Lanier, "Bob" (Robert J. Jr.)
Basketball
b. Sept. 10, 1948, Buffalo, NY
Because it took time for his coordination to catch up to his rapid growth, Lanier couldn't make his high school basketball team until his junior year. He eventually grew to 6-foot-11 and 250 pounds, and wore size 21 sneakers.
Lanier starred at center for St. Bonaventure University and was a consensus All-American in 1970. In his three seasons as a starter, he scored 2,067 points, averaging 27.5 a game. St. Bonaventure won the NCAA Eastern Regional tournament in his senior year, but Lanier suffered torn knee ligaments in the championship game and the team lost in the national semi-finals without him.
He joined the Detroit Pistons in the 1970-71 season and made the NBA All-Rookie team. The Pistons traded Lanier to the Milwaukee Bucks in February of 1980 and he played in Milwaukee until his retirement after the 1983-84 season.
In his fourteen NBA seasons, he was an All-Star eight times. Lanier served as interim coach of the Golden State Warriors for the last 37 games of the 1994-95 season. He then became a special assistant to the commissioner of the NBA.