Jerry Chambers

American basketball player (born 1943)

For the bishop, see George Chambers (bishop).

Jerry Chambers

Personal information
Born|  (1943-07-18) July 18, 1943 (age 81)
Washington, D.C., U.S.
Listed height| 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)
Listed weight| 185 lb (84 kg)
Career information
High school| Eastern (Washington, D.C.)
College|

* Trinidad CC (1962–1964)
* Utah (1964–1966)

NBA draft| 1966: 1st round, 7th overall pick
Selected by the Los Angeles Lakers
Playing career| 1966–1974
Position| Small forward
Number| 40, 44, 33
Career history
1966–1967| Los Angeles Lakers
1969–1970| Phoenix Suns
1970–1971| Atlanta Hawks
1971–1972| Buffalo Braves
1972–1973| San Diego Conquistadors
1973–1974| San Antonio Spurs
Career highlights and awards

* NCAA Final Four Most Outstanding Player (1966)
* First-team All-WAC (1966)
* Second-team All-WAC (1965)

Career NBA and ABA statistics
Points| 2,667 (8.3 ppg)
Rebounds| 1,032 (3.2 rpg)
Assists| 270 (0.8 apg)
Stats at NBA.com
Stats at Basketball Reference

Jerome Purcell Chambers (born July 18, 1943) is an American former professional basketball player. At 6'5" and 185 pounds, he played as a small forward.

## Early life

[edit]

Chambers attended Spingarn High School in Washington, D.C., transferring to Eastern High School after being cut from the basketball team.[1]

## College career

[edit]

Chambers as a member of the Utah Utes, circa 1964–66

Chambers then attended the University of Utah from 1963 to 1966, winning the NCAA basketball tournament Most Outstanding Player award in 1966, despite his Runnin' Utes finishing fourth at the 1966 Final Four.[2]

Chambers is the only player to ever earn MOP for a fourth-place team (the 3rd place game was eliminated in 1981). His 143 points in four games remains an NCAA Tournament record, with 70 of them coming in the Final Four—38 against eventual national champion Texas-Western, and 32 more in the third-place game against the Duke Blue Devils.[3]

For his career at Utah Chambers averaged a double-double, 24.6 points and 11.2 rebounds. As a senior in 1965–1966, he averaged 28.8 points and 11.6 rebounds.[4] His 892 points in 1965–1966 remains second all time at Utah.[5]

## Professional career

[edit]

He played four professional seasons in the National Basketball Association as a member of the Los Angeles Lakers (1966–1967), Phoenix Suns (1969–1970), Atlanta Hawks (1970–1971) and Buffalo Braves (1971–1972). Chambers then played two seasons in the American Basketball Association as a member of the San Diego Conquistadors (1972–1973) and the San Antonio Spurs (1973–1974).

His best season was with San Diego under Coach K.C. Jones, when he averaged 11.9 points and 4.4 rebounds.[6]

He missed the 1967–1968 and 1968–1969 seasons due to military service.[6]

In 1968, he was involved in one of the most significant transactions in NBA history when he was traded by the Lakers, along with Archie Clark and Darrall Imhoff to the Philadelphia 76ers for Hall-of-Famer Wilt Chamberlain. Chambers never played for the 76ers, as they subsequently traded him to Phoenix.[7]

Chambers retired with 2,667 combined NBA/ABA career points, averaging 8.3 points and 3.2 rebounds.[8]

## Honors/Personal

[edit]

Chambers and the 1966 Final Four Utah team were honored on March 4, 2017, at halftime of the Utah game against Stanford.[9]

Chambers worked for the Los Angeles City Parks and Recreation department for many years.[10]

## Career statistics

[edit]

Legend  GP  | Games played  |  GS | Games started  |  MPG | Minutes per game

|
|
|
|
|

FG% | Field goal percentage  |  3P% | 3-point field goal percentage  |  FT% | Free throw percentage
RPG | Rebounds per game  |  APG | Assists per game  |  SPG | Steals per game
BPG | Blocks per game  |  PPG | Points per game  |  Bold | Career high

### NBA/ABA

[edit]

Source[8]

#### Regular season

[edit]

Year  | Team  | GP  | MPG  | FG%  | 3P%  | FT%  | RPG  | APG  | SPG  | BPG  | PPG

|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|

1966–67 | L.A Lakers | 69 | 14.7 | .452 |  | .731 | 3.0 | .6 |  |  | 7.5
1969–70 | Phoenix | 79 | 14.4 | .430 |  | .72 | 2.8 | .7 |  |  | 8.3
1970–71 | Atlanta | 65 | 18.0 | .451 |  | .791 | 3.8 | .9 |  |  | 8.9
1971–72 | Buffalo | 26 | 14.2 | .433 |  | .688 | 2.6 | .9 |  |  | 6.8
1972–73 | San Diego (ABA)  | 43 | 20.6 | .425 | .200 | .862 | 4.4 | 1.1 |  |  | 11.9
1973–74 | San Antonio (ABA)  | 38 | 15.2 | .456 | - | .750 | 2.7 | 1.1 | .3 | .1 | 5.9
Career (NBA)  | 239 | 15.4 | .442 |  | .747 | 3.1 | .8 |  |  | 8.1
Career (ABA)  | 81 | 18.1 | .435 | .200 | .831 | 3.6 | 1.1 | .3 | .1 | 9.1
Career (overall)  | 320 | 16.1 | .440 | .200 | .774 | 3.2 | .8 | .3 | .1 | 8.3

