Zelmo "Big Z" Beaty ( ; October 25, 1939 – August 27, 2013) 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 eight seasons in the

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(NBA) and four in the rival

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). A three-time ABA All-Star and two-time

NBA All-Star The National Basketball Association (NBA) All-Star Game is an annual exhibition basketball game. It is the main event of the NBA All-Star Weekend. Traditionally, the All-Star Game featured a conference-based format, featuring a team composed of ...

, Beaty was inducted into the

Naismith Memorial 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 pre ...

as a player in 2016.

Early life

High school

Zelmo Beaty Jr. was born on October 25, 1939, in Hillister, Texas, a small town of 250. Beatty's father died when he was a child. He attended the segregated Scott High School in Woodville, Texas, and played for coach John Payton, winning back-to-back Prairie View Interscholastic League 1A state championships in 1957 and 1958.

College

Beaty attended Prairie View A&M University, a small

National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) established in 1940, is a college athletics association for higher education, colleges and universities in North America. Most colleges and universities in the NAIA offer athletic schola ...

(NAIA) school outside of Houston, Texas. "From 1958–1962 at Prairie View A&M Beaty averaged 25 points and 20 rebounds per game and was a two-time first team NAIA All-American (1960 & 1962). After having been ranked number one by the

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(AP) and

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(UPI) at the end of the 1961-62 regular season, the 'Big Z' led Prairie View A&M to the NAIA national basketball title in 1962 and was named the Chuck Taylor Tournament MVP." He had 28 points and 29 rebounds in the championship game. He was a " Little All-American" in 1962. As a junior (1960-61), UPI named him to its first team small college All-America basketball team, after having been named to the third team a year earlier. He was also an NAIA All-American and

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

All-American in 1959-60, and participated in the Olympic tryouts.

NBA

St. Louis Hawks

Beaty was selected with the third pick of the 1962 NBA draft by the

St. Louis 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 of the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home games at S ...

. Beaty was named to the inaugural NBA All-Rookie Team in 1963, along with Dave DeBusschere, Terry Dischinger,

John Havlicek John Joseph Havlicek (often nicknamed Hondo) ( ; April 8, 1940 – April 25, 2019) was an American professional basketball player who spent his entire career with the Boston Celtics of the National Basketball Association (NBA). A swingman, Hav ...

and Chet Walker. He averaged more than 20 points per game in three different seasons, and over ten rebounds per game in six of his seven seasons with the Hawks. A physical player, Beaty led the NBA in personal fouls in 1962–63 and 1965–66, and tied for the league lead in disqualifications during the 1963–64 season. On December 3, 1967, Beaty scored an NBA career high 42 points in a 123–109 win over the Seattle SuperSonics. During the 1969 NBA Playoffs, the first Hawks postseason in Atlanta, Beaty averaged 22.5 points (his highest NBA playoffs average) and 12.9 rebounds in 11 games before, in a pattern familiar for the 1960s Hawks, they were eliminated in the Western Division Finals by the

Los Angeles Lakers The Los Angeles Lakers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Lakers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division (NBA), Pacific Division of the Western Conference (NBA ...

, the round before the NBA Finals. During his Hawks tenure, Beaty made two

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 ...

appearances in 1966 and 1968, and helped the Hawks reach the playoffs every season of his tenure. In 1969, Beaty left the NBA to play in the rival

(ABA). After playing in the ABA, Beatty returned to the NBA for one final year, 1974–1975, playing 69 games for the Los Angeles Lakers.

ABA

Utah Stars

Beaty was legally barred from playing in the ABA by a legal injunction from the Hawks during the 1969-70 NBA season, and had to wait a year to join the Utah Stars (who had been the Los Angeles Stars). In his first season in the ABA (1970–1971), Beaty led the league in two-point field goal percentage, was third in the league in rebounds per game (15.7), and averaged 22.9 points per game. Coached by Bill Sharman and also featuring ABA star Willie Wise, the Stars were dominant in the regular season and finished with the second best record in the league at 57–27. Utah's success continued in the playoffs, sweeping the Texas Chaparrals in the first round (4–0), before defeating the

Indiana Pacers The Indiana Pacers are an American professional basketball team based in Indianapolis. The Pacers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Central Division (NBA), Central Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), Ea ...

(4–3) to advance to the 1971 ABA Finals. In the finals, Beaty averaged 28.4 points and 16 rebounds per game, including recording totals of 36 points and 16 rebounds in a Game 7 win to end the series. After the game, Beaty was awarded the ABA Playoffs Most Valuable Player Award for his role in the championship victory. The following year, Beaty averaged a career high (for both his NBA and ABA careers) of 23.6 points per game while playing all 84 games of the regular season. However, that postseason the Stars would be eliminated during a hard-fought seven-game series in the Western Division Finals by the Pacers, who Utah had beat the year before to advance to the finals. In total, Beaty played four seasons with the Stars, being named to the All-ABA Second Team twice and making the ABA All-Star Game three times (1971–1973), before returning to the NBA as a member of the

. He also served as president of the ABA's Player Association, as well as union player representative with the Hawks. By 1974 during his final year with the Stars, Beaty was severely hampered by knee injuries, having undergone six surgeries on his knees during his career. Beaty retired in 1975 with combined ABA/NBA totals of 15,207 points and 9,665 rebounds. In the 1975–1976 season, he briefly served as a coach for the ABA's

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 ...

for 42 games.

