Bird Averitt

William Rodney "Bird" Averitt (July 22, 1952 – December 12, 2020) was an American professional basketball player in the American Basketball Association (ABA) and the National Basketball Association (NBA). He won an ABA championship with the Kentucky Colonels in 1975.

Bird Averitt
Personal information
Born(1952-07-22)July 22, 1952
Hopkinsville, Kentucky
DiedDecember 12, 2020(2020-12-12) (aged 68)
NationalityAmerican
Listed height6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Listed weight170 lb (77 kg)
Career information
High schoolHopkinsville
(Hopkinsville, Kentucky)
CollegePepperdine (1971–1973)
NBA draft1973 / Round: 4 / Pick: 55th overall
Selected by the Portland Trail Blazers
Playing career1973–1978
PositionShooting guard
Number10, 14, 15
Career history
1973–1974San Antonio Spurs
1974–1976Kentucky Colonels
1976–1977Buffalo Braves
1977New Jersey Nets
1978Buffalo Braves
1979Rochester Zeniths
Career highlights and awards
Career ABA/NBA statistics
Points4,434 (12.1 ppg)
Rebounds680 (1.9 rpg)
Assists1,078 (2.9 apg)
Stats  at NBA.com
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com

Born in Hopkinsville, Kentucky, he played college basketball for the Pepperdine Waves and was named the conference player of the year in the West Coast Conference. He was selected in the fourth round of the 1973 NBA draft by the Portland Trail Blazers and the second round of the 1973 ABA Draft by the San Diego Conquistadors. [1]

He played for the San Antonio Spurs (1973–74) and Kentucky Colonels (1974–76) in the ABA for 236 games, winning the 1975 ABA championship with the Colonels. After the Colonels were disbanded as part of the ABA–NBA merger, Averitt joined the Buffalo Braves through the 1976 ABA dispersal draft, playing with that team for the 1976–77 season until joining the New Jersey Nets for the 1977–78 season, playing 130 games in the NBA with those two teams.

Averitt died at age 68 on December 12, 2020.[2]

ABA/NBA career statistics
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
† Denotes season in which Averitt's team won an ABA championship

Regular season
Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
1973–74 San Antonio (ABA) 74–22.1.376.180.6961.61.80.90.111.5
1974–75† Kentucky (ABA) 84–24.2.416.149.7782.23.81.00.213.1
1975–76 Kentucky (ABA) 78–29.1.429.313.7692.73.81.40.317.9
1976–77 Buffalo 75–15.1.378–.7161.01.80.40.17.9
1977–78 New Jersey 21–19.5.367–.8001.63.20.80.08.3
1977–78 Buffalo 34–19.9.436–.6671.53.80.60.29.5
Career 366–22.3.405.249.7431.92.90.90.212.1

Playoffs
Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
1974 San Antonio (ABA) 6–17.3.373.000.7891.80.30.20.78.8
1975† Kentucky (ABA) 14–18.9.364.200.8061.62.10.50.09.9
1976 Kentucky (ABA) 10–35.8.404.154.8812.26.11.20.219.9
Career 30–24.2.385.143.8371.83.10.70.213.0

See also

References
  1. Bird Averitt page at DatabaseBasketball.com Archived 2011-05-28 at the Wayback Machine
  2. "William 'Bird' Averitt, member of Kentucky Colonels ABA title team, dies". WDRB.com. December 12, 2020. Retrieved December 13, 2020.
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