James Thomas "Goose" Ligon (February 22, 1944 – April 17, 2004) 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. A 6'7"

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People *Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Smal ...

center Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentrici ...

, Ligon starred at

Kokomo High School Kokomo High School (merged with Haworth High School in 1984) is a four-year public high school in Kokomo, Indiana, USA. The school is the only high school in the Kokomo School Corporation. History The earliest Kokomo High School found in rec ...

in Indiana but never played in college due to legal issues. He played for the Harlem Magicians during the 1962–63 season and then spent the next three years imprisoned in the Indiana Reformatory after being convicted of "assault and battery with intent to gratify sexual desires."https://from-way-downtown.com/2021/07/07/fallen-star-goose-ligon-is-looking-for-a-miracle-1997/ In 1967, he earned a spot with the

Kentucky Colonels The Kentucky Colonels were an American professional basketball team based in Louisville, Kentucky. They competed in the American Basketball Association (ABA) from 1967 to 1976. The name is derived from the historic Kentucky Colonels. The Colo ...

of the

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 ...

and went on to have a seven-year ABA career with the Colonels,

Pittsburgh Condors The Pittsburgh Condors were a professional basketball team in the original American Basketball Association (ABA). Originally called the Pittsburgh Pipers, they were a charter franchise of the ABA and captured the first league title. The team pla ...

, and

Virginia Squires The Virginia Squires were a basketball team based in Norfolk, Virginia, and playing in several other Virginia cities. They were members of the American Basketball Association from 1970 to 1976. The team originated in 1967 as the Oakland Oaks, a ...

. Ligon averaged 12.8

points per game Points per game, often abbreviated PPG, is the average number of points scored by a player or team per game played in a sport, over the course of a series of games, a whole season, or a career. It is calculated by dividing the total number of poi ...

and 10.9

rebounds per game 'Rebound' is a term used in sports to describe the ball (or puck or other object of play) becoming available for possession by either opponent after an attempt to put the ball or puck into the goal has been unsuccessful. Rebounds are generally ...

in his ABA career and appeared in the

1969 ABA All-Star Game The second American Basketball Association All-Star Game was played on January 28, 1969, at Louisville Convention Center in Louisville, Kentucky before an audience at 5,407, between teams from the Western Conference and the Eastern Conference ...

. A ruptured Achilles tendon in the 1973–74 season ended Ligon's career. He worked 11 years with the Transit Authority of River City but was plagued by a cocaine addiction that went on for years. By 1997, it was reported that he was suffering from

glaucoma Glaucoma is a group of eye diseases that can lead to damage of the optic nerve. The optic nerve transmits visual information from the eye to the brain. Glaucoma may cause vision loss if left untreated. It has been called the "silent thief of ...

. He died in 2004 at the age of 60.

References

External links

* * at Remember the ABA 1944 births 2004 deaths ABA All-Stars American men's basketball players Basketball players from Indiana Centers (basketball) Kentucky Colonels players Parade High School All-Americans (boys' basketball) Pittsburgh Condors players Power forwards Sportspeople from Kokomo, Indiana Undrafted ABA players Virginia Squires players {{Louisville-stub