Norm Van Lier

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Norman Van Lier

Position	Point guard
Height	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Weight	173 lb (78 kg)
Born	April 1, 1947 (1947-04-01) (age 61) East Liverpool, Ohio
Nationality	USA
High school	Midland
College	Saint Francis University
Draft	34th overall, 1969 Chicago Bulls
Pro career	1969 –1979
Former teams	Cincinnati Royals (1969-1971) Chicago Bulls (1971-1978) Milwaukee Bucks (1978-1979)
Awards	Three-time All-Star Second Team All-NBA 1973-1974

Norman Allen Van Lier III (born April 1, 1947, in East Liverpool, Ohio) is a former NBA basketball player who spent the majority of his career with the Chicago Bulls.

Van Lier was born in the Pittsburgh Tri-State area of Ohio, then raised in the Pittsburgh suburb of Midland, Pennsylvania where he was High School teammates with future NBA Star Simmie Hill.[1] Midand is in Beaver County, Pennsylvania, better known for football players like Joe Namath than for basketball stars, and Van Lier always played a physical brand of basketball.

Van Lier's basketball talents were often under-appreciated because of his modest stature, at 6'1" tall, and because of his emphasis on defense which in Van Lier's day was not well understood by the casual fan. He was not recruited by major basketball powers, and went to Saint Francis University of Pennsylvania, and there he emerged as a standout player.

The Chicago Bulls selected Van Lier in the third round of the 1969 NBA Draft, but immediately traded him to the Cincinnati Royals, where he led the NBA in assists in 1971. The Bulls reacquired Van Lier during the 1971-1972 season. He remained with the Bulls until 1978, appearing in three All-Star games (1974, 1976, 1977) during that tenure.

Nicknamed "Stormin' Norman" for his tenacity and aggression, Van Lier was one of the most popular Bulls players of the 1970s. During his ten year career, Van Lier was named to three NBA All-Defense First Teams and five NBA All-Defense Second Teams. He was named to the All-NBA Second Team in 1974. Van Lier retired in January 1979 with career totals of 8,770 points and 5,217 assists.

Norm held the record for the longest field goal in NBA history (84 feet) for 24 years until Baron Davis broke the record on November 17, 2001 (89 feet). After retirement, Norm became a popular Chicago area broadcaster and had a supporting role in the 2002 movie Barbershop. In 1989, he was the assistant coach of the Worcester Counts in the World Basketball League.

Van Lier is a huge fan of the Rolling Stones & the band Chicago. In the past, he has served as a special disc jockey on the Chicago rock music station 97.9 WLUP^{[citation needed]}.

[edit] NBA Stats

Season	Team	GP	MPG	RPG	APG	PPG
1969-70	Royals	81	35.7	5.0	6.2	9.5
1970-71	Royals	82	40.5	7.1	10.1	16.0
1971-72	Royals/Bulls	79	30.6	4.5	6.9	11.5
1972-73	Bulls	80	36.0	5.5	7.1	13.9
1973-74	Bulls	80	35.8	4.7	6.9	14.3
1974-75	Bulls	70	37.0	4.7	5.8	15.0
1975-76	Bulls	76	39.8	5.4	6.6	12.6
1976-77	Bulls	82	37.8	4.5	7.8	10.2
1977-78	Bulls	78	32.4	3.6	6.8	7.3
1978-79	Bucks	38	14.6	1.1	4.2	2.8
Career	N/A	746	35.1	4.8	7.0	11.8

[edit] External links

• Career Stats at basketball-reference.com