Byron Beck (born January 25, 1945) is an American former 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. A 6 foot 9 inch forward/ center from the

University of Denver The University of Denver (DU) is a private research university in Denver, Colorado, United States. Founded in 1864, it has an enrollment of approximately 5,700 undergraduate students and 7,200 graduate students. It is classified among "R1: D ...

, Beck was one of six players (along with

Louie Dampier Louis Dampier (born November 20, 1944) is an American former professional basketball player. He played professionally in the National Basketball Association (NBA) and American Basketball Association (ABA), primarily playing with the Kentucky Colo ...

, Gerald Govan, Bob Netolicky, Stew Johnson, and Freddie Lewis) who participated in all nine seasons (1967–1976) of the original

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). Beck and Dampier would also be the only two players who would stay with the franchise that originally drafted them throughout the entire existence of the ABA before the

ABA–NBA merger The ABA–NBA merger was a major pro sports business maneuver in 1976 when the American Basketball Association (ABA) combined with the National Basketball Association (NBA), after multiple attempts over several years. The NBA and ABA had entered ...

occurred, with Beck being the only player to stay with the team in question following the completed merger into the NBA. He played for the

Denver Rockets Denver ( ) is a consolidated city and county, the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. It is located in the Western United States, in the South Platte River Valley on the western edge of the High Plains east of ...

, who later became the

Denver Nuggets The Denver Nuggets are an American professional basketball team based in Denver. The Nuggets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Northwest Division (NBA), Northwest Division of the Western Conference (NBA), W ...

. Beck was not blessed with superior athleticism, but he was a hard worker known for his tenacious rebounding and efficient

hook shot In basketball, a hook shot is a play where the offensive player, usually turned perpendicular to the basket, gently throws the ball using a sweeping motion of the arm farther from the basket in an upward arc with a follow-through which ends over ...

. He represented Denver in two ABA

All-Star An all-star team is a group of people all having a high level of performance in their field. Originating in sports, it has since drifted into vernacular and has been borrowed heavily by the entertainment industry. Sports "All-star" as a sport ...

Games (1969 and 1976, the latter year having the Denver Nuggets franchise going up against the rest of the ABA's All-Stars that year). Beck also played one season 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) after the Nuggets joined the NBA through the

in 1976, and he retired in 1977 with 8,603 career ABA/NBA points and 5,261 career rebounds. On December 16, 1977, he became the first player in the Denver franchise to have his

jersey Jersey ( ; ), officially the Bailiwick of Jersey, is an autonomous and self-governing island territory of the British Islands. Although as a British Crown Dependency it is not a sovereign state, it has its own distinguishing civil and gov ...

number (#40) retired. In 1981, Beck was inducted into the Colorado Sports Hall of Fame. After retiring from professional basketball, Beck moved to

Kennewick, Washington Kennewick () is a city in Benton County, Washington, Benton County in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington. It is located along the southwest bank of the Columbia River, just southeast of the confluence of the Columbia and Yakima ...

where he worked as an engineer.

References

External links

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* 1945 births Living people ABA All-Stars Amateur Athletic Union men's basketball players American men's basketball players Basketball players from Washington (state) Centers (basketball) Chicago Bulls draft picks Columbia Basin College alumni Denver Nuggets players Denver Pioneers men's basketball players Denver Rockets draft picks Denver Rockets players Engineers from Washington (state) Junior college men's basketball players in the United States NBA players with retired numbers Sportspeople from Ellensburg, Washington Power forwards {{1940s-US-basketball-bio-stub