Mel Counts

Mel Counts

Personal information
Born	(1941-10-16) October 16, 1941 Coos Bay, Oregon
Nationality	American
Listed height	7 ft 0 in (2.13 m)
Listed weight	230 lb (104 kg)
Career information
High school	Marshfield (Coos Bay, Oregon)
College	Oregon State (1961–1964)
NBA draft	1964 / Round: 1 / Pick: 7th overall
Selected by the Boston Celtics
Playing career	1964–1976
Position	Center / Forward
Number	11, 31
Career history
1964–1966	Boston Celtics
1966–1967	Baltimore Bullets
1967–1970	Los Angeles Lakers
1970–1972	Phoenix Suns
1972	Philadelphia 76ers
1972–1974	Los Angeles Lakers
1974–1976	New Orleans Jazz
Career highlights and awards
2× NBA champion (1965, 1966) Consensus second-team All-American (1964) No. 21 retired by Oregon State
Career statistics
Points	6,516 (8.3 ppg)
Rebounds	4,756 (6.0 rpg)
Assists	1,100 (1.4 apg)
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com
Medals Men's basketball Representing the  United States Olympic Games 1964 Tokyo Team competition

Mel Grant Counts (born October 16, 1941) is an American retired basketball player who played in the National Basketball Association (NBA) from 1964 to 1976.^[1] An excellent outside shooter for a 7 footer, he was on the United States Olympic basketball team that won the gold at the 1964 Summer Olympics. He played in college for Oregon State University and was selected by the Boston Celtics in the 1964 NBA draft. The Celtics won the NBA Championship in 1965 and 1966 with Counts on the team as Bill Russell's backup, but he was traded for the 1967 season to the Baltimore Bullets. Halfway through that season he was traded to the Los Angeles Lakers, who made it to the playoffs that year.

The next three seasons Counts' Lakers made it to the NBA Finals, where they would play in and ultimately lose three years in a row. In the 1969 NBA Finals, Counts indirectly played a role in one of the most controversial coaching decisions in NBA history. In game 7, starting Laker center Wilt Chamberlain, who had never fouled out of a game, picked up his 5th foul with 6 minutes to play. A minute later, Wilt came off the floor limping and was replaced by Counts with the Lakers trailing the Celtics by nine points. The Lakers cut the deficit to one point on a shot by Counts, with coach Butch van Breda Kolff refusing to reinsert Chamberlain into the game in the final minutes even though Wilt said his knee felt good enough to play. The Lakers lost the game, 108-106, and the series, 4-3. (As it turned out, Chamberlain severely injured the same knee early the next season and missed 70 games. The fiery van Breda Kolff was fired).

Counts played one more season with the Lakers before being traded to the Phoenix Suns with the Lakers gaining the return of hall of famer Gail Goodrich (he started with the Lakers but went to Phoenix in the 1967 expansion draft). After several more stops around the league, including a return to the Lakers in 1973, Counts ended his career with the New Orleans Jazz in 1976.

As of 2006, he was working as a real estate agent in Woodburn, Oregon. His son Brent played college basketball at the University of the Pacific, his son Brian played at Western Oregon State and his son Chris played at Sheridan Junior College and South Dakota State. Mixed martial artist Chael Sonnen is his nephew.^[2]

References