Remembering the underrated career of NBA Hall of Famer Walt Bellamy

Walt Bellamy is often overshadowed by the bigger names of his era. He was younger than Wilt Chamberlain and definitely Bill Russell, yet older than Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. That may explain why Bellamy is so underrated, and while the aforementioned will never be forgotten for time, here I am writing a piece on how underrated the 6'11" 225 pound center out of Indiana was.

His rookie season of 1961 landed him NBA Rookie of the Year, his best overall year, yet it was also the year Wilt Chamberlain averaged 50 points and 25 rebounds. His numbers of 31 points and 19 rebounds in his first year in the NBA is nothing to underrate, yet I guess it was the sign of the times that only allowed for a few to enter the conversation of great players because the GOAT tier players of the era were omnipresent. His numbers dipped in subsequent years because the Chicago franchise was so bad that he had to carry the entire team. Many of his teammates were out of the league after one year. Later in his career his teammates were a lot better.

He is the only player to play 88 games in an NBA season, made four NBA All-Star teams and was inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 1993. On the day Walt Bellamy passed away, let's dig into his legacy as an NBA juggernaut.

Walt Bellamy

I got emotional looking through Walt Bellamy's career. Emotional only because it seems like his career has gone off the radar. Ever so often, Bellamy's name is mentioned most likely for his rebounding prowess and his extraordinary rookie season of 1961-62. The only season where the only player to outscore him was Wilt Chamberlain - that year Wilt scored 100 points and averaged 50 points for the season. Other than that, Bells' name is rarely mentioned, and that is a shame because he was so good; so athletic; so skilled; so decorated.

Accomplishments

• 20,941 points (20.1 per game)
• 14,241 rebounds (13 per game)
• 1960 Olympic Gold Medalist
• 1961 consensus 2nd team All-American
• Set the then NBA record forfild goal %
• 31.6 points per game as a rookie is 2nd only to Wilt Chamberlain
• Scored 29 points and grabbed 28 rebounds in his first NBA exhibition game
• 19 rebounds per game as a rookie is 3rd behind Wilt Chamberlain and Bill Russell
• Rookie of the Year
• 4 time NBA All-Star
• Played in an NBA record 88 games (67'-69)
• Averaged 24 points per game vs. Wilt Chamberlain and Bill Russell
• Naimsmith Basketball Hall of Fame (1993)

Underrated?

As I watched as much tape on Bellamy as I could, I noticed a player who could do it all. Walt Bellamy could put it on the floor and attack the rim, hit an array of jumpers out to 20 feet, had a high basketball IQ for how he found open men on back door cuts, played great defense, was great in the pick and row from either spot, and was a great passer in general. I suspect that Walt Bellamy played in the wrong era, yet his skill set seems to be what current centers are today. Few today are as agile as Bellamy was back then as a true center - not a stretch 5 of today. Walt Bellamy was a real banger. He was a 20 and 13 player for his career during the time when centers ruled the NBA.

Rest in peace Mr. Bellamy

What if?

After starring on the first Dream Team of 1960 with Hall of Famers Jerry West, Oscar Robertson and Jerry Lucas and dominating the world - scoring 102 points per game while giving up just 60 - Walt Bellamy was drafted by an expansion NBA team, the Chicago Packers. What is notable about the draft pick is that Walt Bellamy should have been drafted by the New York Knicks.

Owners voted to give the pick to the Packers, and Bellamy was in basketball purgatory until he finally played on a winning team with the New York Knicks. Bellamy and the Knicks lost in six games to Wilt Chamberlain and the Philadelphia 76ers. Because Knicks GM wanted Dave DeBusschere, Bellamy was traded to the Detroit Pistons for two years before being traded to play with Lou Hudson and Pistol Pete Maravich with the Atlanta Hawks.

His time in Atlanta coincided with the 1972 NBA draft. Julius Erving signed a deal worth more than $1 million with a $250,000 bonus prior to the draft, and played three exhibitions with Walt Bellamy and the Hawks before a court ruling sent him to the Virginia Squires of the ABA. Walt Bellamy just had bad luck.

Would Walt Bellamy have dominated now as he did back then?

I don't see why not. Walt Bellamy's skills translated fluidly into today's game given he could do so much away from the basket. His first step to the hoop was vicious, and many centers of the day just couldn't keep up. It's really a shame that such a wonderful talent is not given the true adulation he deserves. Many writers said at the time that Bells got up for Wilt Chamberlain, Wes Unseld, Willis Reed, Bill Russell and Nate Thurmond, but chilled vs. lesser competition. Whether that's the correct assessment of Walt Bellamy still remains to be seen, yet what we do know is Walt Bellamy was a basketball savant shot into the NBA via a lightning bolt thrown by the basketball gods. We salute you Walter Bellamy, and thank you for your contribution to the basketball soul.