James L. Fox (born April 7, 1943) 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 (appro ...

player.

College career

Fox was born in

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

and attended Gordon High School in

Barnesville, Georgia Barnesville is a city in Lamar County, Georgia, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 6,755, up from 5,972 at the 2000 census. The city is the county seat of Lamar County and is just outside of the Atlanta metropol ...

. 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 ...

, Fox played in junior college before enrolling his junior year at the

University of South Carolina The University of South Carolina (USC, SC, or Carolina) is a Public university, public research university in Columbia, South Carolina, United States. Founded in 1801 as South Carolina College, It is the flagship of the University of South Car ...

, playing in 13 games his junior season. He burst onto the scene his senior year, 1964–65, leading the Gamecocks in both scoring and rebounding. He averaged 17.8 points and 13.6 rebounds per game.

Professional career

He was drafted in the eighth round of the

1965 NBA draft The 1965 NBA draft was the 19th annual draft of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The draft was held on May 6, 1965, before the 1965–66 season. In this draft, nine NBA teams took turns selecting amateur U.S. college basketball player ...

by the

Cincinnati Royals The Sacramento Kings are an American professional basketball team based in Sacramento, California. The Kings compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference. The Kings are the ...

, but he elected to play professionally in Europe for two seasons. Fox joined the NBA's Royals for the 1967–68 season. In 31 games for the Royals, he averaged 3.2 points and 3.1 rebounds in eight minutes per game. Then, on February 1, 1968, he was part of a big trade which sent him and Happy Hairston to the

Detroit Pistons The Detroit Pistons are an American professional basketball team based in Detroit. The Pistons compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Central Division (NBA), Central Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), East ...

for

Tom Van Arsdale Thomas Arthur Van Arsdale (born February 22, 1943) is an American former professional basketball player. A graduate of Emmerich Manual High School in Indianapolis, the guard played collegiately at Indiana University under longtime head coach ...

and

John Tresvant John B. Tresvant (born November 6, 1939) is a retired American basketball player. Tresvant played from 1964 to 1973 in the National Basketball Association (NBA), playing for six teams, the St. Louis Hawks, Detroit Pistons, Cincinnati Royals, Sea ...

. His playing time increased to over 15 minutes per game in 24 games for the Pistons, and he averaged 4.1 points and 5.6 rebounds per game. The following season, 1968–69, Fox again was part of a midseason trade. In 25 games for the Pistons, he averaged 5.0 points and 5.6 rebounds per game before being traded on December 17, 1968, along with a third-round draft pick to the

Phoenix Suns The Phoenix Suns are an American professional basketball team based in Phoenix, Arizona. The Suns compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division (NBA), Pacific Division of the Western Conference (NBA), We ...

for

McCoy McLemore McCoy McLemore Jr. (April 3, 1942 – April 30, 2009) was an American professional basketball player in the National Basketball Association (NBA) in the 1960s and 1970s. He played college basketball for the Drake Bulldogs men's basketball, Dr ...

. He found success with the Suns—he became a starter, averaging over 38 minutes per game and career-high 13.8 points and 13.3 rebounds along with 2.8 assists per game. In 1969–70, he played the entire season for the Suns. Averaging 25 minutes per game in 81 games, he averaged 12.9 points and 7.0 rebounds per game with a career-best .524 field goal percentage. Just after the completion of the 1969–70 season, on April 23, 1970, Fox was again traded, this time along with a second-round draft pick to the

Chicago Bulls The Chicago Bulls are an American professional basketball team based in Chicago. The Bulls compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Central Division of the Eastern Conference. The team was founded on January 16 ...

for

Clem Haskins Clem Smith Haskins (born July 11, 1943) is an American former college and professional basketball player and college basketball coach. In the fall of 1963, he and fellow star player Dwight Smith became the first black athletes to integrate the ...

