Em Bryant

Emmette Bryant (born November 4, 1938) is an American former professional basketball player and the Vice President of the Chicago Chapter at NBA Alumni.

Em Bryant

Personal information
Born	(1938-11-04) November 4, 1938 Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Listed height	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Listed weight	175 lb (79 kg)
Career information
High school	DePaul Academy (Chicago, Illinois)
College	DePaul (1961–1964)
NBA draft	1964: 7th round, 53rd overall pick
Selected by the New York Knicks
Playing career	1964–1972
Position	Point guard
Number	7
Career history
As player:
1964–1968	New York Knicks
1968–1970	Boston Celtics
1970–1972	Buffalo Braves
As coach:
1972–1973	Columbia (assistant)
1973–1975	Seattle SuperSonics (assistant)
Career highlights and awards
NBA champion (1969)
Career NBA statistics
Points	3,722 (6.6 ppg)
Rebounds	1,593 (2.8 rpg)
Assists	1,700 (3.0 apg)
Stats at NBA.com
Stats at Basketball Reference

Career

A 6'1" guard from DePaul University, Bryant was drafted in the 1964 NBA draft by the New York Knicks. After his time in New York, he joined the Boston Celtics and instantly became a part of the most dominant dynasty in American professional basketball history. He was a key component of the 1969 Celtics NBA championship team, contributing 20 points in the Celtics’ victory over Jerry West's Los Angeles Lakers in game seven of the 1969 NBA Finals. The win gave the Celtics their 11th championship in 13 years. Bryant spent the latter part of his career with the Buffalo Braves, who selected him in the 1970 expansion draft. He retired from the league in 1972. Altogether Bryant played eight seasons (1964–1972) in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the New York Knicks, Boston Celtics, and Buffalo Braves, scoring 3,722 points in his career.

Post basketball

Bryant and wife Bonnie

Immediately after his playing days, Bryant became an assistant coach: one year at Columbia University and two years with Bill Russell at the NBA's Seattle SuperSonics, now the Oklahoma City Thunder, during 1973–1974. All along the way, Bryant would say, “I’m just a teacher that happened to play pro ball.” Bryant then went to work for the State of Washington for the next 30 years, starting out with the Department of Social and Health Services, in charge of recreation throughout the state for that department's correctional institutions. He later became the Recreation Director at Mission Creek Youth Camp.

Em is active in retired basketball players activities and was a key member of the executive board of the National Retired Players Association. Em is in the ChicagoLand Sports Hall of Fame 2010, DePaul Hall of Fame, and Rucker Professional Basketball Hall of Fame.

Career statistics

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	*	Led the league

NBA

Source

Regular season

Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	FT%	RPG	APG	PPG
1964–65	New York	77	29	17.3	.333	.654	2.2	2.2	4.9
1965–66	New York	71	4	16.8	.472	.733	2.4	3.0	7.0
1966–67	New York	63	30	25.3	.409	.649	4.3	3.5	8.7
1967–68	New York	77	7	12.6	.385	.686	1.7	1.7	3.7
1968–69†	Boston	80		17.4	.404	.650	2.4	2.2	5.7
1969–70	Boston	71		22.8	.404	.746	3.8	3.3	7.6
1970–71	Buffalo	73		29.3	.421	.744	3.6	4.8	10.0
1971–72	Buffalo	54		22.6	.459	.600	2.4	3.8	5.1
Career		566	70	20.2	.410	.690	2.8	3.0	6.6

Playoffs

Year	Team	GP	MPG	FG%	FT%	RPG	APG	PPG
1967	New York	4	19.0	.238	1.000	2.3	2.3	5.3
1968	New York	5	15.0	.308	.800	2.8	1.4	2.4
1969†	Boston	18*	33.7	.409	.755	4.9	3.0	11.0
Career		27	28.1	.388	.797	4.1	2.6	8.6

External links

• Career statistics