Bill Bridges was a three-time NBA All-Star and explosive rebounder and double-double machine

I am finally down to the top-five former Jayhawks who had the best NBA career. This player easily deserves recognition at the No. 5 spot, one of the great rebounders in not only KU history, but also NBA annals. Bill Bridges was a true warrior who made a huge impact on the game.

No. 5 Bill Bridges

A rugged, relentless rebounder and double-double machine, this undersized 6-6 power forward was all passion and heart when it came to crashing the glass. Bill Bridges, who played for the love of the game, had a very memorable 13-year NBA career from 1963-75 for the St. Louis/Atlanta Hawks, Philadelphia 76ers, Los Angeles Lakers and Golden State Warriors.

Amazingly, Bridges ranks with Wilt Chamberlain as the the only former Jayhawks to average a career double-double in the NBA. Bridges accomplished this rare feat with 11.9 points (11,012) and 11.9 rebounds (11,054) per game. Bridges, who also averaged 2.8 assists, made three All-Star appearances in 1967 and ‘68 with St. Louis, and in 1970 with Atlanta, highlighted with a 15-point, seven-rebound performance in 21 minutes during the 1968 game.

A third-round draft pick (No. 32 overall) by the Chicago Packers (now the Washington Wizards), Bridges ranks No. 27 in NBA history in career rebounds and No. 17 in career rebound average, while listed No. 25 in career playoff rebounds with 1,305 boards in 113 games. He finished in the top-10 in rebounding during seven seasons, while ranking in the top-10 in minutes during three campaigns (1966-67, 1967-68, 1969-70).

Bridges, who is second behind Chamberlain among former Jayhawks in all-time NBA rebounding and sixth in career scoring, was a consistent player who averaged a double-double for nine-straight seasons from 1964 to 1973. His best year statistically came in 1966-67, when Bridges averaged career highs in points (17.4 ppg) and rebounds (15.1).

Bridges, who made the All-NBA Defensive Second Team in 1968-69 and 1969-70, was also a workhorse who played in at least 78 games for 10-straight seasons from 1963-73. Four times, he played in all 82 games.

Wait, there’s more. Bridges played over 40 minutes per game in five different playoffs, where he shined in the postseason. He averaged 20.3 points and 14.9 rebounds in the playoffs in 1966, 15.7 points and 18.8 rebounds in 1967, and 9.8 points and a whopping 20.8 rebounds in 1971.

His numbers decreased the last two seasons of his career, and Bridges was waived by Los Angeles during his last campaign on Dec. 6, 1974 before Golden State signed him on March 1, 1975 for the stretch run. Bridges played 15 games for the Warriors during the regular season and 14 contests in the playoffs while winning his first NBA championship, a most fitting end to a remarkable and magical career.

Bridges played in 926 games while shooting 44.2 percent from the field and 69.3 percent at the free throw line in 33.3 minutes per contest.

After his KU career ended in 1961, Bridges began his professional career with the Kansas City Steers in the American Basketball League (ABL). He played 1 1/2 seasons with the Steers before the league folded. However, Bridges was a star who won a championship and led the ABL in rebounding both seasons while pacing the league in scoring (29.2 ppg) during his second year. He established the ABL single-game scoring record with 55 points on Dec. 9, 1962.

Kansas City native and future Jayhawk standout Ron Franz (1964-67) used to follow those Steers’ games closely and viewed Bridges as a hero.

“He was pretty unique in the fact for his size, he was probably one of the toughest rebounders,” Franz once told me. “He played in the NBA for quite a few years. I guess if anybody that I would recall or remember or think about in that particular time frame, it probably would have been him because I did go to the old Kansas City Steers’ game. He was an interesting player.”

A Hobbs, New Mexico, native, Bridges first made his mark at Kansas, where he was a three-time All-Conference pick and an All-American his senior season in 1961 after averaging 16.1 points and 14.1 rebounds (third-best single-season average in school history). He became the first player in a Big Six-Seven-Eight career to score more than 1,000 points (1,028) and grab more than 1,000 rebounds (1,081) in just 78 games, while his 580 boards in conference games is still a record.

Moreover, Bridges holds the Kansas record for most rebounds in a three-year career. Bridges, who grabbed 30 rebounds versus Northwestern on Dec. 3, 1960 (third best at KU for single game and most by a senior), averaged a double-double every season at KU and left his mark with a 13.2 scoring average and a 13.9 rebound average (No. 2 in school annals behind Chamberlain). 

Forty-three years after he ended his tremendous collegiate career, Bridges’ No. 32 jersey was retired in Allen Fieldhouse on Dec. 9, 2004.

The Lawrence Journal-World reported on that historic event.

“I feel I belong here,” Bridges told the crowd during his speech. “It’s always been a privilege to be a Jayhawk. People come up to me and Jayhawks have great name value. To have my jersey retired in this place, it’s an honor.”

He died on Sept. 25, 2015 in Santa Monica, California, at age 76 after a prolonged battle with cancer. A moment of silence was given to him during Late Night in Allen Fieldhouse a few weeks later on Oct. 9.

Bridges always took great pride in rebounding.

"I maintain there's nothing you can do to create that kind of player. It's an art form," Bridges told the Journal-World in 2004. "You learn to anticipate situations and make it happen. You've got to want it."

Ted Owens, who was an assistant under Dick Harp when Bridges played at KU, said the former Jayhawk All-American was an exceptional rebounder.

“He was truly one of our greatest players. He was the finest rebounder for his size of anybody I’ve ever seen,” Owens told the Journal World on Oct. 8, 2015. “He taught me a lot about rebounding. He had an incredible career in the NBA, winning the championship with Rick Barry and that bunch.”

Former KU standout Al Donaghue also had great respect and praise for Bridges. The two were teammates for two seasons (1958-60) as KU won the conference championship in 1960 with Bridges and Wayne Hightower leading the attack.

