James Clifford Pollard (July 9, 1922 – January 22, 1993) was an American professional basketball player and coach. As a player in the National Basketball Association (NBA), Pollard was considered one of the best forwards in the 1950s and was known for his leaping ability, earning him the nickname "The Kangaroo Kid". A five-time

NBA champion The National Basketball Association (NBA) Finals is the championship series for the NBA held at the conclusion of its postseason. All Finals have been played in a best-of-seven format, and are contested between the winners of the Eastern Con ...

and four-time NBA All-Star, Pollard spent his entire eight-year professional career with the Minneapolis Lakers. Pollard was inducted into the

Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame is an American history museum and hall of fame, located at 1000 Hall of Fame Avenue in Springfield, Massachusetts. It serves as basketball's most complete library, in addition to promoting and pres ...

in 1978."The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame :: Jim Pollard"
Accessed on June 10, 2017. He has also been inducted into the Bay Area Hall of Fame, Stanford Hall of Fame, and

Pac-12 Hall of Honor The Pac-12 Conference Hall of Honor recognizes former athletes and coaches who have made a significant impact to the tradition and heritage of the Pac-12 Conference. Established in 2002, one honoree is selected by each member institution in the co ...

High school career

Pollard attended

Oakland Technical High School Oakland Technical High School, known locally as Oakland Tech or simply "Tech", is a public high school in Oakland, California, United States, and is operated under the jurisdiction of the Oakland Unified School District. It is one of six comprehe ...

in his hometown of Oakland, California. He led the school's basketball team to three consecutive conference titles from 1937–38 to 1939–40. He averaged 19.8 points per game in his senior year, setting a school record.Sutton, Jeff
"NBA Hall of Famer Jim Pollard was ahead of his time"
'' Lodi News-Sentinel''. June 3, 2002. Accessed on June 10, 2017.

College career and military service

Pollard was recruited to

Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...

by former Stanford star and future Hall of Famer, Hank Luisetti."Jim Pollard, a Star In N.B.A. in 50's; Ex-Laker Was 70"
'' The New York Times''. January 25, 1993. Accessed on June 10, 2017. Pollard played for the

Stanford Indians The Stanford Cardinal are the athletic teams that represent Stanford University. As of June, 2022, Stanford's program has won 131 NCAA team championships. Stanford has won at least one NCAA team championship each academic year for 46 consecutive ...

for two seasons, under head coach Everett Dean. During his sophomore season, he was a key member of the team's 1942 national championship team, but, due to illness, he did not play in the championship game. At Stanford, Pollard joined the Sigma Rho chapter of Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity. Pollard's college career was ended early due to World War II, and he served with the United States Coast Guard from 1942 to 1946. During his service, he starred with the Coast Guard basketball team in Alameda, winning a Northern California title in 1943 and the Service League championship in 1946. Pollard went on to graduate from the University of Minnesota in 1954.

Amateur career

After World War II, Pollard played amateur basketball for one season with the San Diego Dons of the Amateur Athletic Union. The following season, he played for the

Oakland Bittners The Oakland Bittners were an Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) basketball team, located in Oakland, California. The team was named after sponsor Lou Bittner and became the first club to bring a basketball championship back to Oakland back in the day. ...

in the same league. He led the AAU in scoring and earned Most Valuable Player honors both years. His teams were runners-up in the national AAU tournament both seasons. Pollard also played amateur baseball for Jordan, Minnesota's Town Team baseball club, during his NBA career. He was reputed to be "a good pitcher and a powerful hitter." It was there that Pollard famously "hit a ball that didn't stop until it got to Chicago", because it landed in a gondola car in a freight train passing by the ballpark.Town Ball, the Glory Days of Minnesota Amateur Baseball, Armand Peterson and Tom Tomashek, University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis and London, page x (introduction),

Professional career

Minneapolis Lakers (1947–1955)

Pollard began his professional basketball career in 1947 after signing with the Minneapolis Lakers while the team was a part of the National Basketball League. On the team, Pollard was a member of a future

Hall of Fame A hall, wall, or walk of fame is a list of individuals, achievements, or other entities, usually chosen by a group of electors, to mark their excellence or Wiktionary:fame, fame in their field. In some cases, these halls of fame consist of actu ...

frontcourt alongside center George Mikan and power forward Vern Mikkelsen, as well as fellow Hall of Famer Slater Martin at shooting guard. Led by coach John Kundla, this core group of players have been called the "first legacy in the history of professional basketball". The Lakers won the NBL championship in 1948, the BAA championship in

1949 Events January * January 1 – A United Nations-sponsored ceasefire brings an end to the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947. The war results in a stalemate and the division of Kashmir, which still continues as of 2022. * January 2 – Luis ...

, and four NBA championships in

1950 Events January * January 1 – The International Police Association (IPA) – the largest police organization in the world – is formed. * January 5 – 1950 Sverdlovsk plane crash, Sverdlovsk plane crash: ''Aeroflot'' Lisunov Li-2 cr ...

