Thomas F. Boerwinkle (August 23, 1945 – March 26, 2013) was an American

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)

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 eccentricity ...

who spent his entire career with 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 1 ...

Early life

Tom Boerwinkle was born in

Independence, Ohio Independence is a city in Cuyahoga County, Ohio. It is a suburb of Cleveland. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 7,133. Independence was originally called Center and was renamed in 1830. Geography Independence is located at . Ac ...

, one of three children of John and Katherine Boerwinkle. John Boerwinkle, an engineer for an oil refinery, was a native of Cleveland and the son of

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

immigrants who had come to the United States in 1890. He attended high school at

Millersburg Military Institute Millersburg Military Institute (MMI) was a military boarding school founded in 1893 in Millersburg, Kentucky, about northeast of Lexington, Kentucky. Founded in 1893, it survived for over 113 years until closing in July 2006 due to a declining ...

, a now-defunct prep school in

Millersburg, Kentucky Millersburg is a home rule-class city in Bourbon County, Kentucky, United States. The population was 792 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Lexington–Fayette Metropolitan Statistical Area. History Millersburg was founded in 1817. It ...

later known as Forest Hill Military Academy.

College career

Boerwinkle played for the

University of Tennessee The University of Tennessee (officially The University of Tennessee, Knoxville; or UT Knoxville; UTK; or UT) is a public land-grant research university in Knoxville, Tennessee. Founded in 1794, two years before Tennessee became the 16th state, ...

and helped the team win the 1967 Southeastern Conference championship. The next year, he was named a Helms Foundation first-team all-American. In his junior and senior seasons, he averaged a double-double each season—10.2 points and 12.2 rebounds his junior season and 11.3 points and 15.2 rebounds his senior season.

Professional career

Boerwinkle was drafted as the fourth pick of the 1968 NBA draft and played with the Bulls until 1978. Although largely unappreciated during his playing days, Boerwinkle was a very efficient player, using his brawny seven-foot frame to grab rebounds and set picks while teammates like

Jerry Sloan Gerald Eugene Sloan (March 28, 1942 – May 22, 2020) was an American professional basketball player and coach. He played 11 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA) before beginning a 30-year coaching career, 23 of which were spent ...

Chet Walker Chester Walker (born February 22, 1940) is an American former professional basketball player. Born in Bethlehem, Mississippi, Walker played high school basketball for the Benton Harbor High School boys basketball team. He graduated from Bradley ...

and

Bob Love Robert Earl "Butterbean" Love (born December 8, 1942) is an American former professional basketball player who spent the prime of his career with the National Basketball Association's Chicago Bulls. A versatile forward who could shoot with eith ...

did most of the scoring. In addition, Boerwinkle contributed with his passing skills, averaging 3.2

assists per game In basketball, an assist is attributed to a player who passes the ball to a teammate in a way that leads directly to a score by field goal, meaning that they were "assisting" in the basket. An assist is also credited when a basket is awarded due ...

during his career. Acting as a distribution hub from the center position, he helped set a precedent for future passing big men such as two-time NBA MVP

Nikola Jokić Nikola Jokić ( sr-cyr, Никола Јокић, (); born February 19, 1995) is a Serbian professional basketball player for the Denver Nuggets of the National Basketball Association (NBA) who plays the center position. A four-time NBA All-Sta ...

. On January 8, 1970, Boerwinkle set a Bulls record by grabbing 37 rebounds against the

Phoenix Suns The Phoenix Suns are an American professional basketball team based in Phoenix, Arizona. They compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA), as a member of the league's Western Conference Pacific Division. The Suns are the only team in t ...

. He retired with career totals of 4,596 points, 5,745 rebounds, and 2,007 assists. Boerwinkle also had five

triple double In basketball, a double-double is a single-game performance in which a player accumulates ten or more in two of the following five statistical categories: points, rebounds, assists, steals, and blocked shots. The first "double" in the term ...

s in his career.

Later life

Boerwinkle later served as a radio color analyst for the Bulls. He was a longtime co-owner of the Olympic Oil Co. in

Stickney, Illinois Stickney is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States. The village is named for Alpheus Beede Stickney, a railroad executive who played a central role in establishing the Clearing Industrial District. Per the 2020 census, the population w ...

. Boerwinkle died on March 26, 2013 in Willowbrook, Illinois after struggling with

myelodysplastic syndrome A myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) is one of a group of cancers in which immature blood cells in the bone marrow do not mature, and as a result, do not develop into healthy blood cells. Early on, no symptoms typically are seen. Later, symptoms may ...

, a form of leukemia. Upon his death, longtime Bulls teammate

said, "He was a great teammate with a heart of gold. And I always tell people: Half of my baskets came from him. He's one of the best-passing big men of all-time." Hall of Fame center and Bulls teammate

Artis Gilmore Artis Gilmore (born September 21, 1949) is an American former professional basketball player who played in the American Basketball Association (ABA) and National Basketball Association (NBA). Gilmore was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Bask ...

said, "He understood his role extremely well. He had a very big body and he absorbed a lot of space. With those behind-the-back and over-the-head passes, he was very good. He understood the game and he played intelligent basketball." He was survived by his wife of 41 years, Linda, son Jeff and daughter Gretchen.

Career statistics

NBA

Regular season

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