“Bridges was probably the most intense rebounder I’ve ever met in my entire life,” the late Donaghue once told me. “He was just animal. I use that as a lovable form. He was just great on the court as an intense rebounder.”

Donaghue had the great fortune to also team with Chamberlain during the 1957-58 season.

“It was interesting to play with them,” Donaghue said about Wilt and Bridges. “It was a real treat to battle against them in practice. They made you better.”

Bridges truly blossomed under Harp after arriving at KU as a raw prospect. The late Al Correll, who teamed with Bridges, spoke about the New Mexico native in Max Falkenstien and Doug Vance’s 1996 book, “Max and the Jayhawks: 50 years on and off the air with KU Sports.”

“Bill is probably the strongest non-athletic person I’ve ever known,” Correll said. “He had the biggest hands I’ve ever seen. He had no other thought on the floor but go get the ball. He knocked me out about three times with his elbows. He was so brutal under the basket. People want to talk about coach Harp and his coaching ability ... let me tell you ... Bill Bridges couldn’t have made my high school team. Coach Harp made Bill Bridges. There is no question in my mind. From what he learned from coach Harp, Bill was able to play at the pro level for a very long time. He worked with him every day on basic fundamentals. What a strong man Bill Bridges was. What a fighter. I doubt if you could find anyone that worked harder.”

Bridges was so strong he helped shatter a backboard in the NBA playing for the Hawks. In Terry Pluto’s 1992 book, “Tall Tales,” former player Rudy LaRusso related this funny story from official Richie Powers.

“Bill Bridges drove to the basket on Gus Johnson of Baltimore,” LaRusso said. “Bridges went up for the dunk, slammed it through and Johnson came down on Bridges’ back. The force of those two guys hitting the backboard caused the whole thing to shatter. Now, there’s glass everywhere, absolute chaos. Then Kerner (Ben, flamboyant Hawks’ owner) came running out of the stands screaming, ‘It’s a three-point play. Richie, he got fouled, it’s a three-point play.’”

Bridges, who certainly made a lot of great plays during his career, will best be remembered by his relentless work ethic, rebounding, and the grace he carried himself.

He was, quite simply, a gentle person off the hardwood who touched countless lives.

“Bill was a great person, an incredible person, one of the nicest people you’d ever want to meet. He was a wonderful man with a great, sweet spirit about him,” Owens said.

Danny Manning persevered through three ACL surgeries while having an impressive 15-year NBA career

I am now down to the No. 6 former Jayhawk who had the best NBA career. This KU legend would have certainly ranked higher had he not undergone three ACL surgeries during his 15 years in the league. Still, Danny Manning persevered through adversity and had a great career. Hall of Famer and TV analyst Bill Walton once called Manning “one of the most graceful players of our era.”

No. 6 Danny Manning

In just Danny Manning’s freshman season at Kansas, his coach Larry Brown destined the phenom for immortality.

“He’s the most complete young player I have ever seen,” Brown said. “He’ll be the best."

"This kid has the chance to be thought of in light of the best when his career is over," Brown added. "He is unlike any player I've ever been around."

The hosannas and rave reviews kept coming during Manning’s career as scouts believed he would revolutionize the forward position in the NBA. While a sophomore, Manning graced the cover of Sports Illustrated.

“He does more than anybody since Bird and Magic,” Indiana Pacers scout Tom Newell told SI. "When he's 24, 25, people will just sit back and marvel at this guy. He's a whole new concept in basketball."

After Manning finished his magical KU career by scoring 2,951 points (No. 6 all time in NCAA history at the time and currently No. 10) and leading the underdog Jayhawks to the national championship in a thrilling 83-79 win over Oklahoma, NBA general managers salivated over winning the rights to the No. 1 pick in the lottery and selecting this prodigy.

Christmas came early for Los Angeles Clippers GM Elgin Baylor as the woeful franchise won the top pick on May 21, 1988. Baylor was overwhelmed with jubilation on national television and proudly held up a Clippers’ jersey with Manning’s name and his No. 25 on the back.

"This is the happiest moment I've had since I've been associated with basketball,” the Hall of Famer Baylor told the Los Angeles Times. “It's a great moment for the L.A. Clippers. My prayers worked. I had everyone praying every day and night. This is terrific."

The Clips, who last made the playoffs in 1976 and had the league’s worst record the past two seasons, were in dire need of a difference maker.

Team president Alan Rothenberg got his greatest prize.

“This is a wonderful day in our history," Rothenberg said. "Maybe the gods of fortune are finally starting to smile on us after all the bad luck we've had. Last night, my wife and I opened an entire bag of fortune cookies, and there was nothing good until the last one. It read: 'Your fondest wish will come true.' "

Manning’s agent Ron Grinker was prepared to shoot for the moon regarding his client by seeking a $35-million contract, the richest rookie deal of all time.

"The only thing I can assure you is that Danny Manning won't consider anything less than either (Patrick) Ewing (the No. 1 pick in the 1985 Draft signed a $33.5-million-10 year deal with the New York Knicks) or (David) Robinson (he signed a $26-million, 10-year contract last season as the No. 1 pick in the draft) got," Grinker said.  

"Danny Manning is the most unique player to come into the NBA because he can play five positions like (Boston Celtics star) Larry Bird. Danny Manning carried a very ordinary Kansas team to a championship."

Manning, who played on the bronze-medal 1988 Olympic team, ended up signing a five-year, $10.5 million contract.

With all the hype surrounding him, Manning’s NBA fortunes came crashing down after 26 games into his rookie year when he tore his ACL, one of three blown knees he would suffer during his 15-year career. Manning started 18 of 26 games for coach Mike Schuler that shortened first season and averaged 16.7 points, 6.6 rebounds, 3.1 assists, 1.7 steals and 1.0 blocks per game.

“The doctors told us that he would never play again and that his career was over,” Manning’s wife, Julie, told Jazz HomeCourt Magazine in 2001.

