World B. Free (born Lloyd Bernard Free; December 9, 1953) is a retired 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 who played 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 St ...

(NBA) from 1975 to 1988. Free was known as the "Prince of Mid-Air", "Brownsville Bomber", and most often as "All-World".

Early years

Born in

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 ...

, Free grew up in Brownsville, New York and attended

Canarsie High School Canarsie High School, which opened in 1964, is a defunct public high school in the Brooklyn neighborhood of Canarsie in New York City. Closed in 2011, the building currently operates as Canarsie Educational Campus, housing several smaller high sch ...

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

, New York before attending

Guilford College Guilford College is a private liberal arts college in Greensboro, North Carolina. Guilford has both traditional students and students who attend its Center for Continuing Education (CCE). Founded in 1837 by members of the Religious Society o ...

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and ...

. As a freshman, he led Guilford's basketball team and helped the team win the NAIA National Championship and was named MVP of the NAIA Tournament.

Professional career

Free played for the

San Diego 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 ...

, Philadelphia 76ers, Golden State Warriors, Cleveland Cavaliers and Houston Rockets in the

. He got his name from his days in

, where a friend nicknamed him "World" because of his 44-inch vertical leap and 360 degree dunks. Free was known for his "

rainbow A rainbow is a meteorological phenomenon that is caused by reflection, refraction and dispersion of light in water droplets resulting in a spectrum of light appearing in the sky. It takes the form of a multicoloured circular arc. Rainbows c ...

" jump shots, referring to the extreme arch of the ball during the shot. He was also known for taking high risk shots and playing flamboyantly. During Free's time playing for the San Diego Clippers, fans would shout "shoot, shoot, shoot" whenever Free took possession of the ball. Free averaged 20.3 points per game over 13 seasons in the NBA. For both the 1978–79 and 1979–80 campaigns,

George Gervin George Gervin ( ; born April 27, 1952), nicknamed "the Iceman", is an American former professional basketball player who played in both the American Basketball Association (ABA) and National Basketball Association (NBA) for the Virginia Squires, ...

and Free were number 1 and 2 in the league in scoring. In

1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the '' International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the '' Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the so ...

, Free led the Clippers to an improved 43–39 record, but they narrowly missed the playoffs. His best statistical season was 1979–80 with the Clippers, averaging 30.2 points per game, as well as 4.2 assists per game and 3.5 rebounds per game in 68 games. He was an All-Star that season as well, although the Clippers failed to make the playoffs again. On on August 28, 1980, San Diego traded Free to Golden State for Phil Smith and a first-round pick. During the 1981-82 NBA season, Free would help the Warriors to a 45–37 record, leading the team in assists per game at 5.4 while also scoring 22.9 points per game (second on the team only to

Bernard King Bernard King (born December 4, 1956) is an American former professional basketball player at the small forward position in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played 14 seasons with the New Jersey Nets, Utah Jazz, Golden State Warriors ...

’s 23.2 per game average). However, despite their above .500 record, they would miss the postseason. During the season, Free became the 39th player in league history to surpass 15,000 career points. During that year, now on the Cavaliers, Free made the playoffs for the first time since he was on the 76ers, and averaged career-playoff-highs of 26.3 points and 7.8 assists per game, during a 3-1 first round loss to the Celtics. In that series, Free led the Cavaliers to a 105-98 Game 3 win with a postseason-career-high 32 points. Free later played in the

United States Basketball League The United States Basketball League (USBL) was a professional men's spring basketball league. The league was formed in 1985 and ceased operations in 2008. The USBL started in 1985 as one of the first basketball leagues to play a late-spring to ...

(USBL) for the Miami Tropics after being waived by the Philadelphia 76ers in March 1987. He was named the USBL Playoffs MVP after leading the Tropics to the title after scoring 30 points in the championship winning game against the Rhode Island Gulls. Following the USBL season, he joined the Houston Rockets for the 1987–88 season, which was his last NBA season. For Free, the highlight of that season was November 12, 1987, when he scored 38 points against the

Sacramento Kings 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 ...

at ARCO Arena and brought the Rockets back to win the game. In 1991, Free had a comeback with Atlanta Eagles of the USBL, before retiring permanently.

Player profile

Free loved to go one-on-one against a defender and either whirl around him or take a jump shot. His shot was possibly his greatest strength: a soft, high-arcing lob that stayed in the air longer than the average jump shot and was very straight when he was "on" that it barely jostled the net. When he was younger, on the playgrounds of New York City, his jump shot was a flat line drive, but he was tired of having the ball blocked, so he developed a new style of shooting. Free admired Muhammad Ali.

Name change

On December 8, 1981, a day before his 28th birthday, he legally changed his first name to World. According to Free, "the fellas back in Brownsville gave me the nickname 'World' when I was in junior high... they just started calling me 'all-world', because all-city and all-county and things like that weren't good enough. Finally they just started calling me World... I'm still the same guy I was when I was Lloyd, though. I'll say what I'm going to do, and then I'll go out and do it."

Post-playing career

Currently, Free is director of player development and a community ambassador for the Philadelphia 76ers. Among other things, he greets fans at 76ers home games in his flamboyant/colorful wardrobe. Free has also led the Sixers' "Summer Hoops Tour". On November 30, 2005, Free was honored as a Cleveland Cavaliers Legend at halftime of the Cavaliers game against the

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 ...

