SHARMAN, BILL

born May 25, 1926, Abilene, Texas, U.S. byname of William Walton Sharman American professional basketball player noted for his skills as a free-throw shooter and as a long-range field-goal marksman. After graduation from the University of Southern California, Los Angeles (1950), Sharman played minor-league baseball before beginning his basketball career. He first played basketball with the Washington Capitols (195051). In his 10 seasons (195152 through 196061) with the Boston Celtics of the National Basketball Association (NBA), he averaged 17.8 points a game in regular play (12,665 points in 710 games) and 18.5 points in championship play-offs (1,446 points in 78 games). He established NBA career records for free-throw shooting average in regular seasons (.883, with 3,143 successful throws in 3,557 attempts; record later broken) and play-off series (.911, with 370 of 406). His average of .932 (342 of 367) in 195859 was an NBA record for a single season. In the play-offs following that season, he set another NBA standard with 56 consecutive successful free-throw attempts. Sharman was named to the NBA All-Star first team in three successive seasons (195659) and to the second team in 1953, 1955, and 1960. After his retirement as a player, Sharman became a coach in professional basketball. He directed the Cleveland Pipers to the American Basketball League (ABL) title in 196162, the Utah Stars to the American Basketball Association (ABA) title in 197071, and the Los Angeles Lakers to the NBA title in 197172 and was named NBA coach of the year in 1972. He retired as a coach in 1976 and became general manager of the Lakers. Sharman was elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1975 and was the author of Sharman on Basketball Shooting (1965).