Gerald Govan (born January 2, 1942) 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 Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

player. He played nine seasons in the

American Basketball Association The American Basketball Association (ABA) was a major men's professional basketball league from 1967 to 1976. The ABA ceased to exist with the ABA–NBA merger, American Basketball Association–National Basketball Association merger in 1976, ...

(ABA), from 1967 to 1976. Born in

Jersey City, New Jersey Jersey City is the second-most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey, after Newark.Henry Snyder High School Academy of the Arts at Henry Snyder High School is a four-year performing arts public high school serving students in ninth through twelfth grades, located in the Greenville section of Jersey City, New Jersey, United States, operating as part o ...

. A 6'10"

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

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 St. Mary of the Plains College, Govan spent nine years (1967–1976) in the now-defunct

, playing for the

New Orleans Buccaneers The New Orleans Buccaneers were a charter member of the American Basketball Association. After three seasons in New Orleans, Louisiana the franchise moved to Memphis, Tennessee, where it became the Pros, Tams and Sounds for four years before a ...

Memphis Pros Memphis most commonly refers to: * Memphis, Egypt, a former capital of ancient Egypt * Memphis, Tennessee, a major American city Memphis may also refer to: Places United States * Memphis, Alabama * Memphis, Florida * Memphis, Indiana * Memph ...

Utah Stars The Utah Stars were an American Basketball Association (ABA) team based in Salt Lake City, Utah. Under head coach Bill Sharman the Stars were the first major professional basketball team to use a pre-game shootaround. History prior to moving to ...

and

Virginia Squires The Virginia Squires were a basketball team based in Norfolk, Virginia, and playing in several other Virginia cities. They were members of the American Basketball Association from 1970 to 1976. The team originated in 1967 as the Oakland Oaks, a ...

. He tallied 5,251 career points and 7,119 career rebounds, and he appeared in the 1970 ABA All-Star Game. Govan is one of only six players to have participated in each of the original ABA's nine seasons of existence. The others are

Freddie Lewis Frederick L. Lewis (born July 1, 1943) is a retired American basketball player. He played professionally in the National Basketball Association (NBA) and American Basketball Association (ABA). He is the only player to start his career in the NBA ...

Byron Beck Byron Beck (born January 25, 1945) is an American former professional basketball player. A 6 foot 9 inch forward/center from the University of Denver, Beck was one of six players (along with Louie Dampier, Gerald Govan, Bob Netolicky, Stew John ...

Stew Johnson Stewart "Stew" Johnson (born August 19, 1944) is an American former professional basketball player. A 6'8" (2.03 m) tall forward/center from Murray State University, that was born in New York City, Johnson was selected by the New York Knicks in th ...

Bob Netolicky Robert Netolicky (born August 2, 1942) is a retired American basketball player. A 6'9" power forward/center, he played professionally in the now–defunct American Basketball Association (ABA) from 1967 to 1976. Netolicky was a four–time ABA Al ...

and

Louie Dampier Louis Dampier (born November 20, 1944) is an American retired professional basketball player. A 6-foot-tall guard, Dampier is one of only a handful of men to play all nine seasons in the American Basketball Association (ABA) (1967–1976), all w ...

. Govan appeared in 681 regular season ABA games—4th all-time, and tops among players who never played in the NBA.

Nickname A nickname is a substitute for the proper name of a familiar person, place or thing. Commonly used to express affection, a form of endearment, and sometimes amusement, it can also be used to express defamation of character. As a concept, it is ...

d Go-Go, he was one of the rare basketball players who wore

spectacles Glasses, also known as eyeglasses or spectacles, are vision eyewear, with lenses (clear or tinted) mounted in a frame that holds them in front of a person's eyes, typically utilizing a bridge over the nose and hinged arms (known as temples o ...

, black-framed glasses in particular. He explained, "I tried

contacts Contact lenses, or simply contacts, are thin lenses placed directly on the surface of the eyes. Contact lenses are ocular prosthetic devices used by over 150 million people worldwide, and they can be worn to correct vision or for cosmetic ...

, but they bothered me. These glasses take away from my aggressiveness. I'm afraid of breaking them because if I do I got to pay for them myself."Carry, Peter. "You make the most with what you got," ''Sports Illustrated'', January 24, 1972.
Retrieved June 20, 2022.

References

External links

a
https://www.basketball-reference.com/
1942 births Living people African-American basketball players American men's basketball players Basketball players from Jersey City, New Jersey Centers (basketball) College men's basketball players in the United States Henry Snyder High School alumni Memphis Pros players New Orleans Buccaneers players Power forwards (basketball) St. Louis Hawks draft picks St. Mary of the Plains College alumni Utah Stars players Virginia Squires players 21st-century African-American people 20th-century African-American sportspeople {{1940s-US-basketball-bio-stub