Zelmo "Big Z" Beaty ( ; October 25, 1939 – August 27, 2013) 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. He played eight seasons 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 S ...

(NBA) and four in the rival

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, ...

(ABA). A three-time ABA All-Star, Beaty 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 ...

as a player in 2016.

Early life

Zelmo Beaty Jr. was born on October 25, 1939 in Hillister, Texas, a small town of 250. He attended Scott High School in

Woodville, Texas Woodville is a town in Tyler County, Texas, Tyler County, Texas, United States. The town is intersected by three U.S. highways: U.S. Route 69, U.S. Highway 69, U.S. Route 190, U.S. Highway 190, and U.S. Route 287, U.S. Highway 287. The population w ...

and played for Coach John Payton winning back to back Prairie View Interscholastic League 1A state championships in 1957 & 1958. For college, Beaty attended Prairie View A&M.

College

Prairie View A&M Panthers

"From 1958–1962 at Prairie View A&M Beaty averaged 25 points and 20 rebounds per game and was a two-time first team NAIA All-American (1960 & 1962). The "Big Z" led Prairie View A&M to the NAIA national basketball title in 1962 and was named the Chuck Taylor Tournament MVP."

NBA

St. Louis Hawks

He was selected with the third pick of the 1962

(NBA)

Draft Draft, The Draft, or Draught may refer to: Watercraft dimensions * Draft (hull), the distance from waterline to keel of a vessel * Draft (sail), degree of curvature in a sail * Air draft, distance from waterline to the highest point on a vesse ...

by the

St. Louis 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 ...

. Beaty was named to the inaugural

NBA All-Rookie Team The NBA All-Rookie Team is an annual National Basketball Association (NBA) honor given since the 1962–63 NBA season to the top rookies during the regular season. Voting is conducted by the NBA head coaches who are not allowed to vote for player ...

in 1963. He averaged more than 20 points per game in three different seasons, and over ten rebounds per game in six of his seven seasons with the Hawks. A physical player, Beaty led the NBA in personal fouls in 1962–63 and 1965–66, and tied for the league lead in disqualifications during the 1963–64 season. On December 3, 1967, Beaty scored an NBA career high 42 points in a 123-109 win over the

Seattle SuperSonics The Seattle SuperSonics (commonly known as the Seattle Sonics) were an American professional basketball team based in Seattle. The SuperSonics competed in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member club of the league's Western Confe ...

. During the 1969 NBA Playoffs, the first Hawks postseason in Atlanta, Beaty averaged 22.5 points (his highest NBA playoffs average) and 12.9 rebounds in 11 games before, in a pattern familiar for the 1960s Hawks, they were eliminated in the Western Division Finals, the round before the NBA Finals. During his Hawks tenure, Beaty made two

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, a ...

appearances in 1966 and 1968, and helped the Hawks reach the playoffs every season of his tenure. In 1969, Beaty left the NBA to play in the rival

(ABA).

ABA

Utah Stars

Beaty was legally barred from playing in the ABA by a legal injunction from the Hawks during the 1969-70 NBA season. In his first season in the ABA, Beaty led the league in field goal percentage, was third in the league in rebounds per game. Coached by Bill Sharman and also featuring ABA star

Willie Wise Willie M. Wise (born March 3, 1947) is an American former professional basketball player. After a successful ABA tenure, which eventually resulted in him making the ABA All-Time Team, Wise’s NBA career was ended prematurely by a knee injury. ...

, the Stars were dominant in the regular season and finished with the second best record in the league at 57-27. Utah's success continued in the playoffs, sweeping the

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in the first round, before defeating the

Indiana Pacers The Indiana Pacers are an American professional basketball team based in Indianapolis. The Pacers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division. The Pacers were first esta ...

to advance to the 1971 ABA Finals. In the finals, Beaty averaged 28.4 points and 16 rebounds per game, including recording totals of 36 points and 16 rebounds in a Game 7 win to end the series. After the game, Beaty was awarded the

ABA Playoffs Most Valuable Player Award The ABA Playoffs Most Valuable Player Award was an annual American Basketball Association (ABA) given in the ABA Playoffs. The award was first awarded in the 1968 ABA Playoffs, and was retired as part of the ABA–NBA merger. In sports, the player ...

for his role in the championship victory. The following year, Beaty averaged a career high (for both his NBA and ABA careers) of 23.6 points per game while playing all 84 games of the regular season. However, that

postseason The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eithe ...

the Stars would be eliminated during a hard-fought seven game series in the Western Division Finals by the Pacers, who Utah had beat the year before to advance to the finals. In total, Beaty played four seasons with the Stars, being named to the All-ABA Second Team twice and making the

ABA All-Star Game The American Basketball Association (ABA) was a professional basketball league founded in 1967. The ABA ceased to exist after merging with the National Basketball Association (NBA) in 1976. In total, the league held nine all-star game An all- ...

three times, before returning to the NBA as a member of the

Los Angeles Lakers The Los Angeles Lakers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Lakers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Pacific Division. The Lakers play their ...