Manning didn’t listen to the naysayers and eventually became a two-time All-Star with Los Angeles in 1993 (he became the Clips’ first All-Star since Marques Johnson in 1986) and ‘94. The 6-10 forward had a career year in '93 when he averaged 22.8 points per game (No. 10 in NBA) and set a franchise record for total points (1,800) while leading the Clippers to the playoffs for the second-straight season.

He had, quite simply, become all the rage in the NBA and helped rescue a downtrodden franchise, which had missed the playoffs for 16 years. Manning was also reunited with Brown, who became L.A.'s head coach from 1992-93 while pointing the offense towards his former college star.

“(Manning’s) the closest thing in this league to Magic Johnson,” New York Knicks coach Pat Riley said at the time.

While Manning was posting the best numbers of his career under Brown, it was a rocky reunion. Manning, a sensitive young man, found it difficult to play for Brown a second time and deal with his harsh and demanding coaching style. Ralph Lawler, the Clippers’ longtime TV and radio voice, wrote on the Clips’ website in 2011 about the frustration of both Manning and Brown:

“(Brown’s) reunion with Manning was fraught with problems. The coach was originally more excited about it than the player, and by late in that first season, neither was very happy. The Clippers lost to the Bulls in Chicago in early April. The club bussed to Milwaukee that night for a game two nights later against the Bucks. Brown and Manning lit up the late night lobby of the Pfister Hotel with a loud, nose-to-nose exchange of expletives. The team managed to win five of its final eight games despite the nervous tension that hung over them. The seeds for discontent the following season had been sown.

“During his second season, the coach worked feverously to trade Manning, who was clearly his best player. The details get a little murky here, but the frustrated coach reportedly offered his resignation in mid-season but then agreed to finish the year. The resignation was apparently accepted and then terms of a new deal were discussed, but never finalized. At any rate, Larry Brown was gone at season’s end.”

Yes, Brown resigned after the 1992-93 season, and after Manning’s second-straight All-Star appearance in 1994, Los Angeles traded their all-time leading scorer to the Atlanta Hawks on Feb. 24 of that year for “The Human Highlight Film” Dominique Wilkins since the Clippers knew they would lose Manning in free agency.

Manning led the top-seeded Hawks to the playoffs and averaged 20.0 points per game before Atlanta lost in the second round to Brown’s Indiana Pacers.

Seeking a championship contender, Manning then signed with the Phoenix Suns and became the team’s No. 2 option behind Charles Barkley, a role he felt more comfortable with. Manning shined in the Valley of the Sun, averaging 17.9 points and 6.0 rebounds per game while shooting a career-high 54.7 percent from the field (No. 8 in league) and helping lead Phoenix to the best record in the NBA (36-10) before blowing out his right ACL in practice on Feb. 6, 1995.

For Manning, it was heartbreak all over again. And for the Suns, their championship dreams were shattered as they eventually lost in the second round of the playoffs.

Danny Schayes, a player on that Suns’ team, wonders what might have been with Manning in the lineup the remainder of the season.

“I think so,” Schayes replied when I once him asked if Phoenix could have won the NBA title.

“We were a dominant team that year. But those were the breaks of the game. He had a terrific year for us. It’s certainly a shame that it (injury) happened. He was just a key part of our team. He was one of those guys that played every position well. He made everything happen from wherever he was on the court.”

Schayes commented that Manning fit in great with Phoenix's free-flowing offense.

“He was certainly athletic, (but) he was not a guy who relied on his athletic ability to get the job done,” Schayes said. “He was always the guy who thought the game and why he was so good for us is because we played a freelance style, which allowed guys like me and him and Danny Ainge, guys who knew how to play, to really excel together. And those of us who had that same kind of individual style, we could kind of read each other’s thoughts. It was very cool.”

Barkley also loved playing with Manning, one of the most all-around players of his time.

“If you go back and think about his game,” Barkley said, “the biggest advantage he had, he was so versatile. I don’t even know what position (he had). He was one of those guys who didn’t have a position. That’s pretty remarkable to be in that situation. Was he a power forward? Was he a small forward? He was just a very unique player.”

Manning was also a very determined player who returned to the game after that second injury while becoming the first player in NBA history to play again after having reconstructive surgeries on both knees.

He found some of his old form and earned the NBA Sixth Man Award with the Suns in 1998 after averaging 13.5 points and 5.6 rebounds per game. Manning, though, was dealt another cruel blow when he tore his ACL for the third time at the end of the season.

He would never become the same player again, though he played four and a half more seasons with Phoenix, Milwaukee, Utah, Dallas and Detroit.

“He wasn’t ready to quit,” Julie Manning told HomeCourt Magazine. “He was just determined to do it. Besides, basketball is in his blood, he has to do it.”

Manning remarkably played in all 50 games for the Suns in 1998-99 during the lockout season after returning from knee surgery, and again with two aging bad knees, he actually played in all 82 games for the Jazz in 2000-01 for just the second time in his career and his first since the 1991-92 season. 

"After I came off my third ACL, to play 50 games in that 50-game season, that was an accomplishment to me," Manning told the Deseret News in 2001. "The games were so fast in terms of being back-to-back, and right on top of one another." 

He had to be also proud of playing every game with Utah two years later. Manning, who teamed with future Hall of Famers John Stockton and Karl Malone, was an important bench player in the twilight of his career who averaged 7.4 points per game in the regular season and then 9.8 points in the playoffs.

Detroit gave Manning one last opportunity in the NBA when the Pistons signed him in February 2003 to the remainder of the season. Coach Rick Carlisle, who said Manning would have had a Hall of Fame career had he not been hurt, felt fortunate to sign the big man.

“He's been around the league and is one of the smartest players that I have ever come across,'' Carlisle told the Associated Press. “He's the kind of player who can walk in, not knowing anything, and still contribute.''

Manning played 13 games for Detroit and four more in the playoffs, giving a glimpse of his golden days by scoring 17 points in the regular-season finale.