. For the 1970–21 season with the Bulls, Fox played in all 82 games, averaging 9.7 points, 7.3 rebounds and 2.4 assists per game. In 1971–72, Fox played in 10 games for the Bulls before being traded again, this time along with a second-round draft pick back to the Cincinnati Royals for

Norm Van Lier Norman Allen Van Lier III (April 1, 1947 – February 26, 2009) was an American professional basketball player and television broadcaster who spent the majority of his career with the Chicago Bulls. Early life Norman Van Lier was born on April ...

and a third-round pick. For the season, in 81 games, he averaged 11.5 points and 8.8 rebounds per game. On October 9, 1972, Fox was on the move yet again. The

Kansas City-Omaha Kings The Sacramento Kings are an American professional basketball team based in Sacramento, California. The Kings compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference. The Kings are the ...

(formerly the Cincinnati Royals) traded him along with

Dick Gibbs Richard Horace Maconochie Gibbs (4 February 1893 – 19 July 1916), a medical student and an Australian rules footballer, played with the Melbourne University Football Club in the Australian Football League, Victorian Football League. When t ...

to the

Seattle SuperSonics The Seattle SuperSonics (commonly shortened to Sonics) were an American professional basketball team based in Seattle. The SuperSonics competed in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Western Division (1967–1970), and ...

for a second-round pick. In the 1972–73 season, he averaged 11.4 points and a career second-best 11.2 rebounds per game. In 1973–74 he had another fine season with the Sonics, averaging 11.3 points and 9.2 rebounds along with a career-best 2.9 assists per game. He still holds the SuperSonics single-game record for rebounds with 30, while adding 25 points and nine assists, which he collected in a win against the

Los Angeles Lakers The Los Angeles Lakers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Lakers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division (NBA), Pacific Division of the Western Conference (NBA ...

on December 26, 1973. The 1974–75 season was his third full season with Seattle as Fox averaged 9.0 points and 6.5 rebounds per game. On October 22, 1975, Fox 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 Central Division (NBA), Central Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), East ...

for a second-round draft pick. For the season, he averaged 3.9 points and 3.4 rebounds per game. On October 20, 1976, the Bucks waived Fox, and a week later he signed with the

New York Nets New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 ** "New" (Paul McCartney song), 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, 1995 * "New" (Daya song), 2017 * "New" (No Doubt song), 1 ...

. In his final NBA season, he averaged 6.5 points and 4.6 rebounds per game. Fox averaged 9.3 points and 7.4 rebounds in his 10-year NBA career.

NBA career statistics

Regular season

, - , align="left" , 1967–68 , align="left" ,

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ; colloquially nicknamed Cincy) is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the northern side of the confluence of the Licking River (Kentucky), Licking and Ohio Ri ...

, 31 , , - , , 7.9 , , .405 , , - , , .643 , , 3.1 , , 0.4 , , - , , - , , 3.2 , - , align="left" , 1967–68 , align="left" ,

Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

, 24 , , - , , 15.8 , , .415 , , - , , .577 , , 5.6 , , 0.7 , , - , , - , , 4.1 , - , align="left" , 1968–69 , align="left" ,

, 25 , , - , , 15.0 , , .469 , , - , , .642 , , 5.6 , , 0.9 , , - , , - , , 5.0 , - , align="left" , 1968–69 , align="left" , Phoenix , 51 , , - , , 38.8 , , .470 , , - , , .734 , , 13.3 , , 2.8 , , - , , - , , 13.8 , - , align="left" , 1969–70 , align="left" , Phoenix , 81 , , - , , 25.2 , , .524 , , - , , .770 , , 7.0 , , 1.1 , , - , , - , , 12.9 , - , align="left" , 1970–71 , align="left" ,

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

, 82 , , - , , 19.9 , , .458 , , - , , .745 , , 7.3 , , 2.4 , , - , , - , , 9.7 , - , align="left" , 1971–72 , align="left" ,

, 10 , , - , , 13.3 , , .377 , , - , , .714 , , 5.4 , , 0.6 , , - , , - , , 6.0 , - , align="left" , 1971–72 , align="left" ,

, 71 , , - , , 28.8 , , .454 , , - , , .770 , , 9.3 , , 1.1 , , - , , - , , 12.3 , - , align="left" ,

1972–73 Year 197 ( CXCVII) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Magius and Rufinus (or, less frequently, year 950 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination 197 for this y ...

