Robert Joseph Feerick (January 2, 1920 – June 8, 1976) 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, coach and general manager. He was born in

San Francisco, California San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

at the old French Hospital, attended Star of the Sea Catholic school and old Lowell High school.

Playing career

A 6'3" guard from

Santa Clara University Santa Clara University is a private university, private Jesuit university in Santa Clara, California, United States. Established in 1851, Santa Clara University is the oldest operating institution of higher learning in California. The university' ...

, Feerick played for the

Washington Capitols The Washington Capitols were a former Basketball Association of America (forerunner of the National Basketball Association) team based in Washington, D.C. from 1946 to 1951. The team was coached from 1946 to 1949 by NBA Hall of Famer Red Auerb ...

from 1946 to 1950, the

NBA 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 ...

's first four seasons of existence (the league was known as the

Basketball Association of America The Basketball Association of America (BAA) was a professional basketball league in North America, founded in 1946. Following its third season, 1948–49, the BAA merged with the National Basketball League (United States), National Basketball Lea ...

during the first three). Playing under coach

Red Auerbach Arnold Jacob "Red" Auerbach (September 20, 1917 – October 28, 2006) was an American professional basketball coach and executive. As a head coach in the National Basketball Association (NBA), he led the Boston Celtics to an unprecedented champio ...

, he was named to the All-NBA first team in 1947 and 1948 after averaging 16.8 (second in the league behind

Joe Fulks Joseph Franklin "Jumping Joe" Fulks (October 26, 1921 – March 21, 1976) was an American professional basketball player. The NBA's first scoring champion, he was sometimes called "the first of the high-scoring forwards". He was posthumously en ...

's 23.1) and 16.1 points per game respectively. In 1949, the league's first season as the newly formed NBA, the Capitols named Feerick

player-coach A player–coach (also playing coach, captain–coach, or player–manager) is a member of a sports team who simultaneously holds both playing and coaching duties. Player–coaches may be head coaches or assistant coaches, and they may make chang ...

. In 221 games, he scored 2936 points for an average of 13.3 per game.

Post-playing years

After his short professional career, Feerick returned to Santa Clara as head coach of its basketball team from 1950 to 1962. Feerick also was

Wilt Chamberlain Wilton Norman Chamberlain ( ; August21, 1936 – October12, 1999) was an American professional basketball player. Standing tall, he played Center (basketball), center in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for 14 seasons. He was enshrin ...

's personal coach with the

San Francisco 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 ...

during the 1962–63 season. The franchise had just relocated from

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

and hired Feerick, the native San Franciscan, to replace

Frank McGuire Frank Joseph McGuire (November 8, 1913 – October 11, 1994) was an American basketball coach. At the collegiate level, he was head coach for three major programs: St. John's, North Carolina, and South Carolina, winning over a hundred games at ...

, who resigned rather than make the move with the team. The Warriors finished 31–49 for their first year in San Francisco after losing 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), ...

in each of the previous three Eastern Division finals. The following season,

Alex Hannum Alexander Murray Hannum (July 19, 1923 – January 18, 2002) was an American professional basketball player and coach. As a player, Hannum played for six different teams, most notably with the Milwaukee (later St. Louis) Hawks, where he played ...

replaced Feerick as coach. Feerick later served the Warriors as general manager and director of player personnel. He was a finalist for the

NBA 25th Anniversary Team The NBA 25th Anniversary Team was chosen on December 11, 1971, to honor the 25th anniversary of the founding of the National Basketball Association (NBA) as the Basketball Association of America (BAA) in 1946. It was the first anniversary team ...

in 1971. He is one of only two members nominated to the team ''not'' in the

Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame is an American history museum and hall of fame, located at 1000 Hall of Fame Avenue in Springfield, Massachusetts. It serves as basketball's most complete library, in addition to promoting and pres ...

. Feerick died in 1976

BAA/NBA career statistics

Regular season

Playoffs

Head coaching record

College

Professional

, - , style="text-align:left;", WSC , style="text-align:left;", , 68, , 32, , 36, , .471, , style="text-align:center;", 3rd in Eastern, , 2, , 0, , 2, , .000 , style="text-align:center;", Lost in Eastern Div. Semifinals , - , style="text-align:left;", SFW , style="text-align:left;", , 80, , 31, , 49, , .388, , style="text-align:center;", 4th in Western, , -, , -, , -, , - , style="text-align:center;", Missed Playoffs , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:left;", Career , , , 148, , 63, , 85, , .426, , , , 2, , 0, , 2, , .000

References

External links

Feerick's pro statistics (as a player)

* Bob Feerick night footage of play (starts at the 1 minute mark) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=py6ZbsTTXrA&pp=ygULYm9iIGZlZXJpY2s%3D * Bob Feerick interview, early 1950s, Washington D.C. sports talk show, two parts: # Bob Feerick Interview Sports Talk Show, early 1950s, Part 1.ogg # Bob Feerick Interview Sports Talk Show, early 1950s, Part 2.ogg {{DEFAULTSORT:Feerick, Bob 1920 births 1976 deaths American men's basketball coaches American men's basketball players Basketball coaches from California Basketball players from San Francisco Forwards (basketball) Golden State Warriors executives Golden State Warriors head coaches Guards (basketball) Basketball player-coaches San Francisco Warriors head coaches Santa Clara Broncos athletic directors Santa Clara Broncos men's basketball coaches Santa Clara Broncos men's basketball players Washington Capitols players Washington Capitols coaches 20th-century American sportsmen