Paul Joseph Arizin (April 9, 1928 – December 12, 2006), nicknamed "Pitchin' Paul", 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 Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...
player who spent his entire
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 S ...
(NBA) career with the
Philadelphia Warriors from
1950 to
1962. He retired with the third highest career point total (16,266) in NBA history, and was named to the
NBA's 25th,
50th and
75th anniversary teams. He was a high-scoring
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 ...
at
Villanova University
Villanova University is a private Roman Catholic research university in Villanova, Pennsylvania. It was founded by the Augustinians in 1842 and named after Saint Thomas of Villanova. The university is the oldest Catholic university in Penns ...
before being drafted by the Warriors of the fledgling NBA.
Biography
Born in
Philadelphia
Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...
to French immigrants, Arizin did not play basketball at
La Salle College High School
, motto_translation = Character and Knowledge
, location = 8605 Cheltenham Avenue
, city = Wyndmoor
, county = ( Montgomery County)
, state = Pennsylvania
, zipcode ...
, failing to make the team in his only tryout as a senior. Arizin graduated just a year before another Basketball Hall of Famer,
Tom Gola
Thomas Joseph Gola (January 13, 1933 – January 26, 2014) was an American basketball player and politician. He is widely considered one of the greatest NCAA basketball players of all-time. Gola was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball ...
, entered La Salle College High School as a freshman.
During his freshman year at Villanova, Arizin played CYO (Catholic Youth Organization) basketball in Philadelphia. Late in that season,
Al Severance
Alexander G. Severance Sr. (June 3, 1905 – April 1, 1985) was an American basketball and baseball coach. Born in New York City, Severance graduated from Villanova University in 1929 and received his Juris Doctor, J.D. from Temple University B ...
, then the Villanova varsity basketball coach, attended one of Arizin's CYO games. Afterwards, Severance approached Arizin and asked him if he would like to go to Villanova, to which Arizin answered: "I already go to Villanova."
Arizin made the team in 1947, his sophomore year, and played for three years. In 1950 he was named the collegiate basketball player of the year after leading the nation with 25.3 points per game. During a game on , Arizin scored 85 points against the Naval Air Materials Center roster. Arizin also scored at least 100 points in a game while playing for Villanova, but the game is not recognized by the NCAA because the opponent was a junior college.
Professional career
Philadelphia Warriors (1950–1962)
After being selected by the Warriors with their first pick in the
1950 NBA draft, Arizin averaged 17.2 points per game in his rookie season and was named
NBA Rookie of the Year
The National Basketball Association's Rookie of the Year Award is an annual National Basketball Association (NBA) award given to the top rookie(s) of the regular season. Initiated following the 1952–53 NBA season, it confers the Eddie Gottl ...
— a designation not currently sanctioned by the NBA for the 1950–51 season. He became one of the greatest NBA players of the 1950s, leading the league in scoring during the
1951–52 and
1956–57 seasons and leading in field goal percentage in 1951–52. Arizin sat out the 1952–53 and 1953–54 NBA seasons while serving in the
Marines
Marines, or naval infantry, are typically a military force trained to operate in littoral zones in support of naval operations. Historically, tasks undertaken by marines have included helping maintain discipline and order aboard the ship (refle ...
during the
Korean War
, date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...
.
Arizin became famous for his line-drive
jump shots, and teamed with center
Neil Johnston to form the best offensive one-two punch in the NBA at the time, leading the Warriors to the
1956 NBA title. He also played with scoring star
Joe Fulks
Joseph Franklin "Jumping Joe" Fulks (October 26, 1921 – March 21, 1976) was an American professional basketball player, sometimes called "the first of the high-scoring forwards". He was posthumously enshrined in the Naismith Memorial Basketball ...
early in his career, and with Philadelphia legends
Tom Gola
Thomas Joseph Gola (January 13, 1933 – January 26, 2014) was an American basketball player and politician. He is widely considered one of the greatest NCAA basketball players of all-time. Gola was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball ...
and
Wilt Chamberlain
Wilton Norman Chamberlain (; August 21, 1936 – October 12, 1999) was an American professional basketball player who played as a center. Standing at tall, he played in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for 14 years and is widely reg ...
toward the end of his career in the early 1960s. Arizin chose to retire from the NBA rather than move with the Warriors to San Francisco. At the time of his retirement, no player had retired from the game with a higher scoring average (21.9 points per game) in his final season. This record would stand until
Bob Pettit
Robert Lee Pettit Jr. (born December 12, 1932) is an American former professional basketball player. He played 11 seasons in the NBA, all with the Milwaukee/St. Louis Hawks (1954–1965). In 1956, he became the first recipient of the NBA's M ...
's retirement in 1965 following a season in which he averaged 22.5 PPG.
Arizin played in a total of 10
NBA All-Star Games (he was the
1952 NBA All-Star Game MVP) and was named to the All-NBA First-Team in 1952, 1956, and 1957.
Camden Bullets (1962–1965)
After retiring from the NBA, Arizin played for three seasons with the
Camden Bullets of the
Eastern Professional Basketball League
The Continental Basketball Association (CBA) (originally known as the Eastern Pennsylvania Basketball League, and later as the Eastern Professional Basketball League and the Eastern Basketball Association) was a men's professional basketball m ...
, who won the 1964 title. Averaging over 20 points per game each season, he was named the EBL MVP in 1963, was named to the EBL All-Star First Team in 1963 and 1964 and to the EBL All-Star Second Team in 1965.
Legacy
Arizin was named to the
NBA 25th Anniversary Team
The NBA 25th Anniversary Team was chosen on December 11, 1971, to honor the 25th anniversary of the founding of the National Basketball Association (NBA) as the Basketball Association of America (BAA) in 1946. It was the first anniversary team i ...
in 1971. He was inducted into the
Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1978, and was selected to the
50 Greatest Players in NBA History in 1996. In October 2021, Arizin was honored as one of the league's greatest players of all time by being named to the
NBA's 75th Anniversary Team. He was inducted into the inaugural class of the
Philadelphia Sports Hall of Fame
The Philadelphia Sports Hall of Fame is a nonprofit organization in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania that was established in May 2002 to honor individuals and groups who are either area natives who became prominent in the field of sports or who became ...
in 2004. Arizin died in his sleep at age 78 on December 12, 2006, in
Springfield,
Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...
.
NBA Hall of Famer Arizin dies at 78
/ref>
NBA career statistics
Regular season
Playoffs
See also
* List of individual National Basketball Association scoring leaders by season
*
*
*
*List of NCAA Division I men's basketball season scoring leaders
__NOTOC__
In basketball, points are the sum of the score accumulated through free throw or field goal. The National Collegiate Athletic Association's (NCAA) Division I scoring title is awarded to the player with the highest points per game (ppg) a ...
* List of National Basketball Association annual minutes leaders
* Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame
*
References
External links
Basketball Hall of Fame profile
Extensive audio interview on Paul Arizin with his son Michael; from 6:50 mark
{{DEFAULTSORT:Arizin, Paul
1928 births
2006 deaths
All-American college men's basketball players
American men's basketball players
American people of French descent
Basketball players from Philadelphia
Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame inductees
National Basketball Association All-Stars
National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame inductees
Philadelphia Warriors draft picks
Philadelphia Warriors players
Shooting guards
Small forwards
United States Marines
Villanova Wildcats men's basketball players
United States Marine Corps personnel of the Korean War