George McGinnis obit

George McGinnis, Indiana basketball icon and Hall of Famer, dies at at 73

 

He was not on the list.

George McGinnis, the legendary Indiana Pacers star and Hall of Famer, has died at 73. The Pacers announced that McGinnis died Thursday morning of complications from a cardiac arrest he suffered last week.

 

McGinnis was an Indiana native who played high school, college, and professional basketball in his home state. He won multiple championships with the Pacers when they were part of the American Basketball Association, and continued to flourish after the ABA merged with the NBA. He went on to become a successful businessman in Indiana and continued to be involved with basketball at both the college and professional level following his retirement as a pro player.

 

“From his all-state high school days to his time as an IU All-American and, of course, to his legendary ABA championship runs with the Pacers, George McGinnis shaped so many of the fondest basketball memories for generations of Hoosiers," the Simon family and Pacers Sports & Entertainment said in a statement. "He was the very definition of an Indiana basketball legend, a champion, and Hall of Fame athlete. But he was more than that. George was family. A passionate advocate for his fellow ABA players and a present, smiling face around the franchise, George has been as synonymous with our Pacers franchise as anyone. He will be greatly missed, and all of us at Pacers Sports & Entertainment will keep George and his family in our prayers.”

 

McGinnis was born in 1950 in Harpersville, Alabama to mother Willie and father Burnie, a sharecropper. They soon moved to Indianapolis, somewhere they'd never been before, to give George and his sister Bonnie a better life.  

McGinnis' iconic career began at Washington High School in Indianapolis, where he helped lead the team to an undefeated 31-0 season in 1969 that ended with a state championship. While he also excelled at football as a tight end and defensive end, he ultimately chose to focus on basketball despite, he said, having "hundreds" of football scholarship offers. At Indiana University, McGinnis became the first sophomore to lead the Big Ten in scoring and rebounding, and was named a third-team All-American before departing for the Pacers.

 

In the four years McGinnis spent with the ABA Pacers, the team won back-to-back ABA titles in 1972 and 1973. He was named playoff MVP in 1973, was an ABA All-Star three times, and a few years later was named ABA MVP along with his future teammate Julius Erving. He was traded to the Philadelphia 76ers after the ABA merged with the NBA and was an All-Star two more times, becoming a full-fledged Philly star.

 

Following the 1975-76 season, the Sixers had the opportunity to sign Erving, but wouldn't put pen to paper unless McGinnis approved. He did, and though McGinnis was traded to the Denver Nuggets in 1978, Dr. J led the Sixers to their first and only NBA title in 1983. McGinnis returned to the Pacers via trade in 1980

 

Post-playing career

McGinnis' career came to a sudden end after the 1981-82 season when the Pacers cut him during training camp. He then spent a few years in Denver, indulging his love of nature and getting used to post-basketball life. When he returned to Indianapolis, he jumped back into normal life with aplomb. He became a broadcaster, serving as an analyst for Pacers games. He was the chair of the NCAA's Final Four committee in Indianapolis. He founded and ran GM Supply, a wholesale industrial supply firm. He even worked for the Indianapolis Lottery.

The Pacers retired McGinnis' No. 30 in 1985. 32 years later, when McGinnis was inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 2017, he was recognized as being ahead of his time — an evolutionary jump in physicality that was compared LeBron James' impact on the game in the 2010s.

"He was built like Superman," Erving said during McGinnis' Hall of Fame induction. "Until LeBron came along, you never saw another guy that had George's physical abilities on a basketball court."

Dr. J wasn't alone in thinking McGinnis had unique and terrifying physical gifts. Via the Indianapolis Star, retired NBA and ABA player George Gervin called him "a locomotive, big fierce, fast, strong." Former player and coach Bobby "Slick" Leonard agreed: "I've seen everything that's come down the pike in 60-plus years. We're sitting here talking about one of the greatest power forwards that ever played the game."

McGinnis' funeral services will be private, but the Pacers said Thursday they will hold a celebration of life for him in 2024.