. He also served as president of the ABA's Player Association, as well as union player representative with the Hawks. By 1974 during his final year with the Stars, Beaty was severely hampered by knee injuries, having undergone six surgeries on his knees during his career. Beaty retired in 1975 with combined ABA/NBA totals of 15,207 points and 9,665 rebounds. He briefly served as a coach for the ABA's

Virginia Squires The Virginia Squires were a basketball team based in Norfolk, Virginia, and playing in several other Virginia cities. They were members of the American Basketball Association from 1970 to 1976. The team originated in 1967 as the Oakland Oaks, a ...

Personal

After pro ball, Beaty worked in financial planning. He also worked as a substitute physical education teacher in

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

elementary schools. Beaty died from cancer on August 27, 2013 at his home in

Bellevue, Washington Bellevue ( ) is a city in the Eastside region of King County, Washington, United States, located across Lake Washington from Seattle. It is the third-largest city in the Seattle metropolitan area and has variously been characterized as a s ...

. He was 73 years old. He had been married to his wife for about 50 years, and had two children.

Posthumous honors

Beaty was selected to be inducted into the 2014 National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame class and the 2016 Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame class. Host

Josh Levin Joshua Benjamin Levin (born March 15, 1980) is an American writer and the national editor at ''Slate'' magazine. Levin also hosts the magazine's sports podcast, '' Hang Up and Listen.'' Biography Early life Levin was born and raised in New O ...

ends every episode of the

Slate Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade regional metamorphism. It is the finest grained foliated metamorphic rock. ...

sports podcast ''Hang Up and Listen'' by saying, "Remember Zelmo Beaty." This is a reference to an appearance by

Shaquille O'Neal Shaquille Rashaun O'Neal ( ; born March 6, 1972), known commonly as "Shaq" ( ), is an American former professional basketball player who is a sports analyst on the television program ''Inside the NBA''. O'Neal is regarded as one of the greates ...

on the

Late Show with David Letterman The ''Late Show with David Letterman'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by David Letterman on CBS, the first iteration of the The Late Show (franchise), ''Late Show'' franchise. The show debuted on August 30, 1993, and was produced by ...

in which the host asked O'Neal about several centers from earlier eras and O'Neal did not know about Beaty even though Beaty made significant contributions to the game on and off the court.

NBA/ABA career statistics

Regular season

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St. Louis St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...

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, 59 , , – , , 32.6 , , .444 , , – , , .741 , , 10.7 , , 1.3 , , – , , – , , 13.1 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 80 , , – , , 36.5 , , .482 , , – , , .715 , , 12.1 , , 1.4 , , – , , – , , 16.9 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 80 , , – , , 38.4 , , .473 , , – , , .758 , , 13.6 , , 1.6 , , – , , – , , 20.7 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 48 , , – , , 34.6 , , .473 , , – , , .758 , , 10.7 , , 1.3 , , – , , – , , 17.8 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 82 , , – , , 37.4 , , .488 , , – , , .794 , , 11.7 , , 2.1 , , – , , – , , 21.1 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-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 ...

, 72 , , – , , 35.8 , , .470 , , – , , .731 , , 11.1 , , 1.8 , , – , , – , , 21.5 , - , style="text-align:left;background:#afe6fa;", † , style="text-align:left;", Utah (ABA) , 76 , , – , , 38.4 , , .555 , , .500 , , .791 , , 15.7 , , 1.9 , , – , , – , , 22.9 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;", Utah (ABA) , 84 , , – , , 37.3 , , .539 , , .000 , , .829 , , 13.2 , , 1.5 , , – , , – , , 23.6 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;", Utah (ABA) , 82 , , – , , 34.2 , , .520 , , .000 , , .803 , , 9.8 , , 1.5 , , – , , 1.0 , , 16.4 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;", Utah (ABA) , 77 , , – , , 32.2 , , .524 , , .000 , , .795 , , 8.0 , , 1.7 , , 0.8 , , 0.8 , , 13.4 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

L.A. Lakers The Los Angeles Lakers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Lakers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Pacific Division. The Lakers play their ...

, 69 , , – , , 17.6 , , .439 , , – , , .800 , , 4.7 , , 1.1 , , 0.7 , , 0.4 , , 5.5 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 889 , , – , , 33.4 , , .494 , , .154 , , .771 , , 10.9 , , 1.5 , , 0.7 , , 0.8 , , 17.1 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", All-Star , 5 , , 1 , , 24.6 , , .340 , , – , , .789 , , 9.4 , , 1.2 , , 0.2 , , 0.4 , , 9.8

Playoffs

, - , style="text-align:left;",

1963 Events January * January 1 – Bogle–Chandler case: Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation scientist Dr. Gilbert Bogle and Mrs. Margaret Chandler are found dead (presumed poisoned), in bushland near the Lane Cov ...

