Leonard R. Chappell (January 31, 1941 – July 12, 2018) was an American

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. He played for 10 years 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) and 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 ...

(ABA) and was selected to one

NBA All-Star Game The National Basketball Association All-Star Game is the annual all-star game hosted each February by the National Basketball Association (NBA) and showcases 24 of the league's All-star, star players. Since 2022, it was held on the third Sunday of ...

Biography

College career

A 6'8"

power forward The power forward (PF), also known as the four, is one of the five traditional Basketball positions, positions in a regulation basketball game. Traditionally, power forwards have played a role similar to center (basketball), centers and are typi ...

/ center, Chappell was a star at

Wake Forest University Wake Forest University (WFU) is a private research university in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, United States. Founded in 1834, the university received its name from its original location in Wake Forest, north of Raleigh, North Carolina. The R ...

, where he was a teammate of future broadcaster Billy Packer He helped lead the Demon Deacons to a third-place finish in the 1962 NCAA tournament and was named ACC Men's Basketball Player of the Year in 1961 and 1962. In 1962, he became Wake Forest's first consensus All-American He was the ACC tournament's all-time leading scorer until

Duke University Duke University is a Private university, private research university in Durham, North Carolina, United States. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day city of Trinity, North Carolina, Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1 ...

's J. J. Redick surpassed him in 2006. Chappell was named to the ACC 50th Anniversary men's basketball team in 2002, honoring him as one of the 50 greatest players in

Atlantic Coast Conference The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. Headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, the ACC's eighteen member universities compete in the National Collegiate Athlet ...

history.

Professional career

After college, the Syracuse Nationals selected him with the fourth pick in the 1962 NBA draft. He played one season with the Nationals. The following year the team moved to

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 was renamed the 76ers. After one game in Philadelphia, 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 ...

purchased his contract. After moving to New York, he had his best season with 17 points and nine rebounds per game, earning his only All-Star selection. He left New York in 1966 and played for the

Chicago Bulls The Chicago Bulls are an American professional basketball team based in Chicago. The Bulls compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Central Division of the Eastern Conference. The team was founded on January 16 ...

, Cincinnati Royals,

Detroit Pistons The Detroit Pistons are an American professional basketball team based in Detroit. The Pistons compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Central Division (NBA), Central Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), East ...

Milwaukee Bucks The Milwaukee Bucks are an American professional basketball team based in Milwaukee. The Bucks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Central Division (NBA), Central Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), East ...

Cleveland Cavaliers The Cleveland Cavaliers, often referred to as the Cavs, are an American professional basketball team based in Cleveland. The Cavaliers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Central Division (NBA), Central Divis ...

, and

Atlanta Hawks The Atlanta Hawks are an American professional basketball team based in Atlanta. The Hawks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southeast Division (NBA), Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), Easte ...

. While on the Bucks during their inaugural season, on December 19, 1968, he scored a career-best 35 points during a 113–111 loss to the

.Len Chappell Game Highs
/ref> He also played one season (1971–1972) with the

Dallas Chaparrals The Dallas Chaparrals were a charter member of the American Basketball Association (ABA). The team moved to San Antonio, Texas, for the 1973–74 season and were renamed the San Antonio Spurs. The Spurs joined the National Basketball Association ...

of the

Death

Chappell suffered a brain hemorrhage after a fall in April 2018 and later suffered a stroke and pneumonia. He died July 12, 2018, in

Oconomowoc, Wisconsin Oconomowoc ( ) is a city in Waukesha County, Wisconsin, United States. The name was derived from Coo-no-mo-wauk, the Potawatomi language, Potawatomi term for 'waterfall'. The population was 18,203 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. T ...

NBA & ABA career statistics

Regular season

, - , align="left" , 1962–63 , align="left" , Syracuse , 80 , , - , , 15.5 , , .465 , , - , , .622 , , 5.8 , , 0.7 , , - , , - , , 8.9 , - , align="left" , 1963–64 , align="left" ,

, 1 , , - , , 16.0 , , .000 , , - , , .500 , , 4.0 , , 0.0 , , - , , - , , 1.0 , - , align="left" , 1963–64 , align="left" , New York , 78 , , - , , 31.9 , , .449 , , - , , .716 , , 9.8 , , 1.1 , , - , , - , , 17.3 , - , align="left" , 1964–65 , align="left" , New York , 43 , , - , , 15.2 , , .395 , , - , , .680 , , 3.3 , , 0.3 , , - , , - , , 8.3 , - , align="left" , 1965–66 , align="left" , New York , 46 , , - , , 11.8 , , .420 , , - , , .590 , , 2.8 , , 0.6 , , - , , - , , 5.3 , - , align="left" , 1966–67 , align="left" ,

