Jack Twyman

Jack Twyman

No. 10, 27, 21
Forward
Personal information
Born	(1934-05-21)May 21, 1934 Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Died	May 30, 2012(2012-05-30) (aged 78) Cincinnati, Ohio
Nationality	American
Listed height	6 ft 6 in (198 cm)
Listed weight	210 lb (95 kg)
Career information
High school	Central Catholic (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania)
College	Cincinnati (1951–1955)
NBA draft	1955 / Round: 2 / Pick: 8th overall
Selected by the Rochester Royals
Pro playing career	1955–1966
Career history
1955–1966	Rochester / Cincinnati Royals
Career highlights and awards
6× NBA All-Star (1957–1960, 1962–1963) 2× All-NBA Second Team (1960, 1962) No. 27 Retired by the Sacramento Kings
Career statistics
Points	15,840 (19.2 ppg)
Rebounds	5,424 (6.6 rpg)
Assists	1,861 (2.3 apg)
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com
Basketball Hall of Fame as player

John Kennedy "Jack" Twyman (May 21, 1934 – May 30, 2012) was an American professional basketball player and sports broadcaster.

Biography

Playing career

A 6'6" forward from the University of Cincinnati, he spent eleven seasons (1955–1966) in the NBA as a member of the Rochester/Cincinnati Royals franchise (now the Sacramento Kings). Along with Wilt Chamberlain, Twyman became the first NBA player to average more than 30 points per game in a single season when he averaged 31.2 points per game during the 1959–60 season. He scored a career high 59 points in a game that same season.^[1] Twyman scored 15,840 points in his career, he was named to the All-NBA Second Team in both 1960 and 1962, and he appeared in six NBA All-Star Games.

Twyman was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1983.

Humanitarian efforts

Twyman was also known for his humanitarian efforts. He became the legal guardian of his teammate Maurice Stokes, who was paralyzed due to the aftereffects of a head injury suffered during the final game of the 1958 regular season, to help with medical finances. Twyman also organized the NBA's Maurice Stokes Memorial Basketball game, held at Kutsher's Country Club in Monticello, New York, first to raise funds for Stokes's care and after his death to aid other needy former players from the game's early years.^[2] (The fundraising effort later became replaced by a pro-am golf event featuring NBA players.)^[3] Twyman also helped Stokes to obtain workers’ compensation and helped him to learn to communicate by blinking his eyes to denote individual letters.^[1][2]

Broadcasting career

In the late 1960s and early 1970s, Twyman served as analyst for The NBA on ABC, working alongside Chris Schenkel, including the NBA Finals.

One of Twyman's most dramatic moments as a sportscaster came during the moments preceding Game 7 of the 1970 championship series between the New York Knicks and the Los Angeles Lakers. Doing the pre-game segment with Schenkel, Twyman suddenly looked to his left and noticed the injured center Willis Reed (whose status for the clincher had been doubtful) advancing from the tunnel toward the Madison Square Garden court. Interrupting his own train of thought, he told Schenkel and the viewers: I think we see Willis coming out.^[4]

The sight of Reed marching toward the basketball floor in his warmup uniform helped inspire the Knicks to their 113–99 victory – one that gave New York its first NBA league title.

Later years

Twyman later became a food company executive, and made more than $3 million when he sold the company in 1996.^[1] In 2004, when the Basketball Hall of Fame inducted Maurice Stokes, Twyman accepted the award on his behalf.^[1]

Twyman died on May 31, 2012 in Cincinnati from complications of blood cancer.^[1][5]

Legacy

On June 9, 2013, the NBA announced that both Twyman and Maurice Stokes would be honored with an annual award in their names, the Twyman–Stokes Teammate of the Year Award, which recognizes the player that embodies the league's ideal teammate that season.^[6][7]

References

External links

• Career stats
• More career stats
• Remembering Jack Twyman