But he knew he gave the game all he had for 15 seasons, and was ready to quit and begin a coaching career. Manning officially retired on Sept. 12, 2003 at age 37. His agent Mark Bartelstein of Priority Sports proudly issued a statement.

"It has been a pleasure and a honor to represent Danny Manning,” Bartelstein said. “He exemplifies everything you look for in a professional athlete.”

Manning reflected on his career at NBA.com that day in a chat session with fans. He wrote that his No. 1 highlight “was winning the Sixth Man Award or being named an All-Star. But probably most of all, it was being able to play for so long after three knee surgeries. ... I was blessed with great doctors, medical staff and trainers. It's just a lot of repetition. You want to get your muscles to fire up like they are supposed to. You need a little stubbornness to get through it all.”

He then closed with these sentimental words:

“Thanks to all my friends for having kind words for me. To my wife and two children for their support. And to the fans, the few Danny Manning fans out there (laughs), I really appreciate all your support.”

Manning, who played for seven different teams and in nine playoffs during his career, started 398 of 883 games. He boasts career averages of 14.0 points (12,367), 5.2 rebounds (4,615), 2.3 assists and 1.1 steals in 27.3 minutes per game, while shooting 51.1 percent from the field (No. 82 all time) and 72.9 percent at the free throw line.

During two All-Star games, he played a total of 35 minutes while shooting 9-of-12 from the field (5-of-5 in the 1993 game) and posting 18 points and eight rebounds.

According to basketballreference.com, Manning earned $59,695,666.

His injuries certainly prevented him from becoming the superstar player and Hall of Famer that Brown and scouts predicted, but Manning made an indelible impression on his teammates, coaches, opponents and NBA fans.

“I give him tons of credit, ” Schayes said. “He still had a great career for undergoing three major knee (surgeries). There aren’t many guys that can say that.”

“(That) kind of really curtailed what he could have done,” former NBA player Brad Lohaus added. “We had the same agent so I’ve known Danny for a lot of years, one of the great college basketball players ever and he would have been one of the all-time pros but the knees just don’t hold up.

“He had a great NBA career. Compared to his college career, it kind of takes a back seat. But he’s very special. He was really quick. He’s so big, you don’t realize how quick he was. That’s why he was so good. He could handle the ball at 6-10, shoot the ball, smart player. He had it all.”

Ted Juneau, Manning’s coach at Lawrence High School and a very close friend, greatly admires his former star pupil’s work ethic and how he persevered after all those injuries. Manning is the only NBA player to compete again after having three ACL surgeries.

“No one understands how hard he worked to be as good as he was,” Juneau told me in a 1999 interview. “People don’t understand the amount of work that he put into being a very good player, and the pride he took in doing that. He has pride in everything he does, and I think he’s always going to be successful because he’s very, very competitive. He doesn’t want to lose.  He’s always willing to work very hard to achieve his goals. You blow your knee out three times. I don’t think any of us can really imagine what that’s like. It speaks a lot about courage and a lot about pride and the work it takes and his ability to do that. That’s probably the one thing that amazes me about him.”

A.C. Green, Manning’s former teammate with the Suns, was amazed over Manning as a person and a player.

“Some guys over the years, you just really enjoy being around,” Green told me in 1999. “He’s kind of one of those off the court guys that you can hang out with because he’s real down to earth, a real person. So I’ve always enjoyed being around Danny, and I really enjoyed playing with him on a daily basis because he’s a battler. He’s got a license to battle and likes to go to work and win games. I have nothing but really admiration for Danny.”

Grinker had the utmost respect for him, too. He said in January 1996 that the former KU star gave more to charity than he received in salary (after taxes) the previous season.

“Some people think that’s weird,” Grinker said. “He’s very modest, maybe to a fault.”

Modest and unassuming off the hardwood, Manning was a potent offensive player during his prime in the pros. KU coach Bill Self echoed others when he said Manning would have become one of the all-time NBA greats if not for his injuries.

“Knee injuries prevented him from probably being a 10-time type All-Star,” Self said. “He scored (over 12,000) points as a pro and was never healthy. He would (have gone) down as one of the best.

“But to me, collegiately, he does go down as one of the best. We think of Bird, Jordan or Magic and the greatest players of what they accomplished in the pros, but when you break down what they accomplished in college, Danny’s career is up there with all those guys.”

Manning isn’t one to dwell on the past and what could have been. I asked him in 2008 how he felt about Brown and others once saying he was destined for NBA fame.

“I guess at times they’re nice to hear,” Manning said, “but the bottom line is things happen for a reason. I’m very happy with my career. Everybody has obstacles, everybody has journeys that have different turns. I enjoyed my journey. It’s just time for another phase in my life, which is coaching and moving forward.”

Manning, who completed his third year as Wake Forest head coach and led the Demon Deacons to the NCAA Tournament last March, enjoyed a superlative career at Kansas. A two-time consensus All-American and winner of the Naismith and Wooden Awards his senior season, Manning was also a three-time Big Eight Player of the Year.

He is KU’s all-time leading scorer and rebounder while owning the school record for most points in a single season with 942 his senior year, when he averaged 24.8 points per game. Manning’s jersey was retired in Allen Fieldhouse on Dec. 1, 1992, while he was inducted into the College Basketball Hall of Fame on Nov. 23, 2008.

Manning departed Kansas establishing more than three dozen school, Big Eight and NCAA records. He ranks No. 2 all time among NCAA Tournament scoring leaders behind Elvin Hayes with 328 points, and became the only player since 1974 to win 1988 National Player of the Year and the NCAA Tournament MOP.

Brown, who constantly cajoled and demanded Manning to maximize his potential at Kansas and with the Clippers, believes his former star was one of a kind.

“(He’s) maybe the best example of how our game should be played,” Brown once told the Lawrence Journal-World. “He’s what college athletics is all about. He deserves every single thing he’s gotten.”

Indeed, he does. Manning was honored during the 75th Final Four in 2013 by being named to the All-Time Players Team, one of 15 former college greats selected.

