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Bob Boozer, 75, former NBA star, Olympic medalist

By , Associated Press | May 21, 2012 03:15 AM

OMAHA, Neb. - Bob Boozer, a member of the dominating 1960 Olympic basketball team who went on to star in the NBA, has died of a brain aneurysm. He was 75.

Ella Boozer said Sunday that her husband died Saturday afternoon an Omaha hospital. He had become ill Friday night while having dinner with friends, she said.

Mr. Boozer was a two-time All-American at Kansas State in 1958-59 and played 11 years in the NBA after the Cincinnati Royals drafted him No. 1 overall. The 6-foot-8 forward retired after winning the 1971 NBA championship with the Milwaukee Bucks.

He played with Jerry West, Oscar Robertson, and Jerry Lucas on the gold-medal-winning 1960 Olympic team and went on to average 14.8 points and 8.1 rebounds for six professional teams.

“Bob always said that he got everything you could have ever gotten from playing basketball,’’ said Mr. Boozer’s wife of 46 years.

Mr. Boozer and his teammates on the 1960 Olympic team were inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2010. The star-studded squad won eight games by an average of 42.4 points, and 10 of them played in the NBA.

Born and raised in Omaha, Mr. Boozer blossomed into a three-time all-conference pick and a two-time All-American at Kansas State. He averaged 21.9 points for his career, and his 25.2 points a game as a senior is second in school history to Michael Beasley’s 26.2 points in 2007-08. Mr. Boozer led the Wildcats to the NCAA Final Four as a junior, and as a senior he helped K-State to a No. 1 ranking in the final regular-season poll.

Mr. Boozer delayed entering the NBA for a year so he could retain his amateur status for the Olympics. He averaged 6.8 points for the American team that beat Brazil, 90-63, for the gold medal in Rome.



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