Gilmore, Artis
Basketball
b. Sept. 21, 1949, Chipley, FL
After two years at Gardner-Webb Junior College, Gilmore went to Jacksonville University in 1969. He led NCAA Division I players with 22.2 rebounds per game in 1969/70 and 23.2 per game in 1970/71 and averaged 24.3 points per game in his two seasons at Jacksonville.
The 7-foot-2, 265-pound Gilmore joined the ABA's Kentucky Colonels as their first-round draft choice in 1971 and was named both rookie of the year and player of the year after averaging 23.8 points a game and leading the league with 1,492 rebounds. He was also the league leader in rebounds each of the next four seasons.
The Kentucky franchise folded when the ABA and NBA merged in 1976 and Gilmore was chosen by the NBA's Chicago Bulls in a dispersal draft. After eight professional seasons without missing a game, he played in only 48 games in 1979/80 because of an injury. The Bulls traded him to the San Antonio Spurs in 1982 and the Spurs traded him back to Chicago in 1987.
After being waived by the Bulls during the 1987/88 season, Gilmore was signed by the Boston Celtics. Gilmore played in Italy in 1988/89 and then retired. The NBA leader in field goal percentage four consecutive seasons, from 1980/81 through 1983/84, he holds the league record for career field goal percentage, at .599.
During his 17 ABA/NBA seasons, Gilmore scored 24,041 points in 909 games, a 17.1 average, and pulled down 16,330 rebounds. He had 1,747 blocked shots in NBA games.