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Game state source: whynba · Retrieved Oct 9, 5:36 pm EDTNBA legend. Inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. Biography, honors and career statistics below.
Zelmo Beaty
Career at a glance
Zelmo Beaty played 12 professional regular seasons (4 in the ABA, 8 in the NBA) between 1962 and 1975, appearing in 889 games and averaging 17.1 points, 10.9 rebounds and 1.5 assists per game. He played for 4 teams: St. Louis (1962–68, 429 games), Atlanta (1968–69, 72 games), Utah (ABA) (1970–74, 319 games), L.A. Lakers (1974–75, 69 games). His best scoring season was 1971–72 with Utah (ABA): 23.6 points per game over 84 games.
He rebounded best in 1970–71 at 15.7 per game. The season table marks him as the league leader in field-goal percentage once. Championship season: 1970–71 (Utah (ABA)).
In the playoffs he appeared in 11 postseason runs (115 games, 17.9 points per game). Multiplying each season’s games by its scoring average gives roughly 15,200 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 Zelmo Beaty
Zelmo "Big Z" Beaty (/ˈbeɪtiː/BAY-tee; October 25, 1939 – August 27, 2013) was an American basketball player. He played eight seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA) and four in the rival American Basketball Association (ABA). In 2016, he was inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame. He was earlier selected to the ABA All-Time Team. Beaty excelled in both high school and college basketball before being selected as a first round draft pick by the St. Louis Hawks in the 1962 NBA draft, with the third overall pick. He was a member of the NBA's inaugural All-Rookie Team in 1963. He was a two-time NBA All-Star in seven years with the Hawks, and averaged double-doubles for six consecutive seasons after his rookie year. The Hawks went to the NBA playoffs every season he was on the team.
In October 1969, Beaty signed a contract to join the Los Angeles Stars (later the Utah Stars) in the American Basketball Association. He did not play in the 1969–70 season because of the restriction imposed by the option clause in his NBA contract with the Hawks. In four seasons with the Utah Stars (1970 to 1974), he was an ABA All-Star three times and second-team All-ABA twice, while being a key figure in the Stars run to the 1971 ABA championship, where he recorded 36 points and 16 rebounds in the decisive Game 7 victory on his way to being named the 1971 ABA Playoffs Most Valuable Player. This is still the only professional basketball championship for the state of Utah.
Beaty has also been inducted into the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame, the NAIA Hall of Fame, and the Small College Basketball Hall of Fame. Beaty played for Prairie View A&M University from 1958 to 1962, averaging 25 points and 20 rebounds per game over his college career. He led Prairie View to the NAIA national basketball tournament championship in 1962, had 28 points and 29 rebounds in the championship game, and was named the 1962 NAIA Chuck Taylor Tournament MVP. Beaty was a two-time first team NAIA All-American (1960, 1962), two-time first-team United Press International small college All-American (1961, 1962), and a first-team Associated PressLittle All-American (1962) after being a second-team Little All-American the prior year (1961).
- Born
- October 25, 1939 Hillister, Texas, U.S.
