Joseph C. Roberts (May 18, 1936 – October 10, 2022) 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 Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

player who played three seasons in the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

(NBA) and one season in the

American Basketball Association The American Basketball Association (ABA) was a major professional basketball league that operated for nine seasons from 1967 to 1976. The upstart ABA operated in direct competition with the more established National Basketball Association thr ...

(ABA). He played for the

Syracuse Nationals The Philadelphia 76ers are an American basketball team currently playing in the Atlantic Division (NBA), Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), Eastern Conference in the National Basketball Association (NBA). The 76ers are third in NBA ...

and

Kentucky Colonels The Kentucky Colonels were an American professional basketball team based in Louisville, Kentucky. They competed in the American Basketball Association (ABA) from 1967 to 1976. The name is derived from the historic Kentucky Colonels. The Colo ...

from 1960 to 1968, having earlier played for

Ohio State University The Ohio State University (Ohio State or OSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio, United States. A member of the University System of Ohio, it was founded in 1870. It is one ...

's 1960 NCAA champions. After retiring from playing, he served as assistant coach of the

Golden State Warriors The Golden State Warriors are an American professional basketball team based in San Francisco. The Warriors compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference. Founded in 1946 i ...

and

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

Early life

Roberts was born in

Columbus, Ohio Columbus (, ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities in Ohio, most populous city of the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 United States census, 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the List of United States ...

, on May 18, 1936. He attended East High School in his hometown. He then studied biological studies and physical education at

, where he played for the

Ohio State Buckeyes The Ohio State Buckeyes are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Ohio State University, located in Columbus, Ohio. The athletic programs are named after the colloquial term for people from the state of Ohio and after the state tree, ...

from 1957 to 1960. He was a senior co-captain of the 1960 team – which included

Jerry Lucas Jerry Ray Lucas (born March 30, 1940) is an American former basketball player. He was a nationally awarded high school player, national college star at Ohio State University, and 1960 Olympic medal, gold medal Olympian and international player be ...

John Havlicek John Joseph Havlicek (often nicknamed Hondo) ( ; April 8, 1940 – April 25, 2019) was an American professional basketball player who spent his entire career with the Boston Celtics of the National Basketball Association (NBA). A swingman, Hav ...

, Mel Nowell,

Bob Knight Robert Montgomery Knight (October 25, 1940 – November 1, 2023) was an American men's college basketball coach (basketball), coach. Nicknamed "the General", he won 902 NCAA Division I men's basketball games, a record at the time of his retire ...

, and Gary Gearhart – that lost only three games en route to the 1960 NCAA title. Roberts was selected in the third round of the

1960 NBA draft The 1960 NBA draft was the 14th annual draft of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The draft was held on April 11, 1960, before the 1960–61 season. In this draft, eight NBA teams took turns selecting amateur U.S. college basketball pla ...

by the

Playing career

Roberts made his NBA debut on October 22, 1960, scoring six points to go along with three rebounds against the

Philadelphia Warriors The history of the Golden State Warriors began in Philadelphia in 1946. In 1962, the franchise was relocated to San Francisco, California and became known as the San Francisco Warriors until 1971, when its name was changed to the current Golden ...

. He led the league in games played (80) the following year. He ultimately played three seasons with the Nationals, during which time there was an unspoken rule that restricted teams to three

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

players. The franchise qualified for the

NBA playoffs The NBA playoffs is the annual Playoffs, postseason Tournament#Knockout tournaments, tournament of the National Basketball Association (NBA) held to determine the league champion. Since 1949, the four-round, best-of-seven tournament is held afte ...

in each of those years, but lost to the

Boston Celtics The Boston Celtics ( ) are an American professional basketball team based in Boston. The Celtics compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NBA), Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), ...

, Warriors, and

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 Pacific Division of the Western Conference. The Kings are the ...

, respectively. Roberts returned to his hometown of Columbus, Ohio for the 1966–67 season as the player/manager for the Columbus Comets of the newly formed and short-lived North American Basketball League (NABL). There, he played with former East High and Ohio State teammate Mel Nowell as well as former Ohio State alumni Dick Reasbeck,

Gary Bradds Gary Lee "Tex" Bradds (July 26, 1942 – July 15, 1983) was an American basketball player. After a successful college career at Ohio State, where he was the 1964 College Player of the Year, he played an integral role with the 1968–69 Oakland ...

, and Jim Doughty. Roberts did return to play for the

of the

ABA ABA may refer to: Aviation * AB Aerotransport, former Scandinavian airline * IATA airport code for Abakan International Airport in Republic of Khakassia, Russia Businesses and organizations Broadcasting * Alabama Broadcasters Association, Uni ...

for one season in 1967, the ABA's first year.

Coaching career

After his playing career ended, Roberts became an assistant coach for

Western Michigan West Michigan and Western Michigan are terms for a region in the U.S. state of Michigan's Lower Peninsula. Generally, it refers to the Grand Rapids- Muskegon-Holland area, and more broadly to most of the region along the Lower Peninsula's Lake ...

in the

Mid-American Conference The Mid-American Conference (MAC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference with a membership base in the Great Lakes region (North America), Great Lakes region that stretches from Western New York to Illinois. Its members co ...

, then

Iowa Iowa ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the upper Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west; Wisconsin to the northeast, Ill ...

in the Big Ten, before being an assistant for the NBA's

and coach

Al Attles Alvin Austin Attles Jr. (November 7, 1936 – August 20, 2024) was an American professional basketball player, coach, and executive who spent his entire career with the Golden State Warriors of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Nickname ...

for five years. The Warriors, led by MVP

Rick Barry Richard Francis Dennis Barry III (born March 28, 1944) is an American former professional basketball player who starred at the NCAA, American Basketball Association (ABA) and National Basketball Association (NBA) levels. Barry ranks among the m ...

, won the NBA championship in 1975. Roberts coached the Warriors to their fourth win in the NBA finals against the Washington Bullets after Attles was ejected from the game.

Personal life and death

Roberts was married to Celia for 65 years until his death. Together, they had three children. Roberts died on the morning of October 10, 2022, at his home in

Oakland, California Oakland is a city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area in the U.S. state of California. It is the county seat and most populous city in Alameda County, California, Alameda County, with a population of 440,646 in 2020. A major We ...

. He was 86, and suffered from cancer prior to his death.

Career statistics

NBA/ABA

Source

Regular season

Playoffs

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Roberts, Joe 1936 births 2022 deaths Allentown Jets players American men's basketball players Basketball players from Columbus, Ohio Golden State Warriors assistant coaches Kentucky Colonels players Ohio State Buckeyes men's basketball players Power forwards Syracuse Nationals draft picks Syracuse Nationals players 21st-century African-American sportsmen 20th-century African-American sportsmen