Brown talked more about Manning in 2008 before he was inducted into the College Basketball Hall of Fame.

“He had a great IQ,” Brown said. “He grew up with his dad (Ed), who was a pretty bright basketball player and the ultimate team guy. He taught Danny early on how to respect the game and how to play the right way. For a guy his size, in a lot of ways he played like a guard. 

“Everybody used to compare him to Magic, which is probably the highest compliment you can have. I think when they were doing that, they were talking about the fact how he made players better, just by doing the little things.

“I can’t imagine a college player ever being better than him or accomplishing more than he did,” Brown added. “He’s as good a college player as I ever saw.”

Manning has such fond memories of his collegiate career, especially that magical run the Jayhawks made in the 1988 NCAA Tournament when they came together and won their first title in 36 years.

He was truly dominant and averaged a whopping 27.2 points during those six games.

“There's not a day that goes by that I don't think about winning the national championship at Kansas,” Manning told Deadspin in 2013. “Not a day. Regardless of what I have going on, how traumatic, how upset I am, how disappointed, that always brings a smile to my face.”

Kirk Hinrich is one of Chicago Bulls' all-time greats

After profiling Drew Gooden (No. 9 ex-Jayhawk who’s had the best pro career) and Nick Collison (No. 8) in my last two installments in this series, I now look at their former gutty KU teammate and the third outstanding member of Roy Williams’ 1999 recruiting class, one of the best groups in school history that left an indelible mark in Kansas basketball annals.

No. 7 Kirk Hinrich

Kirk Hinrich’s childhood hoop dreams officially came true at 7:10 p.m. (CT) on June 26, 2003, when NBA commissioner David Stern announced during the league draft that the Chicago Bulls had selected the former Kansas standout guard with the seventh pick in the first round.

Hinrich smiled broadly, pumped his fists, embraced his family members, and put on a Bulls hat. He was simply overwhelmed at the moment.

“I’m just real excited,” Hinrich said. “I can’t be more happier. It’s a dream I’ve had all my life. I think I’m going to go in there with the right attitude and make it work out.”

Chicago was looking for a point guard after starter Jay Williams suffered a broken leg in a motorcycle crash a week earlier; his NBA career would be over after just one season.

Hinrich, who admitted he “had to overcome the stereotype of being a white point guard,” greatly impressed scouts during workouts with his athletic ability. 

“I think I showed them,” said Hinrich, a Sioux City, Iowa, native. “I went in there trying to impress people. I’m just thrilled to death going to Chicago.”

Now, as Hinrich’s NBA career appears to be over after 13 years (he hasn’t officially announced his retirement, but was not picked up last season), he’s become one of Chicago’s all-time greats, spending all but two and a half seasons with the franchise that drafted him. The 6-4 Hinrich ranks No. 1 in Bulls history in three-point field goals and three-point field goals attempted, No. 3 in career games and seasons played (both behind Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen), No. 3 in assists and steals (both again behind Jordan and Pippen), No. 4 in minutes, No. 8 in field goals, No. 6 in field goals attempted,  No. 8 in points, No. 7 in assists per game, No. 6 in assists percentage, No. 7 in defensive win shares, No. 10 in win shares and No. 8 in value over replacement player.

Hinrich and Chicago have simply been a great basketball marriage, beginning with his first year in the city when he made the NBA All-Rookie First Team and averaged 12.0 points while ranking eighth in the league with 6.8 assists per game.

"I feel I'm kind of meant to play in Chicago," Hinrich told the Chicago Tribune on Feb. 14, 2004 during that rookie season. "The city is blue-collar. It's how I play. I'm a guy willing to do the little things. I've had to work for everything I've ever gotten. And to play in front of fans like we have who come every night even though we haven't been winning, it motivates you."

Hinrich was a pivotal part of Chicago’s run to the playoffs his second year in the league and the team has been in the playoffs 11 of the last 13 seasons.

“He helped birth a new, competitive basketball era for the franchise after the depths of 1999 through 2003,” longtime Bulls’ writer Sam Smith wrote at NBA.com on Nov. 24, 2015.

Hinrich averaged in double-figure scoring in seven of his first eight seasons in the league, and the only year that didn’t happen was 2008-09, when he just missed with 9.9 points per game as Derrick Rose joined the Bulls and became the starting point guard. Hinrich has also averaged in double figures in eight of 11 playoffs.

Hinrich’s second-to-fourth years were statistically his best, when he averaged 15.7 points and 6.4 assists in 2004-05 (21.2 ppg in playoffs), 15.9 points and 6.3 assists in 2005-06 (20.5 ppg in playoffs) and a career-high 16.6 points and 6.3 assists in 2006-07. Hinrich was called the face of the franchise and even compared to Steve Nash while on the cusp of NBA stardom. While it never happened as Rose arrived as the new man in town and Hinrich’s offensive production and minutes slipped, he still carved out a very distinguished and impressive NBA career.

After stints with the Washington Wizards (2010-11) and Atlanta Hawks (2011-12), Hinrich rejoined the Bulls in 2012-13 (he started all 60 games with Rose injured) and played there until he was traded to Atlanta on Feb. 18, 2016, a move which reportedly upset several Bulls’ players.

During his last NBA season with both Chicago and Atlanta, Hinrich played in a career-low 46 games and averaged just 3.0 points and 1.6 minutes in 13.7 minutes per game.

Known in Chi-Town as Captain Kirk with his relentless passion, gritty play, strong leadership and tenacious defense, Hinrich persevered through injuries during the latter years of his career while still making winning plays when in action. Like his former KU teammate Nick Collison, Hinrich’s game has transcended pure numbers in many ways. The ball always moved better when Hinrich was in the game and he’s one of the greatest warriors and battlers in Bulls history, reminding Chicago fans of former great Jerry Sloan.

Hinrich’s coaches have all loved him.