Personal life

After pro ball, Beaty worked in financial planning. He worked at a bank in Southern California during the year between playing for the Hawks and Stars. He also worked as a substitute physical education teacher in

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

elementary schools. As reported by Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame Curt Gowdy Award writer Peter Vecsey, Beaty's Utah roommate Willie Wise said Beatty "was greatly influenced by Martin Luther King and became a staunch proponent for equality in all arenas, especially education. That’s why he became a substitute teacher. He went into the unruliest schools in Washington State because he wanted Afro American kids to have a chance to learn.'” Beaty died from cancer on August 27, 2013, at his home in

Bellevue, Washington Bellevue ( ) is a city in the Eastside (King County, Washington), Eastside region of King County, Washington, United States, located across Lake Washington from Seattle. It is the third-largest city in the Seattle metropolitan area, and the f ...

. He was 73 years old. He had been married to his wife for about 50 years, and had two children.

Posthumous honors

Beaty was selected to be inducted into the 2014 National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame class, the 2015 Texas Sports Hall of Fame class, and the 2016 Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame class. Earlier, in 1997, Beatty was named to the ABA's 30-man all-time team, and in 1989, was inducted into the Prairie View A&M Sports Hall of Fame, and is a recipient of the William "Billy" Nicks Legend Award. Host Josh Levin ends every episode of the

Slate Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous, metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade, regional metamorphism. It is the finest-grained foliated metamorphic ro ...

sports podcast ''Hang Up and Listen'' by saying, "Remember Zelmo Beaty." This is a reference to an appearance by

Shaquille O'Neal Shaquille Rashaun O'Neal ( ; born March 6, 1972), commonly known as Shaq ( ), is an American former professional basketball player who is a sports analyst on the television program ''Inside the NBA''. He is a and Center (basketball), center ...

on the

Late Show with David Letterman ''Late Show with David Letterman'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by David Letterman on CBS, the first iteration of the ''Late Show'' franchise. The show debuted on August 30, 1993, and was produced by Letterman's production com ...

in which the host asked O'Neal about several centers from earlier eras and O'Neal did not know about Beaty even though Beaty made significant contributions to the game on and off the court.

NBA/ABA career statistics

Regular season

, - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;", St. Louis , 80 , , – , , 24.0 , , .439 , , – , , .717 , , 8.3 , , 1.1 , , – , , – , , 10.2 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;", St. Louis , 59 , , – , , 32.6 , , .444 , , – , , .741 , , 10.7 , , 1.3 , , – , , – , , 13.1 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;", St. Louis , 80 , , – , , 36.5 , , .482 , , – , , .715 , , 12.1 , , 1.4 , , – , , – , , 16.9 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;", St. Louis , 80 , , – , , 38.4 , , .473 , , – , , .758 , , 13.6 , , 1.6 , , – , , – , , 20.7 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;", St. Louis , 48 , , – , , 34.6 , , .473 , , – , , .758 , , 10.7 , , 1.3 , , – , , – , , 17.8 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;", St. Louis , 82 , , – , , 37.4 , , .488 , , – , , .794 , , 11.7 , , 2.1 , , – , , – , , 21.1 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-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 ...

, 72 , , – , , 35.8 , , .470 , , – , , .731 , , 11.1 , , 1.8 , , – , , – , , 21.5 , - , style="text-align:left;background:#afe6fa;", † , style="text-align:left;", Utah (ABA) , 76 , , – , , 38.4 , , bgcolor="CFECEC", .555* , , .500 , , .791 , , 15.7 , , 1.9 , , – , , – , , 22.9 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;", Utah (ABA) , 84 , , – , , 37.3 , , .539 , , .000 , , .829 , , 13.2 , , 1.5 , , – , , – , , 23.6 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;", Utah (ABA) , 82 , , – , , 34.2 , , .520 , , .000 , , .803 , , 9.8 , , 1.5 , , – , , 1.0 , , 16.4 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;", Utah (ABA) , 77 , , – , , 32.2 , , .524 , , .000 , , .795 , , 8.0 , , 1.7 , , 0.8 , , 0.8 , , 13.4 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;", L.A. Lakers , 69 , , – , , 17.6 , , .439 , , – , , .800 , , 4.7 , , 1.1 , , 0.7 , , 0.4 , , 5.5 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 889 , , – , , 33.4 , , .494 , , .154 , , .771 , , 10.9 , , 1.5 , , 0.7 , , 0.8 , , 17.1 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", All-Star , 5 , , 1 , , 24.6 , , .340 , , – , , .789 , , 9.4 , , 1.2 , , 0.2 , , 0.4 , , 9.8

Playoffs

, - , style="text-align:left;",

1963 Events January * January 1 – Bogle–Chandler case: Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation scientist Dr. Gilbert Bogle and Mrs. Margaret Chandler are found dead (presumed poisoned), in bushland near the Lane Cove ...