, style="text-align:left;",

, 11, , –, , 27.9, , .443, , –, , .750, , 7.6, , 1.0, , –, , –, , 10.3 , - , style="text-align:left;",

1964 Events January * January 1 – The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved. * January 5 - In the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches since the fifteenth century, Pope Paul VI and Patriarch ...

, style="text-align:left;",

, 12, , –, , 36.3, , .521, , –, , .597, , 9.5, , 1.0, , –, , –, , 14.3 , - , style="text-align:left;",

1965 Events January–February * January 14 – The Prime Minister of Northern Ireland and the Taoiseach of the Republic of Ireland meet for the first time in 43 years. * January 20 ** Lyndon B. Johnson is Second inauguration of Lyndo ...

, style="text-align:left;",

, 4, , –, , 38.5, , .492, , –, , .760, , 13.8, , 0.3, , –, , –, , 19.3 , - , style="text-align:left;", 1966 , style="text-align:left;",

, 10, , –, , 41.8, , .493, , –, , .759, , 13.1, , 2.2, , –, , –, , 19.0 , - , style="text-align:left;", 1967 , style="text-align:left;",

, 9, , –, , 35.3, , .442, , –, , .785, , 9.9, , 1.3, , –, , –, , 15.9 , - , style="text-align:left;", 1968 , style="text-align:left;",

, 6, , –, , 39.8, , .467, , –, , .782, , 13.5, , 2.5, , –, , –, , 21.5 , - , style="text-align:left;", 1969 , style="text-align:left;",

, 11, , –, , 43.0, , .432, , –, , .672, , 12.9, , 2.3, , –, , –, , 22.5 , - , style="text-align:left;background:#afe6fa;",

1971 * The year 1971 had three partial solar eclipses ( February 25, July 22 and August 20) and two total lunar eclipses (February 10, and August 6). The world population increased by 2.1% this year, the highest increase in history. Events Ja ...

† , style="text-align:left;", Utah (ABA) , 18, , –, , 38.8, , .536, , –, , .846, , 14.6, , 2.4, , –, , –, , 23.2 , - , style="text-align:left;",

1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using Solar time, me ...

, style="text-align:left;", Utah (ABA) , 11, , –, , 40.3, , .552, , –, , .830, , 14.0, , 2.2, , –, , –, , 20.1 , - , style="text-align:left;", 1973 , style="text-align:left;", Utah (ABA) , 10, , –, , 38.7, , .552, , –, , .827, , 11.6, , 1.4, , –, , –, , 15.9 , - , style="text-align:left;",

1974 Major events in 1974 include the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis and the resignation of United States President Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal. In the Middle East, the aftermath of the 1973 Yom Kippur War determined politics; f ...

, style="text-align:left;", Utah (ABA) , 13, , –, , 36.3, , .503, , –, , .825, , 10.8, , 1.6, , 1.4, , 0.9, , 14.8 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 115 , , – , , 37.8 , , .496 , , – , , .770 , , 11.9 , , 1.7 , , 1.4 , , 0.9 , , 17.9

Legacy

The March 16, 2022 game between

Maryland Eastern Shore The Eastern Shore of Maryland is a part of the U.S. state of Maryland that lies mostly on the east side of the Chesapeake Bay. Nine counties are normally included in the region. The Eastern Shore is part of the larger Delmarva Peninsula that ...

and

Coastal Carolina Coastal Carolina University (CCU or Coastal) is a public university in Conway, South Carolina. Founded in 1954 as Coastal Carolina Junior College, and later joining the University of South Carolina System as USC Coastal Carolina, it became an in ...

The Basketball Classic The Basketball Classic presented by ERACE is a single-elimination, fully-bracketed men's college basketball postseason tournament created in 2022 as successor to the CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament, featuring 32 National Collegiate A ...

been designated the Zelmo Beaty Game.

References

External links

Remember the ABA: Zelmo Beaty
{{DEFAULTSORT:Beaty, Zelmo 1939 births 2013 deaths Basketball coaches from Texas American men's basketball players Atlanta Hawks players Basketball players from Texas Deaths from cancer in Washington (state) Centers (basketball) Los Angeles Lakers players National Basketball Association All-Stars National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame inductees People from Tyler County, Texas Prairie View A&M Panthers basketball players St. Louis Hawks draft picks St. Louis Hawks players Utah Stars players Virginia Squires coaches