McGinnis immediately became one of the marquee players of the ABA, playing a key role on the Indiana Pacers' championship teams in each of his first two seasons with his hometown franchise. He was named the ABA Playoffs MVP in 1973, averaging 23.9 points and 12.3 rebounds in 18 playoff games to help the Pacers repeat as champs. His best season came in 1974–75, when McGinnis scored a career-high 29.8 points per game en route to ABA MVP honors. In the 1975 ABA Playoffs, he nearly averaged a triple-double (32.3 points, 15.9 rebounds, and 8.2 assists in 18 games), but the Pacers fell short of the title, losing to Kentucky in the ABA Finals. However, in these playoffs, McGinnis established multiple statistical feats.

Recorded the first 50+ point triple-double in NBA/ABA Playoff history with 51 points, 17 rebounds, and 10 assists against the San Antonio Spurs in Game 4 of the 1975 ABA Western Division Semifinals on April 12th, 1975 — a feat matched only by Russell Westbrook of the Oklahoma City Thunder in Game 2 of the 2017 Western Conference First Round against the Houston Rockets on April 19th, 2017.

Became the first player in NBA/ABA history to record 200+ points, 100+ rebounds, and 50+ assists in a single playoff series, which he accomplished twice, in back-to-back series.

In six games against the San Antonio Spurs in the 1975 ABA Western Division Semifinals, registered totals of 230 points (38.3 per game), 113 rebounds (18.8 per game), and 55 assists (9.2 per game).

In seven games against the Denver Nuggets in the 1975 ABA Western Division Finals, registered totals of 214 points (30.6 per game), 103 rebounds (14.7 per game), and 61 assists (8.7 per game).

Giannis Antetokounmpo of the Milwaukee Bucks is the only other player to replicate this, doing so in the 2022 Eastern Conference Semifinals versus the Boston Celtics with totals of 237 points (33.9 per game), 103 rebounds (14.7 per game), and 50 assists (7.1 per game) in the seven-game series.

Became the first player in NBA/ABA history to lead the playoffs in total points (581), total rebounds (286), and total assists (148) — a feat matched only by Nikola Jokić of the Denver Nuggets in the 2023 NBA Playoffs, who recorded playoff totals of 600 points (30.0 per game), 169 rebounds (13.5 per game), and 190 assists (9.5 per game) in 20 games.

McGinnis made the All-NBA First Team in his debut season with the 76ers, and was selected to two All-Star games in his three seasons with the team. While on Philadelphia, he teamed up with fellow ABA alumni Julius Erving and Caldwell Jones. McGinnis helped lead the 76ers through the playoffs to the NBA Finals in 1977 by averaging 14.2 points, 10.4 rebounds, and 3.6 assists per playoff game, where he and the 76ers lost in six games to the Portland Trail Blazers.

McGinnis is one of four players (the others are Roger Brown, Reggie Miller, and Mel Daniels) to have his jersey (#30) retired by the Pacers. All four are also members of the Basketball Hall of Fame.

On April 1, 2017, it was announced that McGinnis was part of the 2017 class for the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, alongside Tracy McGrady, Bill Self, and Rebecca Lobo.

 

Career history

1971–1975            Indiana Pacers

1975–1978            Philadelphia 76ers

1978–1980            Denver Nuggets

1980–1982            Indiana Pacers

Career highlights and awards

2× ABA champion (1972, 1973)

ABA Playoffs MVP (1973)

ABA MVP (1975)

3× ABA All-Star (1973–1975)

2× All-ABA First Team (1974, 1975)

All-ABA Second Team (1973)

ABA All-Rookie First Team (1972)

ABA scoring champion (1975)

3× NBA All-Star (1976, 1977, 1979)

All-NBA First Team (1976)

All-NBA Second Team (1977)

ABA All-Time Team

No. 30 retired by Indiana Pacers

Third-team All-American – AP, NABC, UPI (1971)

Mr. Basketball USA (1969)

First-team Parade All-American (1969)

Indiana Mr. Basketball (1969)

Career ABA and NBA statistics

Points   17,009 (20.2 ppg)

Rebounds            9,233 (11.0 rpg)

Assists  3,089 (3.7 apg)