Bob Boozer

Bob Boozer was an American professional basketball player who had a successful career in the National Basketball Association and won both an Olympic gold medal and an NBA Championship with the Milwaukee Bucks.

Player Profile and Personal Life

Robert Lewis Boozer was born on April 26, 1937, in Omaha, Nebraska. He stood 6 feet 8 inches tall and weighed 215 pounds during his playing career.

Boozer grew up in a family that valued education. His parents instilled in him and his sister the importance of getting good grades, telling them that education was the way out of racial prejudice they had experienced.

When Boozer was in his junior year of high school, his parents told him they only had enough money to send his sister to college, so he would need to find his own way. This motivated him to develop his basketball skills to earn a scholarship.

High School and College Career

Boozer attended Omaha Technical High School in Nebraska, where he was a high school teammate of Bob Gibson, who would later become one of baseball's greatest pitchers. Boozer spent countless hours developing his basketball skills at the local YMCA, often playing with the Y Travelers basketball team.

At Kansas State University, Boozer played under Hall of Fame coach Tex Winter from 1956 to 1959.

He helped the Wildcats to a 62-15 record during his three years, including a trip to the 1958 Final Four and consecutive Big Seven/Eight titles in 1958 and 1959.

Boozer was the only player in Kansas State history to earn consensus first-team All-America honors twice (1958, 1959) and was named Big Eight Player of the Year in both seasons. His jersey number 30 was retired by the school, and he was later named to K-State's All-Century basketball team.

Professional Career

Despite being selected as the No. 1 overall pick in the 1959 NBA Draft by the Cincinnati Royals, Boozer postponed his NBA career to pursue his dream of playing in the Olympics.

He spent the 1959-60 season playing for the Peoria Caterpillars in the National Industrial Basketball League (NIBL), where he was named AAU MVP and AAU All-American.

After winning gold at the 1960 Rome Olympics, Boozer joined the Royals, where he played alongside Olympic teammate Oscar Robertson. Over his 11-year NBA career, Boozer played for six different teams: the Royals, New York Knicks, Los Angeles Lakers, Chicago Bulls, Seattle SuperSonics, and Milwaukee Bucks.

His best seasons came with the Bulls, where he averaged 18.0 points and 8.5 rebounds in his first year (1966-67), leading the expansion franchise to the playoffs. The following season, he was named an NBA All-Star.

Boozer concluded his NBA career with the Bucks, winning an NBA championship in 1971.

After retiring from basketball, Boozer returned to Omaha and worked as an executive for Northwestern Bell Telephone, including 10 years as a federal lobbyist in Washington. He also owned several radio stations in partnership with his former high school teammate Bob Gibson. In 1997, after retiring from Bell, he was appointed to the Nebraska State Board of Parole and volunteered at Boys Town, a home for troubled youth.

Boozer died due to a brain aneurysm in Omaha on May 19, 2012, at the age of 75. A street in Omaha, Bob Boozer Drive, was named in his honor.

Career Highlights

• 1958, 1959 - Consensus first-team All-American
• 1958, 1959 - Big Eight Player of the Year
• 1959 - Gold medal, Pan American Games
• 1960 - AAU champion, AAU MVP, AAU All-American
• 1960 - Gold medal, Olympic Games
• 1968 - NBA All-Star
• 1971 - NBA champion (Milwaukee Bucks)
• 1990 - Inducted into K-State Athletics Hall of Fame
• 2010 - Inducted into Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame (as member of 1960 Olympic team)