Slater Martin

Slater Nelson "Dugie" Martin Jr.^[1] (October 22, 1925 – October 18, 2012) was an American professional basketball player and coach who was a playmaking guard for 11 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He was born in Elmina, Walker County, Texas and played in seven NBA All-Star Games.

Slater Martin

Personal information
Born	(1925-10-22)October 22, 1925 Elmina, Texas, U.S.
Died	October 18, 2012(2012-10-18) (aged 86) Houston, Texas, U.S.
Listed height	5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)
Listed weight	170 lb (77 kg)
Career information
High school	Jefferson Davis (Houston, Texas)
College	Texas (1943–1944, 1946–1949)
BAA draft	1949: 3rd round
Selected by the Minneapolis Lakers
Playing career	1949–1960
Position	Point guard
Number	22, 7
Career history
As player:
1949–1956	Minneapolis Lakers
1956	New York Knicks
1956–1960	St. Louis Hawks
As coach:
1957	St. Louis Hawks
1967–1969	Houston Mavericks
Career highlights and awards
5× NBA champion (1950, 1952–1954, 1958) 7× NBA All-Star (1953–1959) 5× All-NBA Second Team (1955–1959) No. 22 honored by Los Angeles Lakers Second-team All-American – Look (1949) Third-team All-American – Helms (1948) No. 15 retired by Texas Longhorns
Career statistics
Points	7,337 (9.8 ppg)
Rebounds	2,302 (3.4 rpg)
Assists	3,160 (4.2 apg)
Stats at NBA.com
Stats at Basketball Reference
Basketball Hall of Fame
Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame

Martin was one of the NBA's best defensive players in the 1950s, playing for the George Mikan-led Minneapolis Lakers that won four NBA championships between 1950 and 1954.^[2] In 1956, he joined Bob Pettit's St. Louis Hawks and won another NBA title in 1958.^[3]

Martin was an alumnus of Jefferson Davis High School in Houston, where he led his school to two state basketball championships in 1942 and 1943. He is also a graduate of University of Texas at Austin, where he set a scoring record in 1949 with 49 points in a game for the Longhorns against Texas Christian University (or TCU).^[3] Throughout his career with the Longhorns, he averaged 12.7 points per game.^[4] His former high school now holds an annual fund raiser in his name, the "Slater Martin Golf Tournament", which successfully raises tens of thousands of dollars each year for high school student clubs and athletic teams.

He was head coach of the Houston Mavericks of the American Basketball Association in the 1967–68 season and part of 1968–69,^[3] and led the Mavericks into the 1968 ABA Playoffs.

Martin was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame on May 3, 1982, in Springfield, Massachusetts. He is the only Longhorn to be so honored. His jersey number 15 was retired by the University of Texas on January 31, 2009, making him only the second Longhorn basketball player to have his number retired.

He died of a brief illness on October 18, 2012, in Houston, Texas, aged 86.^[3]

NBA career statistics

Martin, circa 1953–54

Legend

GP	Games played	GS	Games started	MPG	Minutes per game
FG%	Field goal percentage	3P%	3-point field goal percentage	FT%	Free throw percentage
RPG	Rebounds per game	APG	Assists per game	SPG	Steals per game
BPG	Blocks per game	PPG	Points per game	Bold	Career high
†	Won an NBA championship

Regular season

Year	Team	GP	MPG	FG%	FT%	RPG	APG	PPG
1949–50†	Minneapolis	67	–	.351	.634	–	2.2	4.0
1950–51	Minneapolis	68	–	.362	.684	3.6	3.5	8.5
1951–52†	Minneapolis	66	37.6	.375	.747	3.5	3.8	9.3
1952–53†	Minneapolis	70	36.5	.410	.780	2.7	3.6	10.6
1953–54†	Minneapolis	69	35.8	.388	.724	2.4	2.9	9.9
1954–55	Minneapolis	72	38.7	.381	.769	3.6	5.9	13.6
1955–56	Minneapolis	72	39.4	.358	.833	3.6	6.2	13.2
1956–57	New York	13	32.8	.344	.830	3.2	3.0	8.5
1956–57	St. Louis	53	37.3	.330	.782	4.6	4.3	11.5
1957–58†	St. Louis	60	35.0	.336	.746	3.8	3.6	12.0
1958–59	St. Louis	71	35.3	.347	.776	3.6	4.7	9.7
1959–60	St. Louis	64	27.4	.371	.726	2.9	5.2	6.2
Career		745	35.9	.364	.762	3.4	4.2	9.8

Playoffs

Year	Team	GP	MPG	FG%	FT%	RPG	APG	PPG
1950†	Minneapolis	12	–	.420	.583	–	2.1	4.7
1951	Minneapolis	7	–	.353	.519	6.0	3.6	7.1
1952†	Minneapolis	13	40.2	.345	.732	2.8	4.3	9.0
1953†	Minneapolis	12	37.8	.398	.765	2.6	3.6	10.1
1954†	Minneapolis	13	41.0	.330	.743	2.2	4.6	9.7
1955	Minneapolis	7	45.0	.298	.816	4.0	4.4	13.7
1956	Minneapolis	3	40.3	.459	.833	2.3	5.0	18.0
1957	St. Louis	10	43.9	.355	.757	4.2	4.9	16.6
1958†	St. Louis	11	37.8	.321	.619	4.4	3.6	11.5
1959	St. Louis	1	18.0	.800	–	3.0	2.0	8.0
1960	St. Louis	3	19.3	.077	.250	1.0	2.7	1.0
Career		92	39.4	.351	.715	3.4	3.8	10.0

See also

• List of NBA players with most championships

References

1. Slater Martin Player Statistics
2. "Passings: Slater Martin", Los Angeles Times, October 19, 2012
3. Goldstein, Richard (October 20, 2012), "Slater Martin, Hall of Fame Lakers Guard, Dies at 86", The New York Times
4. "SR / College Basketball: Slater Martin". Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved October 19, 2012.

External links

• Slater Martin at the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame
• NBA.com profile
• Slater Martin player statistics at Basketball-Reference.com
• Slater Martin coach statistics at Basketball-Reference.com