Kenneth Robert Sears (August 17, 1933 – April 23, 2017) was an American professional
basketball player in the
National Basketball Association (NBA). He was the first basketball player on the cover of ''
Sports Illustrated'' magazine, appearing on the December 20, 1954, issue during his senior season in college.
Born and raised in
Watsonville, California, Sears graduated from
its high school in 1951 and played college basketball at nearby
Santa Clara University
Santa Clara University is a private Jesuit university in Santa Clara, California. Established in 1851, Santa Clara University is the oldest operating institution of higher learning in California. The university's campus surrounds the historic Mis ...
. As a freshman, Sears led the Broncos to the
final four (semifinals) of the
NCAA tournament in
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 ...
, held in
Seattle.
A
forward, Sears was a first round selection of the
New York Knicks
The New York Knickerbockers, shortened and more commonly referred to as the New York Knicks, are an American professional basketball team based in the New York City borough of Manhattan. The Knicks compete in the National Basketball Associat ...
in the
1955 NBA draft and played eight seasons (1955–1961, 1962–1964) in the NBA with the Knicks and
San Francisco Warriors. He averaged 13.9
points per game
Points per game, often abbreviated PPG, is the average number of points scored by a player per game played in a sport, over the course of a series of games, a whole season, or a career. It is calculated by dividing the total number of points by nu ...
and 7.8
rebounds per game
'Rebound' is a term used in sports to describe the ball (or puck or other object of play) becoming available for possession by either opponent after an attempt to put the ball or puck into the goal has been unsuccessful. Rebounds are generally ...
in his NBA career, appearing as an
NBA All-Star in and . Sears also led the NBA in
field goal percentage in consecutive years (
1959
Events January
* January 1 - Cuba: Fulgencio Batista flees Havana when the forces of Fidel Castro advance.
* January 2 - Lunar probe Luna 1 was the first man-made object to attain escape velocity from Earth. It reached the vicinity of E ...
,
1960
It is also known as the "Year of Africa" because of major events—particularly the independence of seventeen African nations—that focused global attention on the continent and intensified feelings of Pan-Africanism.
Events
January
* Ja ...
).
Sears spent the
1961–62 season with the
San Francisco Saints
The San Francisco Saints were a traveling amateur basketball team composed of Chinese Americans that was formed in the 1950s and entered in the Amateur Athletic Union. The team was founded by Father Donal F. Forrester, who was serving as pastor a ...
in the short-lived
American Basketball League (ABL).
History of the American Basketball League
Retrieved May 31, 2007.
NBA career statistics
Regular season
Playoffs
References
1933 births
2017 deaths
All-American college men's basketball players
Amateur Athletic Union men's basketball players
American men's basketball players
Basketball players from California
National Basketball Association All-Stars
New York Knicks draft picks
New York Knicks players
People from Watsonville, California
Power forwards (basketball)
Rochester Royals draft picks
San Francisco Saints players
San Francisco Warriors players
Santa Clara Broncos men's basketball players
Small forwards
{{1930s-US-basketball-bio-stub