"You go by what he does for the team and how he helps you win," then-Bulls’ coach Tom Thibodeau told the Chicago Tribune during the 2014-15 season. "That's where he is invaluable. I just love his competitive spirit. To me, he's going to fight for everything. He's going to run your team. He's a great leader. Here, you can see how vocal he is. He knows what everyone is supposed to do. He's getting guys to the right spots."

Current Bulls’ coach Fred Hoiberg is another admirer.

"Kirk is just so rock-solid," Hoiberg told the Chicago Tribune on Oct. 10, 2015. "He's always in the right spot. Defensively, he's very smart (and) he can get us into an offense. He does a lot of things that don't show up in a box score. That's a tough role to have, but Kirk has played it well his entire career."

Hoiberg talked more about Hinrich at NBA.com on Nov. 24, 2015.

“Fans should appreciate everything he does because he is all about winning,” Hoiberg said. “You can’t have enough of those guys on your team. He has the ultimate respect of his teammates because of how hard he plays and how he does those little things.”

Hoiberg, a fellow Iowa native, has been a long fan of Hinrich’s.

“He’s had an unbelievable career. Besides him decommitting from Iowa State (Hinrich did so after ISU coach Tim Floyd left to accept the Bulls’ head coaching job), I’m a big admirer of everything he has accomplished,” Hoiberg said with a laugh. “Even back in the days when he was playing at Kansas following a fellow Iowan was fun. I think he came (to the Bulls) the year I left. I would have loved to have played with Kirk. He’s the ultimate team guy. ... He’s just a flat out winner.

“The biggest thing is the way he organizes you, gets you into an offense. We scored 31 in the first quarter against Phoenix. A lot of that was because of Kirk’s pace. He’s going to get your defense organized as well because he talks and communicates out there on the floor. He’s a great example for the young guys because of how he works, how he approaches it; he’s a true professional. Played a lot of minutes in this league, 13 years and still going out and producing like he has.”

Hinrich’s former and current teammates rave about him as well.

“The thing about him is he's not scared of anybody,” Collison told the Chicago Tribune during Hinrich’s rookie season. “People look at him and think he's from Iowa, he's not big and doesn't look athletic, and they expect to intimidate him. But he defends as well as anyone I've ever seen or played with. Kirk gets the stereotype of the white guard ... But guys try to rush him and he goes right by them. He loves it when guys pressure him and play him physical."

Collison and Hinrich were former AAU teammates before their paths crossed again at Kansas.

"The first time I knew about him," Collison said, "was in an AAU tournament (for kids)19 and under and we're 16. There are all these McDonald's All-Americans with their uniforms and matching shoes, and we're these kids from Iowa with the ratty uniforms and Kirk takes on the best guy and we win by 20.

"He was so fearless. I remember one time in college he gets hit in the eye. There's blood in there and we find out the next day he has a concussion. So he's holding his left eye after he got hit and with one hand still is dribbling and making the passes. He never came out of the game."

With his career ticking down and Hinrich on the last year of his contract in 2015, he was still playing with that same fiery passion and trying to improve.

"Oh, geez, I don't know, I don't know," Hinrich told the Tribune then about how many jumpers he’s shot in his lifetime.

"That's the great thing about this game, you can always get better. Growing up, it's what I wanted to do and I feel blessed to be able to do it."

The former KU star said that October day that he wasn’t thinking about retirement just yet.

"It seems like yesterday I was a young player and now all these players call me, 'The Old Guy,' " Hinrich said. "I'm going to cherish it and not take anything for granted. I realize I'm at the tail end of my career (but) I feel like I can play longer.

"I hope that I will know when it's time to go," he added. "Mentally and physically it can be challenging at times but I'm up for it (this season). ... When you get back to it (basketball after the offseason) you realize how much you really love it and want to do it as long as you can. I love the competition of it. I love the camaraderie with my teammates, the sense of coming together as a team and trying to accomplish something."

With hoops has come a marriage and family. Hinrich has a wife, Jill, and four young children.

"When I was young it was easy to get caught up in the lifestyle — it's a great life," he said. "You get so many privileges but you have to be a pro and do your job. When I got married and had kids, it put everything in perspective for me. It was the first time I ever really had to balance basketball and anything else. To balance it was one of the more challenging things I've ever had to do."

Now, after all of his accomplishments playing in the Windy City for 10 and a half seasons, Hinrich couldn’t ask for anything more.

“I grew up a big Bulls fan,” Hinrich told Smith. “To be drafted here and play most of my career here is such a blessing.”

Omar Sanchez of Bullsnation.net called him a “legendary Bull” on Aug. 25, 2015.

“Chicago’s Discobolus has always been with us. A physical specimen and war-tested master of the game. A constant balanced attack without having the flashiest game to play with. Captain Kirk isn’t ‘Augustus of Prima Porta’ or Michaelangelo’s ‘David’, but he is the ultimate litmus test for what it means to be a Bull.”

And then read what Smith penned on NBA.com in November 2015:

“Hinrich isn’t being enshrined in Springfield, but his Bulls career will rank among the best ever in franchise history. It should merit consideration to eventually have his jersey number retired if not only for his statistical accomplishments, but for the blue collar, working class way he’s gone about his job that is both a tribute and a testament to his city and team. Hinrich doesn’t excite the crowd or the highlight room denizens. But he gets the attention of the stars of the game with his relentless, physical, combative style that often frustrated the likes of Miami star Dwyane Wade into some of the toughest games of his career. Wade once even needed the defense of Pat Riley about Hinrich’s tenacious style of play. It was no surprise, even approaching 35 in January, that Hinrich ran Stephen Curry into one of the least productive games of the season in the Warriors’ tense victory over the Bulls.”

Hinrich, a 2007 All-Defensive Second-Team selection who started 665 of 879 NBA games, boasts career averages of 10.9 points (9,594), 4.8 assists, 2.9 rebounds and 1.1 steals in 30.7 minutes per game, while shooting 41.1 percent from the field, 37.5 percent from beyond the arc, and 80.0 percent at the charity stripe.

