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Bobby Frank Rule (June 29, 1944 – September 5, 2019) was an American professional
basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...
player. He played at
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in the
National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United S ...
(NBA) for the
Seattle SuperSonics The Seattle SuperSonics (commonly known as the Seattle Sonics) were an American professional basketball team based in Seattle. The SuperSonics competed in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member club of the league's Western Confe ...
,
Philadelphia 76ers The Philadelphia 76ers, colloquially known as the Sixers, are an American professional basketball team based in the Philadelphia metropolitan area. The 76ers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eas ...
,
Cleveland Cavaliers The Cleveland Cavaliers (often referred to as the Cavs) are an American professional basketball team based in Cleveland. The Cavaliers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference (NBA), Ea ...
, and the
Milwaukee Bucks The Milwaukee Bucks are an American professional basketball team based in Milwaukee. The Bucks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division. The team was founded in 1968 ...
.


Early years

Rule played high school basketball at
Riverside Polytechnic High School Riverside Polytechnic High School is a four-year public high school in Riverside, California, United States, and part of the Riverside Unified School District. The current facility, located on Victoria Avenue, was opened in September 1965; the t ...
. Early in his college career, Rule played under the legendary
Jerry Tarkanian Jerry Tarkanian (August 8, 1930 – February 11, 2015) was an American basketball coach. He coached college basketball for 31 seasons over five decades at three schools. He spent the majority of his career coaching with the UNLV Runnin' Rebe ...
, then head coach at
Riverside Community College Riverside City College (RCC) is a public community college in Riverside, California. The college is part of the Riverside Community College District, as well as the larger California Community Colleges System. History RCC first opened in 1916 at ...
. It was under Tarkanian that Rule honed his defensive and footwork skills. In 1964, Rule was named the Most Valuable Player of the California Junior College State Championships after leading the Riverside City College Tigers to a 35-0 record and the school's first state championship team. Looking back years later, in retirement, Tarkanian commented that Rule "might be the best player I ever coached" and that Rule was "the most dominant player in the history of California junior college basketball." Rule then transferred to and starred at
Colorado State Colorado State University (Colorado State or CSU) is a public land-grant research university in Fort Collins, Colorado. It is the flagship university of the Colorado State University System. Colorado State University is classified among "R1: ...
for two seasons. In 1966, Rule and Colorado State made the NCAA tournament but lost to a
Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...
team that featured future Hall of Famer
Elvin Hayes Elvin Ernest Hayes (born November 17, 1945), nicknamed "the Big E", is an American former professional basketball player and radio analyst for his alma-mater Houston Cougars. He is a member of the NBA's 50th and 75th anniversary teams, and a ...
. Rule played in the
Amateur Athletic Association The Amateur Athletic Association of England or AAA (pronounced 'three As') is the oldest national governing body for athletics in the world, having been established on 24 April 1880. Historically it effectively oversaw athletics throughout Britai ...
for the Denver Capitol Federal during the 1966-67 season and was named an All-American.


NBA

A second round pick in the
1967 NBA draft The 1967 NBA draft was the 21st annual draft of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The draft was held on May 3 and 4, 1967 before the 1967–68 season. In this draft, 12 NBA teams took turns selecting amateur U.S. college basketball play ...
, Rule quickly became one of the stars of Seattle's expansion franchise. Named to the 1967–68
NBA All-Rookie Team The NBA All-Rookie Team is an annual National Basketball Association (NBA) honor given since the 1962–63 NBA season to the top rookies during the regular season. Voting is conducted by the NBA head coaches who are not allowed to vote for playe ...
, Rule's 18.1 points per game average stood as the SuperSonics rookie record for forty seasons, until broken by
Kevin Durant Kevin Wayne Durant ( ; born September 29, 1988), also known by his initials KD, is an American professional basketball player for the Brooklyn Nets of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played one season of college basketball for t ...
in 2008. His rebounding average of 9.5 is the second best ever by a SuperSonics rookie, behind only Pete Cross's 12.0 in the 1970–71 season. Also during his rookie season, Rule scored 47 points in a game against the
Los Angeles Lakers The Los Angeles Lakers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Lakers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Pacific Division. The Lakers play their ...
— still a SuperSonics rookie record. Rule's game grew stronger during the next two seasons. In the 1968–69 season, he averaged 24.0 points per game and 11.5 rebounds per game. In the 1969–70 season, he averaged 24.6 points per game and 10.3 rebounds per game, scored 40 or more points on five separate occasions (including a then-SuperSonics record of 49 points in a game against the Philadelphia 76ers), and played in the
1970 NBA All-Star Game The 1970 NBA All-Star Game was played at the Spectrum in Philadelphia, on January 20, 1970. Bob Rule was the replacement for the injured Nate Thurmond of the San Francisco Warriors. The MVP was Willis Reed. The coaches were Red Holzman (East), Ri ...
. In the 1970–71 season, Rule began the season averaging 32.7 points per game and 13.7 rebounds per game over the first three games. In the fourth game, after scoring 21 points and pulling down five rebounds in the first half, Rule had a season-ending torn
achilles tendon The Achilles tendon or heel cord, also known as the calcaneal tendon, is a tendon at the back of the lower leg, and is the thickest in the human body. It serves to attach the plantaris, gastrocnemius (calf) and soleus muscles to the calcaneus (h ...
, ending his season at 29.8 points per game and 11.5 rebounds per game Rule never regained his All-Star form and saw limited playing time thereafter. By 1974 his career was over.


Later years

Rule was inducted into the Riverside City College Athletics Hall of Fame in 2011. Rule died on September 5, 2019 in
Riverside, California Riverside is a city in and the county seat of Riverside County, California, United States, in the Inland Empire metropolitan area. It is named for its location beside the Santa Ana River. It is the most populous city in the Inland Empire an ...
.


NBA career statistics


Regular season


References


External links


Seattle SuperSonics History
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rule, Bob 1944 births 2019 deaths Amateur Athletic Union men's basketball players American men's basketball players Basketball players from Riverside, California Centers (basketball) Cleveland Cavaliers players Colorado State Rams men's basketball players Milwaukee Bucks players National Basketball Association All-Stars Philadelphia 76ers players Riverside City Tigers men's basketball players Seattle SuperSonics draft picks Seattle SuperSonics players