Alfred "Butch" Beard Jr. (born May 5, 1947) is an American former 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 and coach. He was the starting

point guard The point guard (PG), also called the one or the point, is one of the five positions in a regulation basketball game. A point guard has perhaps the most specialized role of any position. Point guards are expected to run the team's offense by ...

with the 1975 NBA champion

Golden State Warriors The Golden State Warriors are an American professional basketball team based in San Francisco. The Warriors compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA), as a member of the league's Western Conference Pacific Division. Founded in 194 ...

Career

Early years

Beard played high school basketball at Breckinridge County High School where, as a junior, he led the Bearcats to the 1964 state championship game losing to a

Wes Unseld Westley Sissel Unseld Sr. (March 14, 1946June 2, 2020) was an American professional basketball player, coach and executive. He spent his entire National Basketball Association (NBA) career with the Baltimore/Capital/Washington Bullets. Unseld ...

-led Louisville Seneca team. Beard and Unseld would later become roommates at the University of Louisville. In 1965, Beard led the Bearcats back to the title game, winning the state championship. Additionally, he was named the Kentucky Mr. Basketball. Butch Beard played college basketball at the

University of Louisville The University of Louisville (UofL) is a public research university in Louisville, Kentucky. It is part of the Kentucky state university system. When founded in 1798, it was the first city-owned public university in the United States and one ...

NBA

Beard was selected by the

Dallas Chaparrals The Dallas Chaparrals were a charter member of the American Basketball Association (ABA). The team moved to San Antonio, Texas for the 1973–74 season and were renamed the San Antonio Spurs. The Spurs joined the National Basketball Association ...

in the 1969 ABA draft and by the

Atlanta Hawks The Atlanta Hawks are an American professional basketball team based in Atlanta. The Hawks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Southeast Division. The team plays its home games at ...

in the first round of the

1969 NBA draft The 1969 NBA draft was the 23rd annual draft of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The draft was held on April 7 and May 7, 1969, before the 1969–70 season. In this draft, fourteen NBA teams took turns selecting amateur U.S. college ba ...

. Beard played nine seasons (1969–1970; 1971–1979) with five teams: the

, the

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 Central ...

, 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 ...

, the

, and the

New York Knicks The New York Knickerbockers, shortened and more commonly referred to as the New York Knicks, are an American professional basketball team based in the New York City borough of Manhattan. The Knicks compete in the National Basketball Associat ...

. He scored 5,622 career points and represented Cleveland in the

1972 NBA All-Star Game The 22nd NBA All-Star Game was played on January 18, 1972, at The Forum. * Coaches: Tom Heinsohn, Boston Celtics (Eastern Conference) and Bill Sharman, Los Angeles Lakers (Western Conference) * MVP: Jerry West, Los Angeles (27 minutes, 13 poi ...

. While with the Warriors he scored the last seven points of the team's 1975 NBA Championship win. Beard retired as an NBA player in 1979, last playing for the New York Knicks.

Coaching

Beard later served as head coach of the

New Jersey Nets New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator ...

from 1994 to 1996. He was also color analyst for

games on

MSG Network The MSG Network (MSG) is an American regional cable and satellite television network, and radio service owned by MSG Entertainment, Inc.—a spin-off of the main Madison Square Garden Company operation (itself a spin-off of local cable prov ...

during the 1980s. He was the head coach at

Howard University Howard University (Howard) is a Private university, private, University charter#Federal, federally chartered historically black research university in Washington, D.C. It is Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education, classifie ...

from 1990 to 1994 and head coach at

Morgan State University Morgan State University (Morgan State or MSU) is a public historically black research university in Baltimore, Maryland. It is the largest of Maryland's historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs). In 1867, the university, then known a ...

until he stepped down in March 2006.

NBA career statistics

Regular season

, - , align="left" , 1969–70 , align="left" ,

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,7 ...

, 72 , , - , , 13.1 , , .467 , , - , , .828 , , 1.9 , , 1.7 , , - , , - , , 7.0 , - , align="left" , 1971–72 , align="left" ,

Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the United States, U.S. U.S. state, state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County, Ohio, Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along ...