Hinrich, 36, ranks No. 58 all time in three-point field goals (1,172) and No. 91 in assists (4,245).

According to basketballreference.com, he's earned $71,692,268.

An All-Big 12 First-Team selection his junior and senior seasons at Kansas, Hinrich was also a third-team Associated Press All-American as a senior in 2003 while named to the Wooden All-American team. Hinrich, who helped spark KU to two Final Fours in 2002 and 2003, had his jersey retired in Allen Fieldhouse on March 1, 2009.

He ranks 12th all time at Kansas in scoring (1,753 points), fifth in assists, sixth in steals, third in three-point field goals, and eighth in minutes.

Hinrich loved his KU career and playing for Roy Williams in storied Allen Fieldhouse.

“I think (it’s) the all-time best basketball arena,” Hinrich said. “It has so much history.”

History will prove that Hinrich was one of KU’s all-time greats. However, his road to stardom got off to a rocky start his freshman season. As Hinrich struggled adjusting to college basketball and school, he reached arguably the lowest point in his life at Kemper Arena in Kansas City against Saint Louis on Dec. 30, 1999. That’s when he went scoreless and had five turnovers in 13 minutes.

Williams, one of Hinrich’s biggest supporters, was waiting for him after the game. As the two walked back to the bus for the 45-minute drive to Lawrence, the head coach put his arm around his despondent player.

“You’re the guard I wanted,” Williams told Hinrich softly.

Hinrich told me before Chicago’s exhibition game against Seattle in Allen Fieldhouse in October 2006 that it was the turning point of his career.

“To have a coach behind you 100 percent like that and show that much confidence in you, it meant a lot,” he said.

Hinrich eventually became KU’s starting point guard and blossomed into an All-American. Williams will always have a true affinity for what he meant to him and Kansas basketball. The current North Carolina head coach has said the recruiting class of Hinrich, Collison and Gooden restored his faith in the game and reignited his passion for coaching.

Williams calls Hinrich’s competitive fire almost peerless.

“He’s one of the most self-disciplined players I’ve ever coached,” Williams once told the New York Times. “I was an assistant coach at North Carolina when Jordan played there. I think Kirk is in the same ballpark with Michael as far as competitiveness is concerned. ” 

Nick Collison enjoying NBA career as consummate blue-collar player

I profiled two former great KU big men in Raef LaFrentz and Drew Gooden in my previous blog posts. Now, here comes another one who’s made his mark in the NBA while truly embracing his role as the consummate blue-collar player.

No. 8 Nick Collison

After dominating the Big 12 and earning first-team consensus All-American and NABC Player of the Year honors his senior season while leading Kansas to the national championship game, Nick Collison was deemed a surefire lottery pick in the 2003 NBA Draft.

It was just a matter of how high he would go.

With the No. 9 pick of the draft, New York went big by picking Georgetown power forward Mike Sweetney. Collison’s name was called three picks later by Seattle.

ESPN’s Dick Vitale said the Knicks made a huge blunder in passing on Collison, who averaged 18.5 points and 10.0 rebounds in 2002-03 while grabbing a whopping 23 boards in a game against Texas.

“He’s a gamer,” Vitale said during the draft broadcast. “I think the Knicks are going to certainly regret not taking him up there over Sweetney. This kid is an absolute gamer — makes shots, plays on the defensive end. He’s unbelievable on the glass. He was a double-double guy last year, just a flat-out winner.”

Fourteen years later, history shows Vitale was correct. Sweetney, who battled weight problems, lasted just four years in the NBA with New York and Chicago. Collison, meanwhile, has been a rock-solid “gamer’ for 13 seasons (he was injured his first year and didn’t play) with the same franchise that drafted him (Seattle moved to Oklahoma City in 2008-09), a rarity to play with one organization for so long in today’s game. 

Throughout his career, Collison has endeared himself to the Thunder faithful, his coaches, management, teammates, and national media with his nonstop hustle and blue-collar play. A true winner, Collison has helped lead the Oklahoma City Thunder to one NBA Finals berth in 2012 and four Western Conference Finals appearances. Never a big stat guy, Collison’s true worth has come with all the intangibles, including fiery competitiveness, basketball I.Q., mean screens, drawn charges, post defense, and boxing out and rebounding, while being a great teammate and serving as an outstanding ambassador for the franchise.

Collison’s best years statistically were his third-to-fifth years in the NBA when he averaged 9.6 points and 8.1 rebounds in 2006-07, a career-high 9.8 points and 9.4 boards in 2007-08 (his 254 offensive rebounds ranked 10th in the league, while he also recorded 23 double-doubles) and 8.2 points and 6.9 rebounds per game in 2008-09.

The 6-10 forward’s production has dropped the last few years in the twilight of his career, playing in a career-low 20 games this past season and averaging 1.7 points and 1.6 rebounds in 6.4 minutes per contest. But Collison produced in the minutes he got, shooting an impressive 60.9 percent from the field. He ended the season at home against Denver on April 12 with six points, two rebounds and one assist, while receiving a huge ovation from the fans who have grown to love “Mr. Thunder” for what he’s meant to the franchise his entire career.

This may or may not have been his last game with Oklahoma City; Collison is a free agent this summer for the first time in his career and has no plans to retire yet at age 36.

“I plan to play for sure,” Collison said during his exit interview in April. “I wasn't sure going into the season how I would feel at the end of the year, but I still enjoy playing, and I enjoy being around the group. I enjoy being on the team, and I still think I have something to offer.”

He would certainly like to continue his career with the Thunder. Collison has loved every minute of his experience in Oklahoma City.

“It's just first class,” Collison told NBA.com on June 1. “The organization will always try to figure out the best way to do something, and they'll put in the work, the effort to try to do it the best way. That's all you can ask for as a player. The people that work here enjoy it and they're treated well.”

