Charles Jerome "C. J." Kupec (born January 16, 1953) is a former American

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 ...

small forward The small forward (SF), also known as the three or swingman, is one of the five positions in a regulation basketball game. Small forwards are typically shorter, quicker, and leaner than power forwards and centers but taller, larger, and stronger ...

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 St ...

for the Los Angeles Lakers and Houston Rockets. He also was a member of the Olimpia Billy Milano,

Squibb Cantù Squib or Squibb may refer to: * Squib (explosive), a miniature explosive with a very small charge ** Bullet hit squib, a practical effect simulating a gunshot wound in film and theatre * Squib (''Harry Potter'') * Squib (''Star Wars'') * Squib ( ...

, Siv Bergamo,

Viola Reggio Calabria Viola Reggio Calabria was an Italian professional basketball club based in Reggio Calabria, Calabria. At its heyday the club was renowned for discovering talented players who would go on to play at the highest level, for example five former pla ...

, Mister Day Siena and Spondilatte Cremona in Europe. He played

college basketball In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athleti ...

at the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

Early years

Kupec attended

Oak Lawn Community High School Oak Lawn Community High School, is a public four-year high school in Oak Lawn, Illinois, in the Chicago metropolitan area. The name "Spartans" and the colors Kelly Green and White were chosen by a committee in tribute to the Michigan State Unive ...

. He was the

center Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentrici ...

of the team at six-foot-six. He also practiced

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wi ...

. As a senior in 1971, he contributed to a second-place finish in the final single-class tournament, while receiving Tournament MVP honors. He scored 87 points and pulled down 48 rebounds in four games. He scored 28 points in the super-sectional win against New Trier East High School. He posted 17 rebounds in the semifinal win over Springfield Lanphier High School. In 2007, the

Illinois High School Association The Illinois High School Association (IHSA) is an association that regulates competition of interscholastic sports and some interscholastic activities at the high school level for the state of Illinois. It is a charter member of the National Fe ...

named Kupec one of the

100 Legends of the IHSA Boys Basketball Tournament The Illinois High School Association (IHSA) celebrated 100 years of the IHSA State Tournament in the 2006-07 season. A list of "100 Legends of the IHSA Boys Basketball Tournament" was assembled on December 14, 2005. Throughout the state, 281 ind ...

. He averaged 23.2 points per game and set a career OLCHS record with 2,377 total points (before the three point rule).

College career

Kupec accepted a basketball scholarship from the

. He also played

. As a junior, he was named the starter at

, averaging 13.7 points and 11.6 rebounds (led the

Big Ten Conference The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...

). As a senior, he averaged 18.1 points (third in the

) and 8.4 rebounds. He also was the first player in school history to serve as the basketball team captain in consecutive years.

Professional career

Kupec was selected by the Los Angeles Lakers in the 4th round (56th overall) of the

1975 NBA Draft The 1975 NBA draft was the 29th annual draft of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The draft was held on May 29, 1975, before the 1975–76 season. In this draft, 18 NBA teams took turns selecting amateur U.S. college basketball players a ...

. He also was selected by the

Spirits of St. Louis The Spirits of St. Louis were a basketball franchise based in St. Louis that played in the American Basketball Association (ABA) from 1974 to 1976. This was the third and last city of a franchise that had begun as a charter member in 1967 as the ...

in the fifth round of the 1975 ABA Draft. He was

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Kareem (alternatively spelled Karim or Kerim) ( ar, کریم) is a common given name and surname of Arabic origin that means "generous", "noble", "honorable". It is also one of the Names of God in Islam in the Quran. Given name Karim * Karim A ...

's backup at

for two years. He was waived on September 27, 1977. He averaged 4.2 points, 2.3 rebounds and 9.8 minutes per contest in two seasons. On September 31, 1977, he was claimed off waivers by the Houston Rockets. He averaged 4 points, 1.9 rebounds and 12.8 minutes in 49 games. On July 26, 1978, he was traded to 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 ...

, in exchange for a 1979 4th round draft pick (#76-Sammy Drummer). He was released on September 28, 1978. In 1978, he signed with the Olimpia Billy Milano of the

Lega Basket Serie A The Lega Basket Serie A (LBA) is a professional men's club basketball league that has been organised in Italy since 1920. Serie A is organised by Lega Basket, which is regulated by the Italian Basketball Federation (FIP). It is the highest-tier ...

in Italy. He was known as having an excellent outside touch, so much so, that his shots from well over 7 meters were called "K bombs", although his personal style placed the ball sideways to the body and not above the head. Together with teammate

Mike D'Antoni Michael D'Andrew D'Antoni (born May 8, 1951) is an Italian-American professional basketball coach and former player who is a coaching advisor for the New Orleans Pelicans of the National Basketball Association (NBA). While head coach of the Ph ...

, he was one of the main leaders of the "rebirth" of the Olimpia Billy Milano team, under the name "Billy", coached by

Dan Peterson Daniel Lowell Peterson (born January 9, 1936) is a former American professional basketball head coach. He resigned from his most recent position as the head coach of Olimpia Milano in the Italian LBA after the team was eliminated in the semi-fi ...

, that saw its return from bad seasons and relegation to the second-tier league A2. The team was called the "bassotti band" due to the low average height of the team, so much so, that Kupec was the starting

despite his 6-6 feet height. In 1982, he won the EuroLeague title with the

. In 1984, he was able to begin fully exploiting his shooting ability with the

, after the adoption of the three-point shooting rule by the league.

References

External links

NBA statistics
@ basketballreference.com
Recent photo of C.J. Kupec
@ nbrpa.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Kupec, C. J. 1953 births Living people American expatriate basketball people in Italy American men's basketball players American people of Slavic descent Basketball players from Illinois Houston Rockets players Los Angeles Lakers draft picks Los Angeles Lakers players Mens Sana Basket players Michigan Wolverines men's basketball players Michigan Wolverines football players Olimpia Milano players People from Oak Lawn, Illinois Power forwards (basketball) Spirits of St. Louis draft picks