McGuire, "Dick" (Richard J.)
Basketball
b. Jan. 25, 1926, Huntington, NY
Known as "Tricky Dick" because of his clever ball-handling, McGuire enrolled at St. John's University in New York in 1943. He played 16 games for the school's basketball team, but entered the Navy before his freshman year was over and played five games at Dartmouth while in a special training program.
McGuire returned to St. John's in 1946 and graduated in 1949 with an average of 9.6 points per game during his four years. He was chosen by the New York Knickerbockers in the first round of the NBA draft. The 6-foot, 180-pound McGuire led the NBA with 386 assists as a rookie.
He was traded to the Detroit Pistons in 1957 and became the team's player coach during the 1958-59 season. McGuire retired as a player in 1960, remaining as coach through 1962-63. After a season out of basketball, he returned to the Knicks as head coach in 1965 but was replaced during the 1967-68 season.
During his 11 NBA seasons, McGuire scored 5,921 points in 738 regular season games, an 8.0 average, and had 4,205 assists. He added 521 points and 350 assists in 63 playoff games. As a coach, he had a 197-260 record.