- Listed height
- 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)
- Listed weight
- 225 lb (102 kg)
- Position
- Center
- High school
- Scott (Woodville, Texas)
- College
- Prairie View A&M (1958–1962)
- NBA draft
- 1962: 1st round, 3rd overall pick
- Playing career
- 1962–1975
Career highlights and awards
- ABA champion (1971)
- ABA Playoffs MVP (1971)
- 2× NBA All-Star (1966, 1968)
- NBA All-Rookie First Team (1963)
- 3× ABA All-Star (1971–1973)
- 2× All-ABA Second Team (1971, 1972)
- ABA All-Time Team
- NAIA tournament MVP (1962)
Career statistics
| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1962–63 | St. Louis | 80 | – | 24.0 | .439 | – | .717 | 8.3 | 1.1 | – | – | 10.2 |
| 1963–64 | St. Louis | 59 | – | 32.6 | .444 | – | .741 | 10.7 | 1.3 | – | – | 13.1 |
| 1964–65 | St. Louis | 80 | – | 36.5 | .482 | – | .715 | 12.1 | 1.4 | – | – | 16.9 |
| 1965–66 | St. Louis | 80 | – | 38.4 | .473 | – | .758 | 13.6 | 1.6 | – | – | 20.7 |
| 1966–67 | St. Louis | 48 | – | 34.6 | .473 | – | .758 | 10.7 | 1.3 | – | – | 17.8 |
| 1967–68 | St. Louis | 82 | – | 37.4 | .488 | – | .794 | 11.7 | 2.1 | – | – | 21.1 |
| 1968–69 | Atlanta | 72 | – | 35.8 | .470 | – | .731 | 11.1 | 1.8 | – | – | 21.5 |
| 1970–71† | Utah (ABA) | 76 | – | 38.4 | .555* | .500 | .791 | 15.7 | 1.9 | – | – | 22.9 |
| 1971–72 | Utah (ABA) | 84 | – | 37.3 | .539 | .000 | .829 | 13.2 | 1.5 | – | – | 23.6 |
| 1972–73 | Utah (ABA) | 82 | – | 34.2 | .520 | .000 | .803 | 9.8 | 1.5 | – | 1.0 | 16.4 |
| 1973–74 | Utah (ABA) | 77 | – | 32.2 | .524 | .000 | .795 | 8.0 | 1.7 | 0.8 | 0.8 | 13.4 |
| 1974–75 | L.A. Lakers | 69 | – | 17.6 | .439 | – | .800 | 4.7 | 1.1 | 0.7 | 0.4 | 5.5 |
| Career | 889 | – | 33.4 | .494 | .154 | .771 | 10.9 | 1.5 | 0.7 | 0.8 | 17.1 | |
| All-Star | 5 | 1 | 24.6 | .340 | – | .789 | 9.4 | 1.2 | 0.2 | 0.4 | 9.8 |
| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1963 | St. Louis | 11 | – | 27.9 | .443 | – | .750 | 7.6 | 1.0 | – | – | 10.3 |
| 1964 | St. Louis | 12 | – | 36.3 | .521 | – | .597 | 9.5 | 1.0 | – | – | 14.3 |
| 1965 | St. Louis | 4 | – | 38.5 | .492 | – | .760 | 13.8 | 0.3 | – | – | 19.3 |
| 1966 | St. Louis | 10 | – | 41.8 | .493 | – | .759 | 13.1 | 2.2 | – | – | 19.0 |
| 1967 | St. Louis | 9 | – | 35.3 | .442 | – | .785 | 9.9 | 1.3 | – | – | 15.9 |
| 1968 | St. Louis | 6 | – | 39.8 | .467 | – | .782 | 13.5 | 2.5 | – | – | 21.5 |
| 1969 | Atlanta | 11 | – | 43.0 | .432 | – | .672 | 12.9 | 2.3 | – | – | 22.5 |
| 1971† | Utah (ABA) | 18 | – | 38.8 | .536 | – | .846 | 14.6 | 2.4 | – | – | 23.2 |
| 1972 | Utah (ABA) | 11 | – | 40.3 | .552 | – | .830 | 14.0 | 2.2 | – | – | 20.1 |
| 1973 | Utah (ABA) | 10 | – | 38.7 | .552 | – | .827 | 11.6 | 1.4 | – | – | 15.9 |
| 1974 | Utah (ABA) | 13 | – | 36.3 | .503 | – | .825 | 10.8 | 1.6 | 1.4 | 0.9 | 14.8 |
| Career | 115 | – | 37.8 | .496 | – | .770 | 11.9 | 1.7 | 1.4 | 0.9 | 17.9 |
Per-game averages. † won an ABA or NBA championship · * led the league · ‡ league record (as marked).
Profile observation date unavailable.
- Height
- 6′ 9″
- Weight
- 225 lb
- Position
- Center
- Jersey
- Not listed
- Country
- USA
- School / last affiliation
- Not listed
- Draft year
- 1962
- Draft pick
- Round 1 · Pick 3
Height, Weight, Position, Country, Draft year, Draft pick: blank in the NBA.com profile, filled from the Wikipedia infobox credited in the About section above.
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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