1952 Events January–February * January 26 – Black Saturday in Egypt: Rioters burn Cairo's central business district, targeting British and upper-class Egyptian businesses. * February 6 ** Princess Elizabeth, Duchess of Edinburgh, becomes m ...

1953 Events January * January 6 – The Asian Socialist Conference opens in Rangoon, Burma. * January 12 – Estonian émigrés found a Estonian government-in-exile, government-in-exile in Oslo. * January 14 ** Marshal Josip Broz Tito i ...

and

1954 Events January * January 1 – The Soviet Union ceases to demand war reparations from West Germany. * January 3 – The Italian broadcaster RAI officially begins transmitting. * January 7 – Georgetown-IBM experiment: The fir ...

. Pollard was a four-time NBA All-Star, and was named to the All-NBA First Team in 1949 and 1950, and Second Team in 1952 and 1954. Pollard was renowned for his tremendous leaping ability, and subsequently earned the nickname "The Kangaroo Kid". He could reportedly touch the top of the backboard and dunk from the foul line, being one of the few players in his era who was capable of dunking a basketball. Pollard was also known for his corner jumpshot, and was a respected player and teammate. In 1952, the Basketball Association of America selected Pollard as the best player of the era. Pollard retired from playing basketball after eight seasons, and finished with career averages of 13.2 points, 7.8 rebounds and 3.2 assists per game."Jim Pollard Stats"
Basketball Reference. Accessed on June 10, 2017.

Coaching career

Pollard immediately moved into coaching after retiring, taking the head coach position at

La Salle University La Salle University () is a private, Catholic university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The university was founded in 1863 by the Institute of the Brothers of the Christian Schools and named for St. Jean-Baptiste de La Salle. History La ...

for the Explorers men's basketball team in 1955. Over three seasons with the team, Pollard compiled a record of 48–28. Pollard was named interim head coach of the Lakers midway through the

1959–60 NBA season The 1959–60 NBA season was the 14th season of the National Basketball Association. The season ended with the Boston Celtics winning their 2nd straight NBA title, beating the St. Louis Hawks 4 games to 3 in the 1960 NBA Finals, NBA Finals. Nota ...

on January 2, 1960, and recorded a 14–25 record.Galluzzo, Steve
"Jim Pollard"
'' Los Angeles Times''. February 12, 2011. Accessed on June 11, 2017. He was named the head coach of the newly established Chicago Packers in 1961, and managed an 18–62 record in the team's first NBA season. He moved to 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, ...

for the league's inaugural season in 1967, and coached the

Minnesota Muskies The Minnesota Muskies were a member of the American Basketball Association, born with the league's creation on February 2, 1967. L.P. Shields and Fred Jefferson were the owners after paying a franchise fee of $30,000. The team then played one seaso ...

, which relocated to Miami and became the Miami Floridians the following season. He was fired by the team midway through the 1969–70 season. Pollard spent his final years of coaching at Florida Atlantic University with the Owls men's basketball team, which he coached for two seasons.

BAA/NBA career statistics

Regular season

Playoffs

Head coaching record

, - , style="text-align:left;", Minneapolis , style="text-align:left;", 1959–60 , 39, , 14, , 25, , , , style="text-align:center;", 3rd in Western, , , 9, , 5, , 4, , , style="text-align:center;", Lost in Conference Finals , - , style="text-align:left;", Chicago , style="text-align:left;", 1961–62 , 80, , 18, , 62, , , , style="text-align:center;", 5th in Western, , , —, , —, , —, , — , style="text-align:center;", Missed Playoffs , - , style="text-align:left;", Minnesota , style="text-align:left;", 1967–68 , 78, , 50, , 28, , , , style="text-align:center;", 2nd in ABA Eastern Division, , , 10, , 4, , 6, , , style="text-align:center;", Lost in Conference Finals , - , style="text-align:left;", Miami , style="text-align:left;", 1968–69 , 78, , 43, , 35, , , , style="text-align:center;", 2nd in ABA Eastern Division, , , 12, , 5, , 7, , , style="text-align:center;", Lost in Conference Finals , - , style="text-align:left;", Miami , style="text-align:left;", 1969–70 , 20, , 5, , 15, , , , style="text-align:center;", (fired), , , —, , —, , —, , — , style="text-align:center;", — , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:left;", Total , , , 295, , 130, , 165, , , , , , 31, , 14, , 17, , , ,

References

External links

*
BasketballReference.com: Jim Pollard (as player)

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pollard, Jim 1922 births 1993 deaths All-American college men's basketball players Amateur Athletic Union men's basketball players American men's basketball coaches American men's basketball players Basketball coaches from California Basketball players from Oakland, California Chicago Stags draft picks Chicago Packers head coaches La Salle Explorers baseball coaches La Salle Explorers men's basketball coaches Miami Floridians coaches Minneapolis Lakers players Minneapolis Lakers head coaches Minnesota Muskies coaches Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame inductees National Basketball Association All-Stars Philadelphia Warriors draft picks Small forwards St. Louis Bombers (NBA) draft picks Stanford Cardinal men's basketball players United States Coast Guard personnel of World War II