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

, 19 , , - , , 9.4 , , .449 , , - , , .667 , , 2.0 , , 0.6 , , - , , - , , 4.9 , - , align="left" , 1966–67 , align="left" ,

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ; colloquially nicknamed Cincy) is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the northern side of the confluence of the Licking River (Kentucky), Licking and Ohio Ri ...

, 54 , , - , , 9.8 , , .411 , , - , , .650 , , 2.8 , , 0.4 , , - , , - , , 4.1 , - , align="left" , 1967–68 , align="left" ,

, 10 , , - , , 6.5 , , .500 , , - , , .800 , , 1.5 , , 0.5 , , - , , - , , 3.8 , - , align="left" , 1967–68 , align="left" ,

Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

, 57 , , - , , 17.5 , , .514 , , - , , .707 , , 6.1 , , 0.8 , , - , , - , , 10.0 , - , align="left" , 1968–69 , align="left" ,

Milwaukee Milwaukee is the List of cities in Wisconsin, most populous city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Located on the western shore of Lake Michigan, it is the List of United States cities by population, 31st-most populous city in the United States ...

, 80 , , - , , 27.6 , , .454 , , - , , .737 , , 8.0 , , 1.2 , , - , , - , , 14.6 , - , align="left" , 1969–70 , align="left" ,

, 75 , , - , , 15.1 , , .465 , , - , , .640 , , 3.7 , , 0.7 , , - , , - , , 8.3 , - , align="left" , 1970–71 , align="left" ,

Cleveland Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–U.S. maritime border and approximately west of the Ohio-Pennsylvania st ...

, 6 , , - , , 14.3 , , .395 , , - , , .786 , , 3.0 , , 0.2 , , - , , - , , 6.8 , - , align="left" , 1970–71 , align="left" ,

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

, 42 , , - , , 10.7 , , .441 , , - , , .811 , , 3.2 , , 0.4 , , - , , - , , 4.8 , - , align="left" , 1971–72 , align="left" ,

Dallas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

, 79 , , - , , 17.8 , , .452 , , - , , .746 , , 4.0 , , 0.9 , , - , , - , , 7.7 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 670 , , - , , 17.9 , , .452 , , - , , .697 , , 5.1 , , 0.8 , , - , , - , , 9.3

Playoffs

, - , align="left" , 1962–63 , align="left" , Syracuse , 4 , , - , , 13.3 , , .190 , , - , , .813 , , 4.5 , , 0.8 , , - , , - , , 5.3 , - , align="left" , 1966–67 , align="left" ,

, 4 , , - , , 16.5 , , .370 , , - , , .500 , , 3.3 , , 2.3 , , - , , - , , 5.5 , - , align="left" , 1967–68 , align="left" ,

, 5 , , - , , 4.2 , , .286 , , - , , .500 , , 2.4 , , 0.0 , , - , , - , , 1.4 , - , align="left" , 1969–70 , align="left" ,

, 9 , , - , , 14.8 , , .560 , , - , , .684 , , 2.9 , , 0.6 , , - , , - , , 7.7 , - , align="left" , 1971–72 , align="left" ,

, 4 , , - , , 22.3 , , .500 , , - , , .625 , , 4.5 , , 0.8 , , - , , - , , 7.3 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 26 , , - , , 13.9 , , .434 , , - , , .679 , , 3.3 , , 0.8 , , - , , - , , 5.7

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Chappell, Len 1941 births 2018 deaths All-American college men's basketball players American men's basketball players Atlanta Hawks players Basketball players from Pennsylvania Centers (basketball) Chicago Bulls expansion draft picks Chicago Bulls players Cincinnati Royals players Cleveland Cavaliers expansion draft picks Cleveland Cavaliers players Dallas Chaparrals players Detroit Pistons players Milwaukee Bucks expansion draft picks Milwaukee Bucks players NBA All-Stars New York Knicks players Philadelphia 76ers players Power forwards Sportspeople from Johnstown, Pennsylvania Syracuse Nationals draft picks Syracuse Nationals players Wake Forest Demon Deacons men's basketball players