Leonard R. Chappell (January 31, 1941 – July 12, 2018) was an American

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. He played for 10 years 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) and the American Basketball Association (ABA) and was selected to one

NBA All-Star Game The National Basketball Association All-Star Game is a basketball exhibition game hosted every February by the National Basketball Association (NBA) and showcases 24 of the league's star players. It is the featured event of NBA All-Star Weekend, ...

Biography

College career

A 6'8"

power forward The power forward (PF), also known as the four, is one of the five traditional positions in a regulation basketball game. Traditionally, power forwards have played a role similar to centers. When on offense, they typically play with their ba ...

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 ...

, Chappell was a star at

Wake Forest University Wake Forest University is a private research university in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Founded in 1834, the university received its name from its original location in Wake Forest, north of Raleigh, North Carolina. The Reynolda Campus, the un ...

, where he was a teammate of future broadcaster

Billy Packer Anthony William Packer (born Anthony William Paczkowski,
Retr ...

He helped lead the Demon Deacons to a third-place finish in the 1962 NCAA tournament and was named ACC Men's Basketball Player of the Year in 1961 and 1962. In 1962, he became Wake Forest's first consensus All-American He was the ACC tournament's all-time leading scorer until Duke University's J. J. Redick surpassed him in 2006. Chappell was named to the

ACC 50th Anniversary men's basketball team During the 2002–03 school year, the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) celebrated its 50th anniversary by selecting the top players in its respective sports. Fifty players were selected for the men's basketball team, which was voted on by a 120-mem ...

in 2002, honoring him as one of the 50 greatest players in Atlantic Coast Conference history.

Professional career

After college, the

Syracuse Nationals The Philadelphia 76ers are an American basketball team currently playing in the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference in the National Basketball Association (NBA). The 76ers are third in NBA history in wins and playoff appearances. 1946– ...

selected him with the fourth pick in the

1962 NBA draft The 1962 NBA draft was the 16th annual draft of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The draft was held on March 26, 1962, before the 1962–63 season. In this draft, nine NBA teams took turns selecting amateur U.S. college basketball pla ...

. He played one season with the Nationals. The following year the team moved to

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...

and was renamed the 76ers. After one game in Philadelphia, the New York Knicks purchased his contract. After moving to New York, he had his best season with 17 points and nine rebounds per game, earning his only All-Star selection. He left New York in 1966 and played for 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 league's Eastern Conference Central Division. The team was founded on January ...

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 Western Conference Pacific Division. The Kings are the oldest ...

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 league's Eastern Conference Central Division and play their home games at L ...

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 league's Eastern Conference Central Division. The team was founded in 1968 ...

, Cleveland Cavaliers, and

Atlanta Hawks The Atlanta Hawks are an American professional basketball team based in Atlanta. The Hawks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Southeast Division. The team plays its home games at ...

. He also played one season (1971–1972) with the

Dallas Chaparrals The Dallas Chaparrals were a charter member of the American Basketball Association (ABA). The team moved to San Antonio, Texas for the 1973–74 season and were renamed the San Antonio Spurs. The Spurs joined the National Basketball Association ...

of the American Basketball Association. Chappell suffered a brain hemorrhage after a fall in April 2018 and later suffered a stroke and pneumonia. He died July 12, 2018 in

Oconomowoc, Wisconsin Oconomowoc ( ) is a city in Waukesha County, Wisconsin, United States. The name was derived from Coo-no-mo-wauk, the Potawatomi language, Potawatomi term for "waterfall." The population was 15,712 at the 2010 census. The city is partially adjacen ...

