade All-American (1960)
Career statistics
| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1967–68 | New York | 45 | 11 | 19.4 | .416 | — | .731 | 2.5 | 3.0 | — | — | 8.0 |
| 1968–69 | New York | 82 | 39 | 29.4 | .429 | — | .814 | 4.3 | 3.7 | — | — | 12.4 |
| 1969–70† | New York | 67 | 64 | 31.3 | .460 | — | .824 | 3.6 | 4.0 | — | — | 14.5 |
| 1970–71 | New York | 78 | 66 | 29.5 | .453 | — | .823 | 3.3 | 3.6 | — | — | 12.4 |
| 1971–72 | New York | 78 | 78 | 35.6 | .465 | — | .849 | 3.2 | 4.0 | — | — | 15.1 |
| 1972–73† | New York | 82* | 82* | 36.6 | .459 | — | .871 | 3.7 | 4.5 | — | — | 16.1 |
| 1973–74 | New York | 82* | 82* | 34.3 | .451 | — | .874 | 3.1 | 3.0 | .5 | .3 | 14.0 |
| 1974–75 | New York | 79 | 79 | 35.3 | .436 | — | .873 | 3.2 | 3.1 | .9 | .2 | 13.3 |
| 1975–76 | New York | 82 | 82 | 33.0 | .433 | — | .878 | 2.9 | 3.0 | .8 | .2 | 11.1 |
| 1976–77 | New York | 67 | 5 | 15.3 | .464 | — | .810 | 1.5 | 1.9 | .4 | .1 | 4.3 |
| Career | 742 | 588 | 30.7 | .448 | — | .840 | 3.2 | 3.4 | .7 | .2 | 12.4 | |
| All-Star | 1 | 0 | 12.0 | .400 | — | — | 1.0 | .0 | — | — | 4.0 |
| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1968 | New York | 6 | 0 | 10.7 | .429 | — | .692 | 1.0 | .3 | — | — | 5.5 |
| 1969 | New York | 10 | 10 | 41.9 | .461 | — | .769 | 7.3 | 4.0 | — | — | 16.0 |
| 1970† | New York | 19 | 19 | 32.4 | .429 | — | .814 | 3.8 | 3.2 | — | — | 12.4 |
| 1971 | New York | 12 | 12 | 30.7 | .424 | — | .737 | 3.4 | 3.6 | — | — | 10.5 |
| 1972 | New York | 16 | 16 | 37.1 | .467 | — | .839 | 2.9 | 3.4 | — | — | 16.2 |
| 1973† | New York | 17 | 17 | 34.5 | .448 | — | .800 | 3.4 | 2.6 | — | — | 14.0 |
| 1974 | New York | 12 | 12 | 35.4 | .396 | — | .862 | 2.3 | 1.1 | .6 | .3 | 12.6 |
| 1975 | New York | 3 | 3 | 29.3 | .375 | — | 1.000 | 3.0 | 2.0 | .7 | .0 | 6.7 |
| Career | 95 | 89 | 33.3 | .438 | — | .805 | 3.5 | 2.8 | .6 | .2 | 12.9 |
Per-game averages. † won an NBA championship · * led the league · ‡ NBA record (as marked).
Profile observation date unavailable.
- Height
- 6′ 5″
- Weight
- 205 lb
- Position
- Small forward
- Jersey
- Not listed
- Country
- USA
- School / last affiliation
- Not listed
- Draft year
- Not listed
- Draft pick
- Undrafted / not listed
Height, Weight, Position, Country: blank in the NBA.com profile, filled from the Wikipedia infobox credited in the About section above.
How Bill Bradley fit the Knicks’ offense
Bradley’s contribution to the New York Knicks becomes clearer when watching the players away from the ball. The NBA’s history of Willis Reed identifies Bradley’s constant, purposeful running as part of New York’s motion offense. The value of that movement is practical: a defender must keep tracking his assignment while also watching the ball, and a passer needs teammates to create useful receiving angles.
Bradley also supplied passing and shooting alongside Walt Frazier and Reed. In an offense that shares those jobs, a player’s scoring average is only one part of the picture. An assist records the final pass before a basket; it does not count every cut or earlier pass that helped the possession develop.
Reliability across the championship years
In 1972–73, Bradley started all 82 regular-season games and recorded 367 assists. That full-season workload helps explain his place in the rotation beyond the scoring totals. The Knicks also credit him with leading the team in free-throw percentage for eight consecutive seasons.
His season and playoff figures answer different questions. For the 1973 championship, the team record book lists 1,319 regular-season points and 238 across 17 playoff games. The postseason total belongs to the entire run, including the earlier rounds, rather than the Finals alone.
Roster observations
These dates show when our saved NBA directory observations listed this player with a team. They are not signing, trade or contract dates, and this is not a complete career history.
No roster observations are stored for this player. Historical profile details above do not establish a current team assignment.
Profile source
Biographical fields reflect the saved official profile at the check time shown above. Team assignments use the dated directory evidence in Roster observations. Offseason rosters and jersey numbers can change.
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