Les Selvage

Les Selvage
Personal information
Born March 7, 1943
St. Louis, Missouri
Died June 15, 1991 (aged 48)
Nationality American
Listed height 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Listed weight 175 lb (79 kg)
Career information
High school Beaumont (St. Louis, Missouri)
College Truman (1962–1964)
Position Guard
Number 12, 22
Career history
1967–1968 Anaheim Amigos
1969–1970 Los Angeles Stars

Lester Revell Selvage (March 7, 1943 June 15, 1991) was an American professional basketball player.

A 6'1" guard from Beaumont High School in St. Louis, Missouri, Selvage played college basketball at Kirksville State Teachers College (now Truman State University). He was named to the All-MIAA First Team in 1963.[1] After college, he moved to California to work with Douglas Aircraft, but continued to play Amateur Athletic Union basketball on the side. He was discovered and signed by the ABA's Anaheim Amigos in 1967,[2] and appeared in 78 games for the team during the 1967-68 season, averaging 14 points per game.[3] Selvage also was briefly a member of the 1969-1970 Los Angeles Stars team.[3]

Selvage was known for his eagerness to shoot three-pointers,[4] and led the ABA in three-point field goals made (147) and attempted (461) during the 1967-68 season. Selvage himself attempted more threes that season than any other ABA team except the Pittsburgh Pipers, and once shot 26 three-pointers in a single game, making 10.[5] Former Denver Rockets coach Bob Bass recalled, "He acted like if he stepped over [the three-point line], he was going to get killed or something. He didn't just shoot 25-footers he took 30-footers. [...] All he could do was shoot, and he shot too much. But when he was hot, he was unlike anything I had ever seen."[2]

Selvage died in 1991 after a brief illness.[6]

References

  1. Truman Men's Basketball Media Guide. 2003. Retrieved on September 24, 2008.
  2. 2.0 2.1 Terry Pluto. Loose Balls. New York: Fireside, 1990. 73.
  3. 3.0 3.1
    • Les Selvage at Basketball-Reference.com. Retrieved on September 24, 2008.
  4. Deford, Frank, 'Shooting For Three: While the new pro league battles for acceptance, one of its features — the three-point basket — stimulates a controversy', Sports Illustrated, November 27, 1967
  5. Terry Pluto. "Out of their league". The Sporting News. January 8, 1996. Retrieved on September 24, 2008.
  6. "Lester Selvage dies, was ABA, Beaumont star". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. June 11, 1991. Retrieved on September 24, 2008.