John Shove "Bud" Palmer (born John Palmer Flynn; September 14, 1921 – March 19, 2013) 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 and sportscaster. He was a member of the

New York Knicks The New York Knickerbockers, shortened and more commonly referred to as the New York Knicks, are an American professional basketball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of Manhattan. The Knicks compete in the Na ...

during the team's first three seasons in 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 ...

and was the leading scorer in the team's inaugural 1946–47 season. Palmer is considered to be one of the inventors of the Born in

Hollywood, California Hollywood, sometimes informally called Tinseltown, is a List of districts and neighborhoods in Los Angeles, neighborhood and district in the Central Los Angeles, central region of Los Angeles County, California, within the city of Los Angeles. ...

, Palmer was the son of football player and actor Maurice Bennett "Lefty" Flynn and singer Blanche Palmer. He was nicknamed "Bud" due to being the budding image of his father; Palmer relinquished his father's surname from his name when his parents divorced. Palmer was when he started playing basketball at

Hun School of Princeton The Hun School of Princeton is a private, coeducational, secondary boarding school located in Princeton in Mercer County, New Jersey, United States. The school serves students from sixth through twelfth grades. The school has been accredited ...

, and started using the jump shot to compensate for his height. He grew a foot taller to by the time he began playing college basketball at

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial ...

, and played for three seasons before he enlisted in the

U.S. Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest displacement, at 4.5 million tons in 2021. It has the world's largest aircraft ...

during After his NBA career ended, Palmer went on to have a successful career as a sportscaster. He was Chief of Protocol and Official Greeter for the City of New York for seven years during

John Lindsay John Vliet Lindsay (; November 24, 1921 – December 19, 2000) was an American politician and lawyer. During his political career, Lindsay was a U.S. congressman, the mayor of New York City, and a candidate for U.S. president. He was also a regu ...

's administration. Palmer modeled menswear, advertised Vitalis

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, and wrote as an

advice column An advice column is a column in a question and answer format. Typically, a (usually anonymous) reader writes to the media outlet with a problem in the form of a question, and the media outlet provides an answer or response. The responses are w ...

ist in '' Glamour'' magazine. Palmer died at 91 of metastatic

prostate cancer Prostate cancer is the neoplasm, uncontrolled growth of cells in the prostate, a gland in the male reproductive system below the bladder. Abnormal growth of the prostate tissue is usually detected through Screening (medicine), screening tests, ...

in 2013 in

West Palm Beach, Florida West Palm Beach is a city in and the county seat of Palm Beach County, Florida, United States. It is located immediately to the west of the adjacent Palm Beach, Florida, Palm Beach, which is situated on a barrier island across the Lake Worth Lag ...

BAA career statistics

Regular season

Playoffs

References

External links

* 1921 births 2013 deaths American men's basketball players American men's soccer players American sports announcers Baseball announcers Basketball players from Los Angeles Bowling broadcasters Centers (basketball) Deaths from prostate cancer in Florida Forwards (basketball) American golf commentators Greeters Men's association football players not categorized by position Motorsport announcers NFL announcers National Hockey League broadcasters New York Giants announcers New York Knicks announcers New York Knicks players New York Rangers announcers New York Yankees announcers Olympic Games broadcasters Phillips Exeter Academy alumni Princeton Tigers men's basketball players Princeton Tigers men's lacrosse players Princeton Tigers men's soccer players American tennis commentators United States Navy personnel of World War II 20th-century American sportsmen {{1920s-US-basketball-bio-stub