Johnny Egan, who performed for the Baltimore Bullets and 5 different NBA groups and recorded greater than 5,000 factors, 2,000 assists and 1,000 rebounds in his 11-year profession, died Thursday in Houston on the age of 83. He suffered a fall in Could, in response to former NBA columnist and buddy Peter Vecsey.
The information of Mr. Egan’s passing hit a pair of former teammates onerous. Ray Scott and Mr. Egan had recognized one another since they had been chosen by the Detroit Pistons within the 1961 NBA draft.
“It shocked me yesterday once I received the information as a result of Johnny is a kind of guys that I by no means consider in unwell well being,” Mr. Scott, 84, mentioned Friday. “I do know we’re in our 80s and we undergo all types of stuff, however my ideas had been how he was a continuing lover of basketball. My final footage in my reminiscence of him are of him as an 80-year-old gentleman out taking pictures baskets along with his grandson and displaying him all of the methods of the commerce and the issues he might do as a result of John was most likely in America one of many nice highschool and school gamers. Within the NBA, he was an excellent participant.”
Kevin Loughery, 82, performed three seasons with Mr. Egan on the Bullets and recalled how match Mr. Egan regarded after they, Mr. Scott and Johnny Inexperienced had been honored by the Washington Wizards on Nov. 17, 2016.
“Johnny regarded unbelievable,” Mr. Loughery mentioned Friday morning. “He was the identical as he was bodily when he performed, and he had the identical angle. So this actually stunned me. I do know we misplaced [former Bullets player and coach] Gene Shue and [former Bullets player and general manager] Bobby Ferry and [former Bullets player, coach and general manager] Wes Unseld, however this actually stunned me.”
As a younger participant in highschool in Hartford, Connecticut, the place he led Weaver Excessive to a New England championship, Mr. Egan earned the nickname “Area.” In keeping with a biography revealed in 2020, the nickname paid homage both to his skill to remain within the air throughout drives to the basket or to the size of his long-distance pictures.
Mr. Loughery mentioned Mr. Egan’s nickname was properly deserved.
“He might actually soar,” Mr. Loughery mentioned. “He could be terrific in in the present day’s sport as a result of it’s dominated by level guards. He could be unbelievable. He might shoot. He had distance on his pictures. He might take it to the ring.”
At Windfall, the place he performed beside Corridor of Famer Lenny Wilkens, Mr. Egan scored 1,434 factors in 80 video games from 1959 to 1961 in an period when freshmen weren't eligible to take part. As a senior, he led the Friars to their first Nationwide Invitational Match (NIT) championship with a 62-59 win in opposition to Saint Louis by averaging 18.8 factors.
Mr. Scott, who was house in Philadelphia, took a prepare to Madison Sq. Backyard in New York Metropolis to look at Mr. Egan and Windfall play within the NIT. “He didn’t disappoint,” Mr. Scott recalled. “He was an amazing participant.”
As rookies with the Pistons, Mr. Scott, the fourth total alternative within the 1961 NBA draft, and Mr. Egan, a second-round choice, bonded instantly. Mr. Scott, a 6-foot-9 energy ahead/heart, mentioned Mr. Egan, a 5-11 level guard, had a prankster-like humorousness.
Living proof: Throughout a group constitution flight that included officers from the earlier night time’s sport, a pilot knowledgeable all passengers to put on oxygen masks. Whereas referee Joe Gushue slept, Mr. Egan unhooked Mr. Gushue’s masks.
“Joe awoke gasping, and we pretended we had been asleep, however we saved one eye open watching him wrestle,” Mr. Scott mentioned. “It was humorous to us as a result of he was a referee. You had no energy over the referees. So this was our probability. And that was one of many largest laughs we ever had. I believe we advised that story 100 instances, and that is the one hundred and first time I’ve advised it.”
Mr. Egan arrived in Baltimore in November 1965 as a part of a commerce that despatched Bullets heart Walt Bellamy to the New York Knicks. Mr. Egan served as a 3rd guard to enrich Don Ohl and Kevin Loughery and obtained a large spark plug as a present from Bullets followers for his position on the group.
Regardless of his body that made him one of many shortest gamers within the league, Mr. Egan’s abilities had been plain, Mr. Scott mentioned.
“He was somewhat man, however he might soar within the air, and he had giant fingers,” he mentioned. “He had the fingers of an enormous man and lengthy arms, and he was quick.”
Mr. Loughery, a 6-3 taking pictures guard, mentioned Mr. Egan’s angle was as daring as his drives into the lane.
“Johnny was very assured in his sport,” Mr. Loughery mentioned. “I believe the one factor about him was he actually believed. At the moment, it was loads of large guards, 6-3, 6-4. However he was very assured and really athletic. If he performed in the present day with no large folks within the center with the way in which they play in the present day, taking pictures threes in that wide-open sport, he’d be unbelievable. He’d be an All-Star.”
Within the 1968 enlargement draft, Mr. Egan was picked by the Milwaukee Bucks, who then traded him to the Los Angeles Lakers, who reached the NBA Finals within the two seasons Mr. Egan performed for them. After retiring in 1972 and wrapping up a profession that included 5,521 factors, 2,102 assists and 1,284 rebounds, he served as head coach of the Houston Rockets from 1972 to 1976 and led the franchise to its first .500 end and one playoff look in 1975.
Mr. Egan stayed in Houston and based an insurance coverage agency. He banded collectively a bunch of consumers on the Starbucks that he frequented to take part in charitable occasions to offer again to the neighborhood. He additionally served as the primary on-air broadcast accomplice of former Rockets play-by-play announcer Invoice Worrell.
Whilst an elder statesman, Mr. Egan labored tirelessly to unfold the sport of basketball to youthful generations.
“He’s an envoy due to his love for the sport,” Mr. Scott mentioned. “He by no means walked away from the sport. He sought to boost the sport and educate youngsters and do clinics. He was instructing his grandson. … He was far into his 60s, 70s and 80s. Most of us, like me, we’re in search of that recliner, and I by no means noticed Johnny in a recliner. By no means.”
Mr. Scott mentioned he relished the possibility to spend time with Mr. Egan after they honored by the Wizards six years in the past.
“We sat within the lodge foyer with my son, and we talked far into the night time,” he mentioned. “So he was any individual that was in my life from starting to finish, from the time we had been drafted. And now he’s gone house to heaven, and I’m going to overlook that man. He was simply any individual that was perpetually in my life.”
Mr. Egan is survived by his son, John Jr., daughter, Kim, and 5 grandchildren. His spouse Joan died of ovarian most cancers in 1998.
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