, align="left" ,

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

, 74 , , - , , 33.0 , , .515 , , - , , .808 , , 11.2 , , 2.4 , , - , , - , , 11.4 , - , align="left" , 1973–74 , align="left" ,

, 78 , , - , , 27.9 , , .478 , , - , , .823 , , 9.2 , , 2.9 , , 0.7 , , 0.3 , , 11.3 , - , align="left" , 1974–75 , align="left" ,

, 75 , , - , , 23.5 , , .469 , , - , , .802 , , 6.5 , , 1.8 , , 0.6 , , 0.2 , , 9.0 , - , align="left" , 1975–76 , align="left" ,

Milwaukee Milwaukee is the List of cities in Wisconsin, most populous city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Located on the western shore of Lake Michigan, it is the List of United States cities by population, 31st-most populous city in the United States ...

, 70 , , - , , 13.1 , , .517 , , - , , .785 , , 3.4 , , 0.6 , , 0.4 , , 0.2 , , 3.9 , - , align="left" , 1976–77 , align="left" ,

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

, 71 , , - , , 16.4 , , .462 , , - , , .833 , , 4.6 , , 0.7 , , 0.3 , , 0.4 , , 6.5 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 743 , , - , , 23.3 , , .479 , , - , , .770 , , 7.4 , , 1.6 , , 0.5 , , 0.3 , , 9.3

Playoffs

, - , align="left" , 1967–68 , align="left" ,

, 6 , , - , , 15.0 , , .316 , , - , , .789 , , 6.2 , , 0.5 , , - , , - , , 4.5 , - , align="left" , 1969–70 , align="left" , Phoenix , 6 , , - , , 29.0 , , .362 , , - , , .708 , , 10.7 , , 1.3 , , - , , - , , 11.2 , - , align="left" , 1970–71 , align="left" ,

, 7 , , - , , 23.9 , , .434 , , - , , .684 , , 9.4 , , 2.4 , , - , , - , , 11.3 , - , align="left" , 1974–75 , align="left" ,

, 8 , , - , , 5.0 , , .286 , , - , , .571 , , 1.1 , , 0.3 , , 0.0 , , 0.1 , , 1.5 , - , align="left" , 1975–76 , align="left" ,

, 3 , , - , , 11.0 , , .800 , , - , , 1.000 , , 2.3 , , 1.0 , , 0.0 , , 0.3 , , 3.3 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 30 , , - , , 16.8 , , .393 , , - , , .718 , , 6.1 , , 1.1 , , 0.0 , , 0.2 , , 6.5

Personal life

After retiring from his 10-year NBA career, in 1978 Fox founded Sport Court of Arizona, which specializes in game court construction, outdoor recreation, performance sports products, and surfacing. Sport Court of Arizona serves residential communities and commercial properties in Scottsdale, Tucson, Phoenix and their surrounding areas. In 2005, Fox was inducted into the

South Carolina South Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders North Carolina to the north and northeast, the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast, and Georgia (U.S. state), Georg ...

Athletic Hall of Fame. His two sons, Mike and Jim Jr., who grew up on Sport Court products, have taken over the business since Jim Sr. has retired. Fox has taken up watercolors in his retirement. He is a signature member of the Arizona Watercolor Association and the National Watercolor Society. In 2018, Jim became a published illustrator with the debut of the bilingual picture book, ''Babies Nurse / Asi se alimentan los bebes'' () written by his daughter-in-law, Phoebe Fox. He is also the illustrator of Babies Bond and the author/illustrator of The Legend of the Verde River Smelter House and The Legend of the Jekyll Island Submarine. He is a grandfather of five and resides in Phoenix with his wife, Mary Alice.

References

External links

*
South Carolina Athletic Hall of Fame 2005 Inductees
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fox, Jim 1943 births Living people American expatriate basketball people in Belgium American expatriate basketball people in Spain American men's basketball players Basketball players from Georgia (U.S. state) Centers (basketball) Chicago Bulls players Cincinnati Royals draft picks Cincinnati Royals players Detroit Pistons players Junior college men's basketball players in the United States Milwaukee Bucks players New York Nets players People from Barnesville, Georgia Phoenix Suns players R.C. Mechelen players Real Madrid Baloncesto players Seattle SuperSonics players South Carolina Gamecocks men's basketball players Sportspeople from Lamar County, Georgia