Bob Lanier

Bob Lanier

Position	Center
Height	ft  in ( m)
Weight	lb ( kg)
Nationality	USA
Born	September 10 1948 (1948--) (age 59) Buffalo, New York
College	St. Bonaventure
Draft	1st overall, 1970 Detroit Pistons
Pro career	1970–1984
Former teams	Detroit Pistons (1970 – 1979, 1980) Milwaukee Bucks (1979, 1980 – 1984)
Awards	1970 ECAC Most Valuable Player 1978 J. Walter Kennedy Citizenship Award 1984 Oscar Robertson Leadership Award
Hall of Fame	1992

Robert "Bob" Jerry Lanier, Jr. (born September 10, 1948, in Buffalo, New York) is a retired American professional basketball player for the Detroit Pistons and Milwaukee Bucks of the NBA. He played competitively at Buffalo's Bennett High School where he graduated in 1966, and collegiately at St. Bonaventure University, in Olean, New York.

Lanier was a three-time Converse All-America selection (1968-1970), and in 1970, he led St. Bonaventure to the NCAA Final Four, however, he was injured late in the regional championship game and did not participate in Bona's national semi-final loss to Artis Gilmore-led Jacksonville University. That year he was named Coach and Athlete Magazine player of the year, and the ECAC Player of the Year.

Lanier was drafted number one overall by the National Basketball Association's Detroit Pistons and was named to the All-Rookie Team following the 1970-71 season. He starred for Detroit until being traded to the Milwaukee Bucks in 1980. In his five seasons with the Bucks, they won the division championship each year. The same year he retired, in 1984, he was awarded the Oscar Robertson Leadership Award.

In his 14 NBA seasons, Lanier averaged 20.1 points and 10.1 rebounds per game while shooting a respectable 51.4 percent from the field. He played in eight NBA All-Star Games, and was named Most Valuable Player of the 1974 game. Lanier was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame and had his #16 jersey retired by both the Pistons and the Bucks.

In 1994-95, he became interim head coach of the Golden State Warriors for 37 games after Don Nelson stood down, in which he compiled a 12-25 win-loss record.

Trivia

Lanier is mentioned in the comedy film Airplane!. In one scene, a boy is invited into the cockpit of a jetliner, and claims that the co-pilot (played by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar) is in fact Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Abdul-Jabbar, playing in character, denies being the basketball star, insisting instead that he is merely Captain Roger Murdock, the plane's co-pilot. The boy then states that he thinks Abdul-Jabbar is great, but that his father thinks he "doesn't work hard on defense..." and that he "doesn't try... except during the playoffs". This causes Abdul-Jabbar to snarl "the hell I don't", followed by "Tell your old man to drag Walton and Lanier up and down the court for 48 minutes". [1]

During Lanier's NBA career, he had the largest feet of any player, requiring a size 22 shoe. Lanier could be seen showing his large feet in Miller Lite beer television ads from the 1980s which co-starred notable sports personalities including Bob Uecker, Sparky Lyle and John Madden (football).

At the Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Massachusetts, visitors are able to compare the size of their foot to that of Lanier's.

External links

• Bob Lanier bio
• Bob Lanier Hall of Fame bio
• Career statistics
• Historical Glimpses: Robert Lanier

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