Zelmo Beaty, who played for the Hawks in St. Louis and Atlanta, was elected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame on Monday.
Beaty, a 6-foot-9 forward/center, was drafted by the St. Louis Hawks with the third overall pick in the 1962 NBA Draft. He played six seasons in St. Louis and was a two-time all-star. He played one more season with the Hawks when they moved to Atlanta for the 1968-69 season. He averaged 21.5 points and 11.1 rebounds during his one season in Atlanta.
Beaty then played four seasons in the ABA with the Utah Stars, where he was a three-time all-star and won the 1971 championship. He was named to the ABA All-Time Team. Beaty’s career ended with a final NBA season with the Lakers in 1974-75.
Over his professional career, Beaty averaged 17.1 points and 10.9 rebounds.
Beaty played at Prairie View A&M and averaged 25 points and 20 rebounds per game (1958-62). He led them to the 1962 NAIA Championship and earned the MVP Award. He was inducted into the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame in 2014.
Beaty, who died in 2013 at the age of 73, was elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame by the Veterans Committee.
The rest of the Hall of Fame Class of 2016 includes: 27-year NBA referee Darell Garretson, eleven-time NBA All-Star Allen Iverson, two-time NABC Coach of the Year Tom Izzo, the first African-American coach in a professional league John McLendon, three-time NBA Finals MVP Shaquille O’Neal and four-time WNBA Champion Sheryl Swoopes. Distinguished committees focused on preserving all areas from the game also selected four directly elected members including Beaty, Yao Ming from the International Committee, Cumberland Posey from the Early African American Pioneers Committee and Jerry Reinsdorf from the Contributor Committee.
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