. On March 26, 2022, Free was honored with a spot on the Cavaliers Wall of Honor along with former players

Lenny Wilkens Leonard Randolph Wilkens (born October 28, 1937) is an American former basketball player and coach in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He has been inducted three times into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, first in 1989 as ...

and

Campy Russell Michael Campanella "Campy" Russell (born January 12, 1952) is an American former professional basketball player. He played the forward position in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for the Cleveland Cavaliers and New York Knicks for ni ...

and former owner

Gordon Gund Gordon Gund (born October 15, 1939) is an American businessman and professional sports owner. He is the CEO of Gund Investment Corporation. He is the former co-owner of the San Jose Sharks (National Hockey League) from 1992–2002, former princip ...

Dick Vitale Richard John Vitale (; born June 9, 1939), also known as "Dickie V", is an American basketball sportscaster. A former head coach in the college and professional ranks, he is well known for his 41-year tenure as a college basketball broadcaster f ...

often uses his name in college basketball season previews to give the award for best name.

NBA career statistics

Regular season

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, 78 , , – , , 28.9 , , .457 , , – , , .720 , , 3.0 , , 3.4 , , 1.0 , , 0.3 , , 16.3 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 76 , , – , , 27.0 , , .455 , , – , , .731 , , 2.8 , , 4.0 , , 0.9 , , 0.5 , , 15.7 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United State ...

, 78 , , – , , 37.9 , , .481 , , – , , .756 , , 3.9 , , 4.4 , , 1.4 , , 0.4 , , 28.8 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 68 , , – , , 38.0 , , .474 , , .360 , , .753 , , 3.5 , , 4.2 , , 1.2 , , 0.5 , , 30.2 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;", Golden State , 65 , , – , , 36.5 , , .446 , , .161 , , .814 , , 2.4 , , 5.6 , , 1.3 , , 0.2 , , 24.1 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;", Golden State , 78 , , 78 , , 35.8 , , .448 , , .179 , , .740 , , 3.2 , , 5.4 , , 0.9 , , 0.1 , , 22.9 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;", Golden State , 19 , , 18 , , 36.8 , , .451 , , .000 , , .711 , , 2.3 , , 4.7 , , 0.8 , , 0.2 , , 22.8 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

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, 71 , , 50 , , 31.7 , , .459 , , .368 , , .749 , , 3.0 , , 4.5 , , 1.1 , , 0.2 , , 22.5 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 75 , , 75 , , 33.8 , , .455 , , .420 , , .780 , , 2.9 , , 4.2 , , 1.2 , , 0.3 , , 23.4 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 20 , , 2 , , 14.3 , , .317 , , .222 , , .766 , , 1.0 , , 1.5 , , 0.3 , , 0.2 , , 5.8 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 i ...

, 58 , , 0 , , 11.8 , , .409 , , .229 , , .800 , , 0.8 , , 1.0 , , 0.3 , , 0.1 , , 6.4 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 886 , , 345 , , 30.4 , , .456 , , .337 , , .753 , , 2.7 , , 3.7 , , 1.0 , , 0.3 , , 20.3 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", All-Star , 1 , , 1 , , 21.0 , , .538 , , –, , .000 , , 3.0 , , 5.0 , , 0.0 , , 1.0 , , 14.0

Playoffs

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, 15, , –, , 18.7, , .371, , –, , .688, , 2.1, , 1.9, , 0.8, , 0.5, , 11.9 , - , style="text-align:left;", 1978 , style="text-align:left;”,

, 10, , –, , 26.8, , .411, , –, , .728, , 3.1, , 3.7, , 0.4, , 0.6, , 16.1 , - , style="text-align:left;",

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, 4, , 4, , 37.5, , .441, , .000, , .920, , 2.5, , 7.8, , 1.5, , 0.0, , 26.3 , - , style="text-align:left;",

1988 File:1988 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The oil platform Piper Alpha explodes and collapses in the North Sea, killing 165 workers; The USS Vincennes (CG-49) mistakenly shoots down Iran Air Flight 655; Australia celebrates its Bicenten ...

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, 2, , 0, , 6.0, , .000, , .000, , –, , 1.0, , 0.5, , 0.5, , 0.0, , 0.0 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 34 , , 4 , , 22.7 , , .398 , , .000 , , .740 , , 2.2 , , 3.0 , , 0.7 , , 0.4 , , 14.0

References

External links

World B. Free page at databaseBasketball.comCavshistory.com page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Free, World B. 1953 births Living people 20th-century African-American sportspeople 21st-century African-American people African-American basketball players American men's basketball players Basketball players from Atlanta Canarsie High School alumni Cleveland Cavaliers players Golden State Warriors players Guilford Quakers men's basketball players Houston Rockets players National Basketball Association All-Stars People from Canarsie, Brooklyn Philadelphia 76ers draft picks Philadelphia 76ers players Point guards San Diego Clippers players Shooting guards Sportspeople from Brooklyn Basketball players from New York City United States Basketball League players

Early years

Professional career

Player profile

Name change

Post-playing career

NBA career statistics

Regular season

Playoffs

See also

References

External links