Emmette "Em" Bryant (born November 4, 1937) is a retired 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 and Vice President/Chicago Chapter at NBA Alumni.

Career

A 6'1" guard from

DePaul University DePaul University is a private, Catholic research university in Chicago, Illinois. Founded by the Vincentians in 1898, the university takes its name from the 17th-century French priest Saint Vincent de Paul. In 1998, it became the largest Ca ...

, Bryant was drafted in the

1964 NBA Draft The 1964 NBA draft was the 18th annual draft of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The draft was held on May 4, 1964, before the 1964–65 season. In this draft, nine NBA teams took turns selecting amateur U.S. college basketball player ...

by the New York Knicks. After his time in New York, he joined the Boston Celtics and instantly became a part of the most dominant dynasty in American professional basketball history. He was a key component of the 1969 Celtics NBA championship team, contributing 20 points in the Celtics’ victory over

Jerry West Jerome Alan West (born May 28, 1938) is an American basketball executive and former player. He played professionally for the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). His nicknames included "Mr. Clutch", for his ability ...

's Los Angeles Lakers in game seven of the

1969 NBA Finals The 1969 NBA World Championship Series to determine the champion of the 1968–69 NBA season was played between the Los Angeles Lakers and Boston Celtics, the Lakers being heavily favored due to the presence of three formidable stars: Elgin Bayl ...

. The win gave the Celtics their 11th championship in 13 years. Bryant spent the latter part of his career with the Buffalo Braves, who selected him in the 1970 expansion draft. He retired from the league in 1972. Altogether Bryant played eight seasons (1964–1972) 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 ...

(NBA) as a member of the New York Knicks, Boston Celtics, and

Buffalo Braves The Buffalo Braves were an American professional basketball franchise based in Buffalo, New York. The Braves competed in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member club of the league's Eastern Conference Atlantic Division from 1970 ...

, scoring 3,722 points in his career.

Post basketball

Immediately after his playing days, Bryant became an assistant coach: one year at

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

and two years with Bill Russell at the NBA's

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 ...

, now the Oklahoma Thunder, during 1973–1974. All along the way, Bryant would say, “I’m just a teacher that happened to play pro ball.” Bryant then went to work for the State of Washington for the next 30 years, starting out with the Department of Social and Health Services, in charge of recreation throughout the state for that department's correctional institutions. He later became the Recreation Director at Mission Creek Youth Camp. Em is active in retired basketball players activities and was a key member of the executive board of the National Retired Players Association. Em is in the ChicagoLand Sports Hall of Fame 2010, DePaul Hall of Fame, and Rucker Professional Basketball Hall of Fame.

External links

Career statistics
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bryant, Em 1937 births Living people American men's basketball players Basketball players from Chicago Boston Celtics players Buffalo Braves expansion draft picks Buffalo Braves players Columbia Lions men's basketball coaches DePaul Blue Demons men's basketball players New York Knicks draft picks New York Knicks players Phoenix Suns expansion draft picks Point guards Seattle SuperSonics assistant coaches Shooting guards