Robert W. Doll (August 10, 1919 – September 7, 1959) 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 court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

player who played in the early days of professional basketball for the St. Louis Bombers and Boston Celtics during the early years of the NBA.

College and amateur career

Doll starred at

Chaffey High School Chaffey High School is a public high school in Ontario, California, United States. It is part of the Chaffey Joint Union High School District and rests on approximately , making it one of the largest high schools by area in California. The schoo ...

Ontario, California Ontario is a city in southwestern San Bernardino County in the U.S. state of California, east of downtown Los Angeles and west of downtown San Bernardino, the county seat. Located in the western part of the Inland Empire metropolitan area, ...

and played collegiately at the

University of Colorado The University of Colorado (CU) is a system of public universities in Colorado. It consists of four institutions: University of Colorado Boulder, University of Colorado Colorado Springs, University of Colorado Denver, and the University o ...

from 1939 to 1942, leading the Buffaloes to a period of great team success. A post player, "Ichabod" Doll was known as a voracious rebounder and defender with a soft shooting touch. In his first season of eligibility as a sophomore in 1940, Doll led the Buffaloes to bids in both the NCAA Tournament and NIT. While the NCAA tournament appearance lasted only one game, Doll led the Buffs to the NIT title and was named the tournament Most Valuable Player after averaging 15.5 points per game. Two years later, Doll was named a consensus second team All-American and led Colorado to its first Final Four. Following the close of his collegiate career, Doll played for several years in the

Amateur Athletic Union The Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) is an amateur sports organization based in the United States. A multi-sport organization, the AAU is dedicated exclusively to the promotion and development of amateur sports and physical fitness programs. It h ...

and was named an AAU All-American in 1943 while playing for the

Denver Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

American Legion team.

Professional career

In 1946, Doll joined the St. Louis Bombers of the Basketball Association of America (BAA). After two years with the Bombers, Doll joined the Boston Celtics as a free agent. During his two-year stint with the Celtics, the BAA merged with the National Basketball League to form 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 St ...

. Doll played for one more year with the Celtics in the inaugural NBA campaign. Bob Doll averaged 8.4 points and 1.4 assists per game for his four-year BAA/NBA career.basketball-reference.com
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Death

Doll was found shot to death on September 18, 1959, on Rabbit Ears Pass in the

Rocky Mountains The Rocky Mountains, also known as the Rockies, are a major mountain range and the largest mountain system in North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch in straight-line distance from the northernmost part of western Canada, to New Mexico ...

of Colorado. A .45 caliber pistol he owned was discovered near his body and his death was determined to be a suicide. Doll had vanished on Labor Day but had not been reported missing until five days before the discovery of his body. The coroner determined that he likely died sometime around the Labor Day weekend.

BAA/NBA career statistics

Regular season

Playoffs

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Doll, Bob 1919 births 1950s missing person cases 1959 suicides 1959 deaths All-American college men's basketball players Amateur Athletic Union men's basketball players American men's basketball players Basketball players from Colorado Boston Celtics players Centers (basketball) Colorado Buffaloes men's basketball players Denver Nuggets (1948–1950) players Formerly missing people Missing person cases in Colorado Sportspeople from Ontario, California Basketball players from San Bernardino County, California People from Steamboat Springs, Colorado Power forwards (basketball) St. Louis Bombers (NBA) players Suicides by firearm in Colorado Chaffey High School alumni