, 68 , , - , , 35.8 , , .464 , , - , , .760 , , 4.1 , , 6.7 , , - , , - , , 15.4 , - , align="left" , 1972–73 , align="left" ,

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest region o ...

, 73 , , - , , 19.2 , , .439 , , - , , .714 , , 2.4 , , 3.4 , , - , , - , , 6.6 , - , align="left" , 1973–74 , align="left" , Golden State , 79 , , - , , 27.0 , , .512 , , - , , .739 , , 4.9 , , 3.8 , , 1.3 , , 0.1 , , 10.2 , - , style="text-align:left;background:#afe6ba;" , 1974–75† , align="left" , Golden State , 82 , , - , , 30.7 , , .528 , , - , , .832 , , 3.9 , , 4.2 , , 1.6 , , 0.1 , , 12.8 , - , align="left" , 1975–76 , align="left" ,

Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

, 15 , , - , , 17.0 , , .389 , , - , , .730 , , 2.9 , , 3.0 , , 0.7 , , 0.1 , , 6.5 , - , align="left" , 1975–76 , align="left" , New York , 60 , , - , , 24.2 , , .475 , , - , , .755 , , 4.5 , , 2.9 , , 1.2 , , 0.1 , , 8.4 , - , align="left" , 1976–77 , align="left" , New York , 70 , , - , , 15.5 , , .505 , , - , , .688 , , 2.3 , , 2.1 , , 0.8 , , 0.1 , , 5.3 , - , align="left" , 1977–78 , align="left" , New York , 79 , , - , , 25.1 , , .502 , , - , , .806 , , 3.3 , , 4.3 , , 1.5 , , 0.0 , , 9.4 , - , align="left" , 1978–79 , align="left" , New York , 7 , , - , , 12.1 , , .423 , , - , , .000 , , 1.4 , , 2.7 , , 1.0 , , 0.0 , , 3.1 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 605 , , - , , 23.6 , , .487 , , - , , .771 , , 3.4 , , 3.6 , , 1.3 , , 0.1 , , 9.3

Playoffs

, - , align="left" , 1969–70 , align="left" ,

, 9 , , - , , 16.2 , , .477 , , - , , .731 , , 2.9 , , 0.9 , , - , , - , , 9.0 , - , style="text-align:left;background:#afe6ba;" , 1974–75† , align="left" , Golden State , style="background:#cfecec;" , 17* , , - , , 26.4 , , .411 , , - , , .642 , , 4.2 , , 3.1 , , 1.4 , , 0.1 , , 9.1 , - , align="left" , 1977–78 , align="left" , New York , 6 , , - , , 26.7 , , .500 , , - , , .600 , , 3.5 , , 4.5 , , 1.7 , , 0.3 , , 9.0 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 32 , , - , , 23.6 , , .444 , , - , , .663 , , 3.7 , , 2.8 , , 1.5 , , 0.2 , , 9.0

Bibliography

* ''Butch Beard's Basic Basketball: The Complete Player'' (M. Kesend, 1994),

References

External links

Butch Beard career player stats at basketball-reference.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Beard, Butch 1947 births Living people African-American basketball players All-American college men's basketball players Basketball coaches from Kentucky Atlanta Hawks draft picks Atlanta Hawks players Basketball players from Kentucky Cleveland Cavaliers expansion draft picks Cleveland Cavaliers players Dallas Chaparrals draft picks Dallas Mavericks assistant coaches Golden State Warriors players Howard Bison men's basketball coaches International Basketball League (1999–2001) coaches Louisville Cardinals men's basketball players Morgan State Bears men's basketball coaches National Basketball Association All-Stars New Jersey Nets head coaches New York Knicks announcers New York Knicks players Parade High School All-Americans (boys' basketball) People from Hardinsburg, Kentucky Seattle SuperSonics players American men's basketball players Guards (basketball) 21st-century African-American people 20th-century African-American sportspeople