Donald Frederick Otten (April 18, 1921 – September 18, 1985) 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. A 6'10"

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 ...

from

Bellefontaine High School Bellefontaine High School is a public high school in Bellefontaine, Ohio, United States. It is part of the Bellefontaine City Schools district. They are members of the Central Buckeye Conference and were formerly members of the Western Buckeye Lea ...

(Ohio) and

Bowling Green State University Bowling Green State University (BGSU) is a public research university in Bowling Green, Ohio. The main academic and residential campus is south of Toledo, Ohio. The university has nationally recognized programs and research facilities in the ...

, Otten began his professional career in 1946 with the

Tri-Cities Blackhawks Tri-Cities most often refers to: *Tri-Cities, Tennessee, United States *Tri-Cities, Washington, United States Tri-City, Tricity or Tri-Cities may also refer to: Populated places Americas Canada *Tri-Cities (British Columbia), consisting of Co ...

of the National Basketball League. During the 1948–49 NBL season, Otten averaged 14.0 points per game and earned league MVP honors. The Blackhawks joined 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 ...

(NBA) in 1949, and Otten continued playing until 1953, competing for Tri-Cities as well as the

Washington Capitols The Washington Capitols were a former Basketball Association of America (forerunner of the National Basketball Association) team based in Washington, D.C. from 1946 to 1951. The team was coached from 1946 to 1949 by NBA Hall of Famer Red Auerbac ...

, Baltimore Bullets,

Fort Wayne Pistons A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...

, and

Milwaukee 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 ...

. He averaged 10.5 points per game in his NBA career. Don's brother Mac Otten also played in the NBA. In 1949, Don and Mac became the first ever pair of brothers to play for the same team in the NBA. Otten is tied at first for the NBA record for most personal fouls in a game, with eight. He set the record in a November 24, 1949 game between Tri-Cities and the

Sheboygan Red Skins The Sheboygan Red Skins (or Redskins) was a professional basketball team based in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, which was an original National Basketball Association franchise during the 1949–1950 season. History Overview The Redskins played in th ...

. NBA Rule 3, Section I permits a player to remain in the game after fouling out if no other players are available on the bench.

NBA career statistics

Regular season

Playoffs

References

1921 births 1985 deaths All-American college men's basketball players American men's basketball players Baltimore Bullets (1944–1954) players Basketball players from Ohio Bowling Green Falcons men's basketball players Centers (basketball) Fort Wayne Pistons players Milwaukee Hawks players People from Bellefontaine, Ohio Tri-Cities Blackhawks players Washington Capitols players {{1920s-US-basketball-bio-stub