#### Playoffs

[edit]

Year  | Team  | GP  | MPG  | FG%  | FT%  | RPG  | APG  | PPG

|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|

1967 | L.A. Lakers | 3 | 14.7 | .522 | 1.000 | 2.7 | .3 | 10.3
1970 | Phoenix | 7 | 10.4 | .378 | .625 | 2.4 | 1.0 | 4.7
1971 | Atlanta | 4 | 5.5 | .333 | .500 | 1.3 | .0 | 1.9
Career  | 14 | 9.9 | .420 | .765 | 2.1 | .6 | 5.1

## Notes

[edit]

1. ^ McKenna, Dave (March 5, 1999). "The Next Wave". Washington City Paper.
2. ^ Jerry Chambers Magnificent March, 1966
3. ^ "Moment No. 16 – Jerry Chambers Magnificent March, 1966". University of Utah Athletics. November 7, 2007.
4. ^ "Jerry Chambers College Stats". College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com.
5. ^ "Utah Men's Basketball – Ute Legends". www.runninutes.com.
6. ^ a b "1972–73 San Diego Conquistadors Roster and Stats". Basketball-Reference.com.
7. ^ "Say It Ain't So: Philadelphia 76ers.
8. ^ a b "Jerry Chamberlain NBA/ABA statistics". Basketball Reference. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved May 29, 2024.
9. ^ "Utah basketball: 1966 Runnin' Utes receive long-awaited recognition". The Salt Lake Tribune.
10. ^ "Blasts From the Past: What Did Basketball Stars Do in "Real World"?". www.collegehoopedia.com.

* v
* t
* e

NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament Most Outstanding Player

* 1939: Hull
* 1940: Huffmann
* 1941: Kotz
* 1942: Dallmar
* 1943: Sailors
* 1944: Ferrin
* 1945: Kurland
* 1946: Kurland
* 1947: Kaftan
* 1948: Groza
* 1949: Groza
* 1950: Dambrot
* 1951: Not awarded
* 1952: Lovellette
* 1953: Born
* 1954: Gola
* 1955: Russell
* 1956: Lear
* 1957: Chamberlain
* 1958: Baylor
* 1959: West
* 1960: Lucas
* 1961: Lucas
* 1962: Hogue
* 1963: Heyman
* 1964: Hazzard
* 1965: Bradley
* 1966: Chambers
* 1967: Alcindor
* 1968: Alcindor
* 1969: Alcindor
* 1970: Wicks
* 1971: Porter *
* 1972: Walton
* 1973: Walton
* 1974: Thompson
* 1975: Washington
* 1976: Benson
* 1977: Lee
* 1978: Givens
* 1979: Johnson
* 1980: Griffith
* 1981: Thomas
* 1982: Worthy
* 1983: Olajuwon
* 1984: Ewing
* 1985: Pinckney
* 1986: Ellison
* 1987: Smart
* 1988: Manning
* 1989: Rice
* 1990: Hunt
* 1991: Laettner
* 1992: Hurley
* 1993: Williams
* 1994: Williamson
* 1995: O'Bannon
* 1996: Delk
* 1997: Simon
* 1998: Sheppard
* 1999: Hamilton
* 2000: Cleaves
* 2001: Battier
* 2002: Dixon
* 2003: Anthony
* 2004: Okafor
* 2005: May
* 2006: Noah
* 2007: Brewer
* 2008: Chalmers
* 2009: Ellington
* 2010: Singler
* 2011: Walker
* 2012: Davis
* 2013: Hancock
* 2014: Napier
* 2015: Jones
* 2016: Arcidiacono
* 2017: Berry
* 2018: DiVincenzo
* 2019: Guy
* 2020: None
* 2021: Butler
* 2022: Agbaji
* 2023: Sanogo
* 2024: Newton

*Ruled ineligible after tournament

* v
* t
* e

1966 NBA draft

First round|

* Cazzie Russell
* Dave Bing
* Clyde Lee
* Lou Hudson
* Jack Marin
* Walt Wesley
* Jerry Chambers
* Jim Barnett
* Matt Guokas
* Dave Schellhase

Second round|

* Henry Akin
* Dorie Murrey
* Joe Ellis
* Dick Snyder
* Neil Johnson
* Jerry Lee Wells
* Henry Finkel
* Leon Clark
* Bill Melchionni
* Erwin Mueller

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