William Rodney "Bird" Averitt (July 22, 1952December 12, 2020) was an American professional basketball player in the

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 ABA–NBA merger, American Basketball Association–National Basketball Association merger in 1976, ...

(ABA) and the National Basketball Association (NBA). He won an ABA championship with the

Kentucky Colonels The Kentucky Colonels were a member of the American Basketball Association for all of the league's nine years. The name is derived from the historic Kentucky colonels. The Colonels won the most games and had the highest winning percentage of ...

in 1975. Born in

Hopkinsville, Kentucky Hopkinsville is a home rule-class city in and the county seat of Christian County, Kentucky, United States. The population at the 2010 census was 31,577. History Early years The area of present-day Hopkinsville was initially claimed in 1796 b ...

, he played college basketball for the Pepperdine Waves and was named the conference player of the year in the

West Coast Conference The West Coast Conference (WCC) — known as the California Basketball Association from 1952 to 1956 and then as the West Coast Athletic Conference until 1989 — is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with NCAA Division I consisting of ...

. He was selected in the fourth round of the

1973 NBA draft The 1973 NBA draft was the 27th annual draft of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The draft was held on April 24 and May 5, 1973, before the 1973–74 season. In this draft, 17 NBA teams took turns selecting amateur U.S. college baske ...

by the Portland Trail Blazers and the second round of the 1973 ABA Draft by the San Diego Conquistadors. He played for the San Antonio Spurs (1973–74) and

(1974–76) in the ABA for 236 games, winning the 1975 ABA championship with the Colonels. After the Colonels were disbanded as part of the ABA–NBA merger, Averitt joined the Buffalo Braves through the 1976 ABA dispersal draft, playing with that team for the 1976–77 season until joining the New Jersey Nets for the 1977–78 season, playing 130 games in the NBA with those two teams. Averitt died at age 68 on December 12, 2020.

ABA/NBA career statistics

Regular season

, - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;", San Antonio (ABA) , 74 , , – , , 22.1 , , .376 , , .180 , , .696 , , 1.6 , , 1.8 , , 0.9 , , 0.1 , , 11.5 , - , style="text-align:left;background:#afe6fa;", † , style="text-align:left;", Kentucky (ABA) , 84 , , – , , 24.2 , , .416 , , .149 , , .778 , , 2.2 , , 3.8 , , 1.0 , , 0.2 , , 13.1 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;", Kentucky (ABA) , 78 , , – , , 29.1 , , .429 , , .313 , , .769 , , 2.7 , , 3.8 , , 1.4 , , 0.3 , , 17.9 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;", Buffalo , 75 , , – , , 15.1 , , .378 , , – , , .716 , , 1.0 , , 1.8 , , 0.4 , , 0.1 , , 7.9 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;", New Jersey , 21 , , – , , 19.5 , , .367 , , – , , .800 , , 1.6 , , 3.2 , , 0.8 , , 0.0 , , 8.3 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;", Buffalo , 34 , , – , , 19.9 , , .436 , , – , , .667 , , 1.5 , , 3.8 , , 0.6 , , 0.2 , , 9.5 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 366 , , – , , 22.3 , , .405 , , .249 , , .743 , , 1.9 , , 2.9 , , 0.9 , , 0.2 , , 12.1

Playoffs

, - , style="text-align:left;",

1974 Major events in 1974 include the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis and the resignation of United States President Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal. In the Middle East, the aftermath of the 1973 Yom Kippur War determined politics; f ...

, style="text-align:left;”, San Antonio (ABA) , 6, , –, , 17.3, , .373, , .000, , .789, , 1.8, , 0.3, , 0.2, , 0.7, , 8.8 , - , style="text-align:left;background:#afe6fa;",

1975 It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe. Events January * January 1 - Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...

† , style="text-align:left;”, Kentucky (ABA) , 14, , –, , 18.9, , .364, , .200, , .806, , 1.6, , 2.1, , 0.5, , 0.0, , 9.9 , - , style="text-align:left;",

1976 Events January * January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 11 – The 1976 Phila ...

, style="text-align:left;”, Kentucky (ABA) , 10, , –, , 35.8, , .404, , .154, , .881, , 2.2, , 6.1, , 1.2, , 0.2, , 19.9 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 30 , , – , , 24.2 , , .385 , , .143 , , .837 , , 1.8 , , 3.1 , , 0.7 , , 0.2 , , 13.0

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Averitt, Bird 1952 births 2020 deaths 20th-century African-American sportspeople 21st-century African-American people African-American basketball players American men's basketball players Basketball players from Kentucky Buffalo Braves players Kentucky Colonels players New Jersey Nets players Pepperdine Waves men's basketball players Portland Trail Blazers draft picks San Antonio Spurs players San Diego Conquistadors draft picks Shooting guards Sportspeople from Hopkinsville, Kentucky

ABA/NBA career statistics

Regular season

Playoffs

See also

References

External links