, style="text-align:left;", St. Louis , 11, , –, , 27.9, , .443, , –, , .750, , 7.6, , 1.0, , –, , –, , 10.3 , - , style="text-align:left;", 1964 , style="text-align:left;", St. Louis , 12, , –, , 36.3, , .521, , –, , .597, , 9.5, , 1.0, , –, , –, , 14.3 , - , style="text-align:left;",

1965 Events January–February * January 14 – The First Minister of Northern Ireland and the Taoiseach of the Republic of Ireland meet for the first time in 43 years. * January 20 ** Lyndon B. Johnson is Second inauguration of Lynd ...

, style="text-align:left;", St. Louis , 4, , –, , 38.5, , .492, , –, , .760, , 13.8, , 0.3, , –, , –, , 19.3 , - , style="text-align:left;",

1966 Events January * January 1 – In a coup, Colonel Jean-Bédel Bokassa takes over as military ruler of the Central African Republic, ousting President David Dacko. * January 3 – 1966 Upper Voltan coup d'état: President Maurice Yaméogo i ...

, style="text-align:left;", St. Louis , 10, , –, , 41.8, , .493, , –, , .759, , 13.1, , 2.2, , –, , –, , 19.0 , - , style="text-align:left;",

1967 Events January * January 1 – Canada begins a year-long celebration of the 100th anniversary of Canadian Confederation, Confederation, featuring the Expo 67 World's Fair. * January 6 – Vietnam War: United States Marine Corps and Army of ...

, style="text-align:left;", St. Louis , 9, , –, , 35.3, , .442, , –, , .785, , 9.9, , 1.3, , –, , –, , 15.9 , - , style="text-align:left;",

1968 Events January–February * January 1968, January – The I'm Backing Britain, I'm Backing Britain campaign starts spontaneously. * January 5 – Prague Spring: Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Cze ...

, style="text-align:left;", St. Louis , 6, , –, , 39.8, , .467, , –, , .782, , 13.5, , 2.5, , –, , –, , 21.5 , - , style="text-align:left;", 1969 , style="text-align:left;",

, 11, , –, , 43.0, , .432, , –, , .672, , 12.9, , 2.3, , –, , –, , 22.5 , - , style="text-align:left;background:#afe6fa;",

1971 * The year 1971 had three partial solar eclipses (Solar eclipse of February 25, 1971, February 25, Solar eclipse of July 22, 1971, July 22 and Solar eclipse of August 20, 1971, August 20) and two total lunar eclipses (February 1971 lunar eclip ...

† , style="text-align:left;", Utah (ABA) , 18, , –, , 38.8, , .536, , –, , .846, , 14.6, , 2.4, , –, , –, , 23.2 , - , style="text-align:left;",

1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using Solar time, ...

, style="text-align:left;", Utah (ABA) , 11, , –, , 40.3, , .552, , –, , .830, , 14.0, , 2.2, , –, , –, , 20.1 , - , style="text-align:left;",

1973 Events January * January 1 – The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Denmark 1973 enlargement of the European Communities, enter the European Economic Community, which later becomes the European Union. * January 14 - The 16-0 19 ...

, style="text-align:left;", Utah (ABA) , 10, , –, , 38.7, , .552, , –, , .827, , 11.6, , 1.4, , –, , –, , 15.9 , - , style="text-align:left;", 1974 , style="text-align:left;", Utah (ABA) , 13, , –, , 36.3, , .503, , –, , .825, , 10.8, , 1.6, , 1.4, , 0.9, , 14.8 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 115 , , – , , 37.8 , , .496 , , – , , .770 , , 11.9 , , 1.7 , , 1.4 , , 0.9 , , 17.9

Legacy

The March 16, 2022, game between Maryland Eastern Shore and Coastal Carolina at The Basketball Classic been designated the Zelmo Beaty Game.

References

External links

Remember the ABA: Zelmo Beaty
{{DEFAULTSORT:Beaty, Zelmo 1939 births 2013 deaths ABA All-Stars American men's basketball players Atlanta Hawks players Basketball coaches from Texas Basketball players from Texas Centers (basketball) Deaths from cancer in Washington (state) Los Angeles Lakers players NBA All-Stars National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame inductees People from Tyler County, Texas Prairie View A&M Panthers basketball players St. Louis Hawks draft picks St. Louis Hawks players Utah Stars players Virginia Squires coaches Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame inductees