John Arec Gianelli (born June 10, 1950) is an American former professional basketball player. At a height of 6'10" (2.08 m ) tall, he played at the power forward and center positions. He played eight seasons (from 1972 to 1980) in the National Basketball Association (NBA) with the New York Knicks, Buffalo Braves, Milwaukee Bucks, and Utah Jazz.

John Gianelli
Gianelli as a junior at Pacific
Personal information
Born (1950-06-10) June 10, 1950 (age 74)
Stockton, California, U.S.
Listed height6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)
Listed weight220 lb (100 kg)
Career information
High schoolEdison (Stockton, California)
CollegePacific (1969–1972)
NBA draft1972: 2nd round, 20th overall pick
Selected by the Houston Rockets
Playing career1972–1983
PositionCenter / power forward
Number40
Career history
19721976New York Knicks
1976–1977Buffalo Braves
19771979Milwaukee Bucks
1979Utah Jazz
1980–1983Olimpia Billy Milano
Career highlights and awards
Career NBA statistics
Points4,210 (7.8 ppg)
Rebounds3,188 (5.9 rpg)
Assists832 (1.5 apg)
Stats at NBA.com Edit this at Wikidata
Stats at Basketball Reference Edit this at Wikidata

College career

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Gianelli graduated from Edison High School in 1968.[1] He matriculated at the University of the Pacific where he was a three-year letterman with the Tigers men's basketball team in 1970, 1971 and 1972.[2] He averaged 21.5 points and 17.2 rebounds in his senior year, the latter ranked second in the nation.[3] His uniform number 23 was retired in May 1973, the second in Pacific's men's basketball history.[4] He was inducted into the university's Athletics Hall of Fame in 1986.[2]

Professional career

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Gianelli was selected by the Houston Rockets twentieth overall in the second round of the 1972 NBA draft.[5] After not agreeing to contract terms with the Rockets, his NBA negotiation rights were obtained by the Knicks on September 19, 1972.[3]

He was involved in four other transactions during his NBA career, the first two within a year of each other. He was traded along with $3.3 million from the Knicks to the Braves for Bob McAdoo and Tom McMillen on December 9, 1976.[6][7] Gianelli was sent from the Braves to the Bucks for a first-round pick in the 1979 NBA draft (eventually dealt to the Detroit Pistons) and cash nine months later on September 2, 1977.[8][9]

The final two transactions happened within five months of each other. He was traded along with the eighth overall selection in the first round of the 1979 NBA draft (Calvin Natt) from the Bucks to the New Jersey Nets for Harvey Catchings on May 31, 1979.[9][10] He never appeared in a game with the Nets, as he was dealt along with Bernard King and Jim Boylan to the Jazz for Rich Kelley and cash on October 2.[11]

He averaged 7.8 points and 5.9 rebounds per game in his NBA career, and won a league championship with New York in 1973. He also played professionally in Italy for three years, with Olimpia Milano. He was the starting center and one of two foreign players on the Olimpia Milano team that captured the 1981–82 Lega Basket Serie A championship; the other foreigner was starting point guard Mike D'Antoni.[12]

NBA career statistics

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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

Regular season

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Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
1972–73 New York 52 - 9.9 .451 - .697 2.9 0.5 - - 3.5
1973–74 New York 70 - 20.3 .479 - .760 4.9 1.1 0.3 0.6 7.3
1974–75 New York 80 - 35.0 .472 - .692 8.6 2.0 0.5 1.5 10.3
1975–76 New York 82 - 28.4 .473 - .713 6.7 1.4 0.3 0.8 9.3
1976–77 New York 19 - 33.2 .473 - .729 9.4 1.4 0.7 1.5 10.9
1976–77 Buffalo 57 - 22.5 .431 - .714 5.2 1.0 0.4 1.2 7.0
1977–78 Milwaukee 82 - 28.4 .488 - .642 6.2 2.3 0.7 1.1 8.5
1978–79 Milwaukee 82* - 25.1 .486 - .706 5.0 2.0 0.5 0.7 7.1
1979–80 Utah 17 - 16.8 .348 .000 .563 3.6 1.0 0.4 0.4 3.2
Career 541 - 25.2 .470 .000 .702 5.9 1.5 0.5 1.0 7.8

Playoffs

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Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
1972–73 New York 7 - 7.9 .550 - .429 1.9 0.1 - - 3.6
1973–74 New York 12 - 28.2 .407 - .720 7.3 1.9 0.3 0.5 7.3
1974–75 New York 3 - 31.0 .458 - 1.000 4.7 0.7 0.0 1.3 8.3
1977–78 Milwaukee 9 - 32.2 .424 - .769 6.4 1.6 0.9 1.2 7.8
Career 31 - 25.0 .434 - .721 5.6 1.3 0.5 0.9 6.7

References

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