Mack Calvin (born July 27, 1947) is an American former

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. A five-time ABA All-Star, Calvin recorded the second most assists in ABA history, and was later named to the

ABA All-Time Team The ABA All-Time Team were chosen in 1997 on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the founding of the American Basketball Association (ABA). It comprised the 30 best and most influential players of the ABA during its ten years and nine full regul ...

High school career

Calvin was born in

Fort Worth, Texas Fort Worth is the List of cities in Texas by population, fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Texas and the List of United States cities by population, 13th-largest city in the United States. It is the county seat of Tarrant County, Texas, T ...

and attended

Long Beach Poly Long Beach Polytechnic High School, founded in 1895 as Long Beach High School, is a four-year public high school located at 1600 Atlantic Avenue in Long Beach, California, United States. The school serves portions of Long Beach, including Bixby ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

College career

A 6'0"

point guard The point guard (PG), also called the one or the point, is one of the five positions in a regulation basketball game. A point guard has perhaps the most specialized role of any position. Point guards are expected to run the team's offense by ...

from Long Beach City College and the

University of Southern California , mottoeng = "Let whoever earns the palm bear it" , religious_affiliation = Nonsectarian—historically Methodist , established = , accreditation = WSCUC , type = Private research university , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $8.1 ...

, Calvin was a 14th-round draft pick of the NBA's

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 ...

in 1969. In his final college season, Calvin and his Trojans defeated the

UCLA Bruins The UCLA Bruins are the athletic teams that represent the University of California, Los Angeles. The Bruin men's and women's teams participate in NCAA Division I as part of the Pac-12 Conference and the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) ...

, 46–44, in

Pauley Pavilion Edwin W. Pauley Pavilion, commonly known as Pauley Pavilion, is an indoor arena located in the Westwood Village district of Los Angeles, California, on the campus of UCLA. It is home to the UCLA Bruins men's and women's basketball teams. The ...

, ending several of the Bruins' consecutive win streaks: 17 straight over USC, 41 in a row overall, 45 consecutive in Pacific-8 Conference play, and 51 straight at Pauley.

Professional career

He played seven seasons (1969–1976) in the now-defunct

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 American Basketball Association–National Basketball Association merger in 1976, leading to four A ...

(ABA) and four seasons in the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball sports league, 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 i ...

(NBA). Calvin began his professional career with the ABA's

Los Angeles Stars LOS, or Los, or LoS may refer to: Science and technology * Length of stay, the duration of a single episode of hospitalisation * Level of service, a measure used by traffic engineers * Level of significance, a measure of statistical significanc ...

, averaging 16.8 points per game in his first regular season to make the ABA All-Rookie Team. Despite finishing 43-41, in the 1970 ABA Playoffs Calvin, George Stone, and

Craig Raymond Craig Milford Raymond (April 5, 1945 - October 15, 2018) was an American professional basketball player. Raymond played basketball at Hudson's Bay High School in Vancouver, Washington, where he was named a ''Parade'' All-American during his se ...

, helped the Stars make an unexpected trip to the ABA Finals. On the way there, during a win over the Dallas Chaparrals in the division semifinals, Mack scored a postseason career high 44 points, while adding 16 assists. In the finals, Calvin averaged 15.8 points and 5 assists per game during a 4-2 series loss to Roger Brown and 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 estab ...

. The following season, he averaged a career-high 27.2 points for The Floridians, in the process setting the ABA records for most

free throw In basketball, free throws or foul shots are unopposed attempts to score points by shooting from behind the free-throw line (informally known as the foul line or the charity stripe), a line situated at the end of the restricted area. Free throws ...

s made (696) and most free throws attempted (805) in one season. During the 1974-75 ABA season, Calvin helped the Nuggets to a 65-19 record by averaging 7.7 assists per game, both of which were best in the league. However, in the Western Division Finals, Denver was eliminated by Indiana in a seven game series. In 1976, Calvin played while also briefly coaching the Squires. In total during his ABA career, Calvin tallied 10,620 points and 3,067 assists (second in ABA history behind only

Louie Dampier Louis Dampier (born November 20, 1944) is an American retired professional basketball player. A 6-foot-tall guard, Dampier is one of only a handful of men to play all nine seasons in the American Basketball Association (ABA) (1967–1976), all ...

's 4,044) and appeared in 5 All-Star games. Calvin joined the Lakers for the

1976–77 NBA season The 1976–77 NBA season was the 31st season of the National Basketball Association. The season ended with the Portland Trail Blazers winning their first NBA Championship in franchise history, beating the Philadelphia 76ers in six games in the NBA ...

but saw a sharp decline in playing time. He was able to match the same level of production per minute he reached while in the ABA, though. He spent his four seasons in the NBA with five teams—the Lakers, the

San Antonio Spurs The San Antonio Spurs are an American professional basketball team based in San Antonio. The Spurs compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Southwest Division. The team plays its home ...

, the Denver Nuggets (which had joined the NBA in 1976), the

Utah Jazz The Utah Jazz are an American professional basketball team based in Salt Lake City. The Jazz compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference (NBA), Western Conference, Northwest Division (NBA), ...

, and the

Cleveland Cavaliers The Cleveland Cavaliers (often referred to as the Cavs) are an American professional basketball team based in Cleveland. The Cavaliers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central ...

. In the 1978 NBA Playoffs, during his second Denver tenure, Calvin and the Nuggets made it to the Western Conference Finals, before being eliminated by 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 ...

. Calvin retired in 1981 with an NBA career scoring-average of 7.0 points per game.

Coaching career

He coached

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, ...

in the ABA (1975–76) for six games and

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

in the NBA (1991–92, as an interim head coach in February 1992 for two games).

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Calvin, Mack 1947 births Living people African-American basketball players American men's basketball players Basketball coaches from Texas Basketball players from Texas Carolina Cougars players Cleveland Cavaliers players Continental Basketball Association coaches Denver Nuggets players Long Beach City Vikings men's basketball players Los Angeles Clippers head coaches Los Angeles Lakers draft picks Los Angeles Lakers players Los Angeles Stars draft picks Los Angeles Stars players Miami Floridians players Point guards San Antonio Spurs players Sportspeople from Fort Worth, Texas USC Trojans men's basketball players Utah Jazz players Virginia Squires coaches Virginia Squires players 21st-century African-American people 20th-century African-American sportspeople Long Beach Polytechnic High School alumni