Herman L. Gilliam Jr. (May 5, 1946 – April 16, 2005) was an American professional

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 was born in

Winston-Salem, North Carolina Winston-Salem is a city and the county seat of Forsyth County, North Carolina, United States. In the 2020 census, the population was 249,545, making it the second-largest municipality in the Piedmont Triad region, the 5th most populous city in ...

College career

Herm Gilliam attended

Purdue University Purdue University is a public land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded in 1869 after Lafayette businessman John Purdue donated land and mone ...

, located in

West Lafayette, Indiana West Lafayette () is a city in Wabash Township, Tippecanoe County, Indiana, United States, about northwest of the state capital of Indianapolis and southeast of Chicago. West Lafayette is directly across the Wabash River from its sister cit ...

. He played under head coach

George King George King may refer to: Politics * George King (Australian politician) (1814–1894), New South Wales and Queensland politician * George King, 3rd Earl of Kingston (1771–1839), Irish nobleman and MP for County Roscommon * George Clift King (18 ...

and alongside Billy Keller and three-time All-American

Rick Mount Richard Carl Mount (born January 5, 1947) is a former American basketball player in the American Basketball Association (ABA). He was the first high school athlete to be featured on the cover of ''Sports Illustrated''. Early life Rick Mount's fath ...

. He was an honored co-captain of the

Boilermakers A boilermaker is a tradesperson who fabricates steel, iron, or copper into boilers and other large containers intended to hold hot gas or liquid, as well as maintains and repairs boilers and boiler systems.Bureau of Labor Statistics, US Dep ...

in both his junior and senior years and helped lead the Boilers to an NCAA Finals appearance in 1969. He led Purdue with 8.5 rebounds per game his senior season and received ''First Team All-Big Ten'' honors. He twice received Purdue's Most Valuable Player award and was the recipient of the Ward Lambert Scholarship Trophy for scholastic excellence. In three varsity seasons at Purdue, the 6'3" and 190 lb guard scored 1,118 points and finished his collegiate career in 5th place among the school's all-time scoring leaders, averaging 16 points a game. After his junior season, Herm declined to leave before his senior year for a chance to play 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 ...

, whom he was drafted by in the 13th round of the 1968 NBA draft. In 2006, he was inducted in the Purdue Athletic Hall of Fame.

Professional career

Cincinnati Royals, Buffalo Braves

Gilliam was selected by the Kentucky Colonels in the 1969 ABA draft and by the

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 ...

in the first round (8th pick) of the

1969 NBA draft The 1969 NBA draft was the 23rd annual draft of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The draft was held on April 7 and May 7, 1969, before the 1969–70 season. In this draft, fourteen NBA teams took turns selecting amateur U.S. college ba ...

. He averaged 7.5 points a game in his rookie season while playing in Cincinnati. He missed the last few weeks of the season due to him serving six months of military duty. After his first season, Gilliam was selected by the

Buffalo Braves The Buffalo Braves were an American professional basketball franchise based in Buffalo, New York. The Braves competed in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member club of the league's Eastern Conference Atlantic Division from 1970 ...

, an expansion team, in the 1970 NBA Expansion Draft. He spent the 1970–71 season with Buffalo, averaging 11.2 points and just over 4 rebounds a game.

Atlanta Hawks

During his honeymoon, "Bitty", as he was known to teammates, was traded to the

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 ...

on July 23, 1971 to start the 1971–72 season. Working with the likes of

Lou Hudson Louis Clyde Hudson ("Sweet Lou") (July 11, 1944 – April 11, 2014) was an American National Basketball Association (NBA) player, who was an All-American at the University of Minnesota and a six-time NBA All-Star, scoring 17,940 total points in 1 ...

and

Pete Maravich Peter Press Maravich ( ; June 22, 1947 – January 5, 1988), known by his nickname Pistol Pete, was an American professional basketball player. Maravich was born in Aliquippa, Pennsylvania, part of the Pittsburgh metropolitan area, and raised i ...

in the backcourt, he averaged 10.2 points a game and had career high 83.8 free-throw percentage, connecting with 145 on the season. He scored his season high of 30 points vs. the Cleveland Cavaliers on March 19, 1972. Herm's best career season came during the 1972–73 campaign, where he averaged 14 points and 5.25 rebounds a game with a .468 field goal percentage, while leading the Hawks in steals. In his only season in which he scored over 1,000 points (1,665), he scored a career high 35 points against the

Portland Trail Blazers The Portland Trail Blazers (colloquially known as the Blazers) are an American professional basketball team based in Portland, Oregon. The Trail Blazers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Con ...

on October 26, 1973. During his four seasons with Atlanta, he averaged 12.5 points a game, including his career high of 14.1 during the 1973–74 season.

Seattle SuperSonics, Portland Trail Blazers

On October 22, 1975, Gilliam was traded to 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 ...

. Gilliam suffered from a knee injury during the 1975–76 season, but rallied back and scored his season high 24 points in a game. After an injury-prone season with the SuperSonics, Gilliam was traded to the

, where he won an

NBA championship The NBA Finals is the annual championship series of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The Eastern and Western Conference champions play a best-of-seven game series to determine the league champion. The team that wins the series is awa ...

ring with the likes of

Bill Walton William Theodore Walton III (born November 5, 1952) is an American television sportscaster and former professional basketball player. He played college basketball for coach John Wooden and the UCLA Bruins, winning three consecutive national ...

during his final season in 1977. Early in the season Gilliam was unhappy with his playing time. However, he refused a trade to New Orleans, a team which promised him more playing time, to stay in Portland, as he felt the Trail Blazers gave him a greater chance at winning a championship. Gilliam's best game of the season came in game four of the Western Conference Finals against the Los Angeles Lakers, where he scored 24 points on 12 of 18 shooting from the field.Halberstam, David. ''The Breaks of the Game.''

Random House Random House is an American book publisher and the largest general-interest paperback publisher in the world. The company has several independently managed subsidiaries around the world. It is part of Penguin Random House, which is owned by Germ ...

. 1981. pg. 23

David Halberstam David Halberstam (April 10, 1934 April 23, 2007) was an American writer, journalist, and historian, known for his work on the Vietnam War, politics, history, the Civil Rights Movement, business, media, American culture, Korean War, and late ...

described his contributions in this game in his book '' The Breaks of the Game''.

Retirement

After retiring from the NBA, he took a job with

United Parcel Service United Parcel Service (UPS, stylized as ups) is an American multinational shipping & receiving and supply chain management company founded in 1907. Originally known as the American Messenger Company specializing in telegraphs, UPS has grown t ...

where he worked for 15 years, eventually being promoted to managing the company's Corvallis– Albany hub. Gilliam died of a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which ma ...

on April 16, 2005 in Salem, Oregon.

References

External links

Herm Gilliam Remembered
@ NBA.com

@ databasebasketball.com
High Flyer: Gilliam Remembered As Fine Athlete, Person
by Off the BASN Sports Wire By John Delong. Posted April 25, 2005 {{DEFAULTSORT:Gilliam, Herm 1946 births 2005 deaths African-American basketball players American men's basketball players Atlanta Hawks players Basketball players from Winston-Salem, North Carolina Buffalo Braves expansion draft picks Buffalo Braves players Chicago Bulls draft picks Cincinnati Royals draft picks Cincinnati Royals players Kentucky Colonels draft picks Point guards Portland Trail Blazers players Purdue Boilermakers men's basketball players Seattle SuperSonics players Shooting guards Sportspeople from Salem, Oregon 20th-century African-American sportspeople 21st-century African-American people