“I've been treated great here, and I've had great experiences here, and it's been the best basketball years of my life for sure playing here,” Collison added.

Oklahoma City General Manager Sam Presti thinks extremely highly of Collison.

“He represents the type of player that we want to ultimately have our organization embody,” Presti told The Oklahoman on March 29, 2014. “His fingerprints are all over the success of the organization, and those fingerprints will have a lot of staying power.”

The former KU All-American spoke to me in October 2010 before an NBA exhibition game against the Miami Heat at Sprint Center in Kansas City how he had to reinvent himself in the pros after being such a prolific scorer and dominating player in college. He just wanted to find his niche as a blue-collar energy player who defended, rebounded, and did all the intangibles.

“I think that’s what I have to do to be on the floor and that’s what I have to do to be productive,” Collison said. “I’ve been able to find a way to help a team. That’s what I wanted to do when I got to the league. I went into it knowing I can’t expect necessarily what I’ll be in five years, but hopefully I can find away to stick and fill a role, and I think I’ve been able to do that.”

He didn’t miss being a star at Kansas. Instead, he’s been the true role player playing with such star teammates as Ray Allen, Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant.

“I never had a stretch where I looked back longingly on the days where I scored 20 points per game,” Collison said.

Collison, though, said it was a learning curve when he entered the NBA.

“I don’t think it was an adjustment in terms of I felt something was missing, but the actual things I was doing was different,” Collison said. “I wasn’t catching the ball in the low block a lot and playing with my back to to the basket a lot. I had to find other ways to find offense. (I was also) guarding a lot of pick and roll situations, which I didn’t do in college so I had to learn how to get good at that.”

He has always been great at sacrificing his body and drawing charges, leading the NBA in that category in 2009-10.

"He likes it in his own crazy way,” former OKC coach Scott Brooks told The Oklahoman in March 2010. "It gets him juiced up. It he gets one it gets him fired up to get two in a row. He’s probably the best I’ve ever been around. Ten years from now when he’s close to retiring, he’ll be doing the same thing.”

Brooks, indeed, loved Collison’s competitive fire.

“You could put him for five minutes or for 35 minutes, he’s going to give you everything he has,”  Brooks told The Oklahoman during the 2014-15 season.

Collison has always made OKC better when he’s on the floor. ESPN’s Tom Haberstroth wrote on the website on Jan. 25, 2015, that “as far back as 2011, Collison has been known as a ‘No-Stats All-Star’ in the same ilk as Shane Battier for his lofty plus-minus that placed him among superstars. Collison does a ton of positive things -- sets screen, takes charges, boxes out -- that aren't picked up in the box score. And he takes great pride in that.”

Collison, who has served as a great mentor in his latter years to the young Thunder big men, feels lucky the Oklahoma City fans deeply respect his hard work. The crowd roars when Collison makes one of his patented hustle plays.

“I feel like they really appreciate what I do, and I know that’s rare for a player like me,” Collison told The Oklahoman in March 2014. “A role player like me who averages four (points) and four (rebounds) or whatever it is, no one really thinks twice about him. But I know that I have kind of a special place here. So I really appreciate that.”

For his NBA career, Collison has played in 895 games (177 starts) and averaged 6.0 points (5,328), 5.2 rebounds and 1.0 assists in 20.7 minutes per game while shooting 53.3 percent from the field (No. 35 all time) and 72.6 percent at the free throw line. His 11.1 offensive rebounding percentage ranks No. 42 all time while his 114.6 offensive rating is No. 59. Meanwhile, Collison’s 54.1 2-point field goal percentage ranks No. 10 among active players and No. 33 all time.

According to basketballreference.com, Collison has earned $57,993.990.

This Iowa Falls native’s NBA career was all made possible by what he accomplished at Kansas, where Collison enjoyed a magical four-year career from 1999-2003. He led Kansas to two Final Fours, including a trip to the national championship game against Syracuse in 2003. Collison ranks as KU’s second all-time leading scorer, third-leading rebounder and fourth-leading shot blocker, the only Jayhawk to be listed in the top-four in those three categories.

Collison’s No. 4 jersey was retired in Allen Fieldhouse on Nov. 25, 2003.

Collison told me he loved playing for head coach Roy Williams, who made him better both on and off the court.

“He was huge for me and my development,” Collison said that day in Sprint Center in 2010. “Coming from high school to college, it’s a huge transition for everybody, whether you’re a basketball player or not so to have a mentor like that was big for me evolving as a person and as a basketball player. Basketball wise, I picked up a lot of good habits that have allowed me to play at this level, and allowed me to stick around at this level. Preparation, certain things actually on the basketball court. Toughness is a big thing I got from him.”

Williams called Collison a gem to coach.

“With Nick, you tell him something one time, show him how to do it, explain what you want him to do, then go on to something else because you’ll never have to show him again. He was the most fundamentally sound player I’ve ever received out of high school,” Williams told The Oklahoman in December 2010. “His dad did a great job with him in high school. That was a great foundation for him. He had more post moves than anybody I’ve ever seen since Kevin McHale. On top of that, he’s one of the fiercest competitors I’ve ever seen, so coachable. ... I don’t know if I’ve ever had anyone easier to coach than Nick Collison.”

Williams recalled one of his favorite stories regarding Collison, how he helped spur the Jayhawks to an Elite Eight victory over Arizona in 2003.

“I kneeled down in front of the team and said a couple of little things,” Williams related. “I said, ‘Anybody got anything to add?’ and Nick said, ‘Yeah, I’m going to the Final Four. If you guys want to go along with me, get your act in gear.’”

KU got in gear and marched to the national championship game before falling to Syracuse. Collison ended his collegiate career with 19 points and 21 rebounds, the second-most rebounds in a championship game and the most in 47 years.

While it was a bitter loss, Collison relished his college years.

“I really had a great experience in college,” Collison said. “I would recommend KU, I would recommend playing for coach Williams. The stuff I went through was great for me.”