NBA & ABA career statistics

Regular season

, - , align="left" , 1962–63 , align="left" , Syracuse , 80 , , - , , 15.5 , , .465 , , - , , .622 , , 5.8 , , 0.7 , , - , , - , , 8.9 , - , align="left" , 1963–64 , align="left" ,

, 1 , , - , , 16.0 , , .000 , , - , , .500 , , 4.0 , , 0.0 , , - , , - , , 1.0 , - , align="left" , 1963–64 , align="left" , New York , 78 , , - , , 31.9 , , .449 , , - , , .716 , , 9.8 , , 1.1 , , - , , - , , 17.3 , - , align="left" , 1964–65 , align="left" , New York , 43 , , - , , 15.2 , , .395 , , - , , .680 , , 3.3 , , 0.3 , , - , , - , , 8.3 , - , align="left" , 1965–66 , align="left" , New York , 46 , , - , , 11.8 , , .420 , , - , , .590 , , 2.8 , , 0.6 , , - , , - , , 5.3 , - , align="left" , 1966–67 , align="left" ,

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, 19 , , - , , 9.4 , , .449 , , - , , .667 , , 2.0 , , 0.6 , , - , , - , , 4.9 , - , align="left" , 1966–67 , align="left" ,

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...

, 54 , , - , , 9.8 , , .411 , , - , , .650 , , 2.8 , , 0.4 , , - , , - , , 4.1 , - , align="left" , 1967–68 , align="left" ,

, 10 , , - , , 6.5 , , .500 , , - , , .800 , , 1.5 , , 0.5 , , - , , - , , 3.8 , - , align="left" , 1967–68 , align="left" ,

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at t ...

, 57 , , - , , 17.5 , , .514 , , - , , .707 , , 6.1 , , 0.8 , , - , , - , , 10.0 , - , align="left" , 1968–69 , align="left" ,

Milwaukee Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at the 2020 census, Milwaukee ...

, 80 , , - , , 27.6 , , .454 , , - , , .737 , , 8.0 , , 1.2 , , - , , - , , 14.6 , - , align="left" , 1969–70 , align="left" ,

, 75 , , - , , 15.1 , , .465 , , - , , .640 , , 3.7 , , 0.7 , , - , , - , , 8.3 , - , align="left" , 1970–71 , align="left" ,

Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

, 6 , , - , , 14.3 , , .395 , , - , , .786 , , 3.0 , , 0.2 , , - , , - , , 6.8 , - , align="left" , 1970–71 , align="left" ,

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

, 42 , , - , , 10.7 , , .441 , , - , , .811 , , 3.2 , , 0.4 , , - , , - , , 4.8 , - , align="left" , 1971–72 , align="left" ,

Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...

, 79 , , - , , 17.8 , , .452 , , - , , .746 , , 4.0 , , 0.9 , , - , , - , , 7.7 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 670 , , - , , 17.9 , , .452 , , - , , .697 , , 5.1 , , 0.8 , , - , , - , , 9.3

Playoffs

, - , align="left" , 1962–63 , align="left" , Syracuse , 4 , , - , , 13.3 , , .190 , , - , , .813 , , 4.5 , , 0.8 , , - , , - , , 5.3 , - , align="left" , 1966–67 , align="left" ,

, 4 , , - , , 16.5 , , .370 , , - , , .500 , , 3.3 , , 2.3 , , - , , - , , 5.5 , - , align="left" , 1967–68 , align="left" ,

, 5 , , - , , 4.2 , , .286 , , - , , .500 , , 2.4 , , 0.0 , , - , , - , , 1.4 , - , align="left" , 1969–70 , align="left" ,

, 9 , , - , , 14.8 , , .560 , , - , , .684 , , 2.9 , , 0.6 , , - , , - , , 7.7 , - , align="left" , 1971–72 , align="left" ,

, 4 , , - , , 22.3 , , .500 , , - , , .625 , , 4.5 , , 0.8 , , - , , - , , 7.3 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 26 , , - , , 13.9 , , .434 , , - , , .679 , , 3.3 , , 0.8 , , - , , - , , 5.7

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Chappell, Len 1941 births 2018 deaths All-American college men's basketball players American men's basketball players Atlanta Hawks players Basketball players from Pennsylvania Centers (basketball) Chicago Bulls expansion draft picks Chicago Bulls players Cincinnati Royals players Cleveland Cavaliers expansion draft picks Cleveland Cavaliers players Dallas Chaparrals players Detroit Pistons players Milwaukee Bucks expansion draft picks Milwaukee Bucks players National Basketball Association All-Stars New York Knicks players Philadelphia 76ers players Power forwards (basketball) Sportspeople from Johnstown, Pennsylvania Syracuse Nationals draft picks Syracuse Nationals players Wake Forest Demon Deacons men's basketball players