Bob McAdoo
The Hall of Fame center who won two NBA championships with the Showtime Lakers and was named NBA MVP in 1975.
Bob McAdoo is an American former professional basketball player and coach. He played 14 seasons in the NBA, where he was a five-time NBA All-Star and named the NBA Most Valuable Player in 1975. He won two NBA championships in four consecutive trips to the Finals in four years with the Showtime Los Angeles Lakers of the 1980s. In 2000, McAdoo was inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame. He was named to the NBA 75th Anniversary Team in 2021. The #2 pick of the 1972 NBA draft out of the University of North Carolina, McAdoo played center for the majority of his career.
- Role
- Center/Power Forward
- Status
- Retired Legend
- Key Achievement
- Two-time NBA MVP prior to joining the franchise
Verified Timeline
Lore & Background
McAdoo's path to the NBA started at Vincennes University, a junior college in Vincennes, Indiana, where he averaged 19.3 points and 10 rebounds as a freshman and led Vincennes to the NJCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship in 1970 with 27 points in the title game. As a sophomore, he averaged 25.0 points and 11.0 rebounds and was named a Junior College All-American in 1971. He then enrolled at the University of North Carolina in the Fall of 1971, the only junior college player Dean Smith recruited in his career. Playing alongside Bobby Jones, McAdoo led Smith's 1971–72 Tar Heels to a 26–5 record and the Final Four of the 1972 NCAA University Division basketball tournament. McAdoo averaged 19.5 points and 10.1 rebounds. He was named first-team All-American and earned MVP honors at the ACC tournament.
In Their Own Story
After being selected as the number two overall pick by the Buffalo Braves in the 1972 NBA draft, McAdoo immediately became one of the NBA's premier players, winning the 1973 NBA Rookie of the Year Award. As a sophomore in 1973-74, he earned the first of three consecutive NBA scoring titles while leading the NBA in field goal percentage and shooting 54.7 percent. He also enjoyed his first of five All-Star selections, and led Buffalo to its first playoffs appearance. McAdoo's 1973-74 performance remains the last time an NBA player has averaged both 30.0 points and 15.0 rebounds per game. In 1974–75, he was awarded the NBA Most Valuable Player Award, averaging 34.5 points, 14.1 rebounds and 2.12 blocks per game, while shooting 51.2 percent from the field and 80.5 percent from the free throw line. He also led the league in fan voting for the 1975 All-Star Game with 98,325 votes. McAdoo is the youngest player to have had a 50-point/20-rebound game.
Reader's Guide
McAdoo played for the Buffalo Braves from 1972 to 1976, averaging 28.2 points, 12.7 rebounds, 2.6 assists, 2.4 blocks and 1.1 steals in 334 games. He was traded to the New York Knicks on December 9, 1976, for John Gianelli and cash. In 171 games with the Knicks, McAdoo averaged 26.7 points, 12.0 rebounds, 3.3 assists, 1.4 blocks and 1.3 steals. He was then traded to the Boston Celtics on February 12, 1979, for Tom Barker and three first-round picks. In his tenure with Boston, McAdoo averaged 20.6 points and 7.1 rebounds. On September 6, 1979, he was traded to the Detroit Pistons for the first and thirteenth overall picks in the 1980 NBA draft. In 1979–80, McAdoo averaged 21.1 points and 8.1 rebounds in 58 games for the Pistons. He later won two NBA championships with the Los Angeles Lakers in the 1980s, and after his NBA career, he spent seven seasons in the Lega Basket Serie A in Italy, winning both NBA and FIBA European Champions Cup titles as a player. He later won three more NBA titles in 2006, 2012 and 2013 as an assistant coach with the Miami Heat.
Did You Know?
- McAdoo is the youngest player to have had a 50-point/20-rebound game.
- He is one of the few players who have won both NBA and FIBA European Champions Cup (EuroLeague) titles as a player.
- McAdoo's 1973-74 performance remains the last time an NBA player has averaged both 30.0 points and 15.0 rebounds per game.
- He was the only junior college player Dean Smith recruited in his career at the University of North Carolina.
- McAdoo led the league in fan voting for the 1975 All-Star Game with 98,325 votes.