Bo Kimble

Bo Kimble
Personal information
Born (1966-04-09) April 9, 1966
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Nationality American
Listed height 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)
Listed weight 190 lb (86 kg)
Career information
High school Dobbins Technical
(Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)
College
NBA draft 1990 / Round: 1 / Pick: 8th overall
Selected by the Los Angeles Clippers
Playing career 1990–1998
Position Shooting guard
Number 30, 16
Career history
1990–1992 Los Angeles Clippers
1992–1993 New York Knicks
1993–1994 CRO Lyon (France)
1994–1995 Rapid City Thrillers (CBA)
1995 Hartford Hellcats (CBA)
1996–1997 La Crosse Bobcats (CBA)
1997–1998 Yakima Sun Kings (CBA)
Career highlights and awards
Career NBA statistics
Points 574 (5.5 ppg)
Rebounds 162 (1.5 rpg)
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com

Gregory Kevin "Bo" Kimble (born April 9, 1966) is a retired American college basketball player at Loyola Marymount University and professional National Basketball Association (NBA) player with the Los Angeles Clippers and New York Knicks. In the 1989–90 season, he led the 11th-seeded Loyola Marymount basketball team on a run to the regional finals of the NCAA Tournament after the death of teammate Hank Gathers.

High school

Kimble played prep ball with Hank Gathers at Dobbins Technical High School in Philadelphia, with the pair leading the team to the Public League City championship in 1985.

College

USC

Both Gathers and Kimble were recruited to the University of Southern California by Head Coach Stan Morrison and his top assistant, David Spencer. They were joined by high school All-American, Tom Lewis, and Rich Grande as the "Four Freshmen" star recruiting class.[1][2] Following an 11-17 season coaching USC, Morrison and Spencer were fired after the 1985-86 season was over, despite winning the Pac-10 the previous year. It was reported that the players would not remain unless certain conditions were met, including having a say in the next coaching staff.[1] USC hired George Raveling as the next head coach of the Trojans.[3] Raveling gave the players a deadline to respond whether they would remain on the team. When they did not respond, he revoked the scholarships of Gathers, Kimble, and Lewis.[4] Raveling's controversial[5] statement was, "You can't let the Indians run the reservation." "You've got to be strong, too. Sometimes you have to tell them that they have to exit," he said.[1] Kimble and Gathers transferred together from USC to Loyola Marymount. Lewis transferred to Pepperdine. Grande remained at USC.

Loyola Marymount

After sitting out the 1986–87 season as required under NCAA rules for transfer students, the pair became the centerpiece of arguably the most entertaining college team in history. LMU's then-coach Paul Westhead installed an extraordinarily fast-paced game plan. On offense, the Lions typically took shots within 10 seconds of gaining possession, with many of the shots being three-pointers. The Lions' defense was a full-court press designed to force opponents into a frenzied up-and-down game. Kimble led the nation in scoring in 1990 averaging 35.3 points per game, and he was also a consensus second team All-American selection that year.[6][7] Kimble's teams led Division I in scoring in 1988 (110.3 points per game), 1989 (112.5), and 1990 (122.4).[8] LMU's 122.4 point per game in 1990 was still a record as of October 2010.[9] As of October 2010, Loyola Marymount held the five highest combined score games in Division I history. Four of the five occurred during Kimble's career, including a record 331 in the 181–150 win over United States International University on January 31, 1989.[10]

Hank Gathers's death

During the West Coast Conference Basketball tournament, Gathers collapsed and died of a heart condition in LMU's semifinal against Portland. As a result of Gathers's death, the 1990 WCC tournament was suspended, and Loyola Marymount was given the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament (as a #11 seed) due to their regular season championship. During LMU's subsequent run to the Elite Eight, Kimble (who was right-handed), Gathers's best friend and teammate, shot his first free throw of each game left-handed in memory of Gathers (although right-handed, he struggled so much with free throws that he tried shooting them left-handed for a time), making all three attempts (Kimble did not have any free-throw attempts in the Sweet 16 win over Alabama).

On January 29, 2005, members of Gathers's 1989–90 team, including Kimble, were inducted into the Loyola Marymount Hall of Fame during halftime of a 63–46 win over cross-town rival Pepperdine.

NBA

Later that year, Kimble was selected by the Los Angeles Clippers with the 8th overall pick of the 1990 NBA Draft. At the time, the Clippers were playing in the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena, the same building that Kimble played in with Gathers, while they were at USC. As a rookie, he averaged 6.9 points per game and for his career averaged 5.5 points per game while mostly sitting on the end of the bench. Kimble revealed in 2015 that getting very little playing time despite his ability while the Clippers floundered drove him to consider suicide several times.[11] His NBA career was plagued by injuries. In the summer of 1992, Kimble was traded to the New York Knicks as part of a three-team, six-player deal that brought Mark Jackson to the Clippers. Kimble played only nine games for the Knicks, and was released at the end of the season, bringing his brief NBA career to an end.

Kimble played for several years in the Continental Basketball Association after his NBA career ended. He played for the Rapid City Thrillers, La Crosse Bobcats, Hartford Hellcats and Yakima Sun Kings.[12]

Personal life

He starred in the 1991 movie Heaven is a Playground as fictional high school student Matthew Lockhart. Kimble co-founded and sits on the board of directors of Forty-Four for Life Foundation, a non-profit organization involved in reducing cardiac related fatalities[13]

Los Angeles County declared July 17, 1990, "Bo Kimble Day" for "not only for his accomplishments on the court, but for providing a positive role model for Los Angeles' youth."[14]

On March 7, 2011, Kimble traveled to Holland, Michigan, to meet with Fennville High School and Lawrence High School's varsity basketball team. Fennville had just lost their star player, Wes Leonard, after he collapsed and died moments after hitting the winning shot in the team's 57-55 overtime victory over Bridgman High school in the last game of the regular season. Leonard's death, caused by cardiac arrest due to an enlarged heart, occurred one day shy of the 21st anniversary of Hank Gathers' passing.[15][16]

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 Harvey, Randy - Un-Raveling at USC: A Failure to Communicate. Los Angeles Times, May 13, 1986
  2. ↑ Florence, Mal - Four Freshmen Make Sweet Music in USC Victory. Los Angeles Times, January 18, 1986. The young players--Hank Gathers, Tom Lewis, Bo Kimble and Rich Grande--all contributed Saturday afternoon as USC beat Arizona State, 81-72, at the Sports Arena.
  3. ↑ Fleischman, Bill - Raveling Leaves Iowa To Take Reins At USC. Philadelphia Daily News, March 28, 1986
  4. ↑ Florence, Mal Scholarships Taken From 3 USC Freshmen : Lewis, Gathers and Kimble Receive Word From Raveling. Los Angeles Times, April 15, 1986
  5. ↑ Sands, Vernon - At Least, If Raveling Gives a Hoot, Then So Does His USC Team. Los Angeles Times, April 5, 1986
  6. ↑ NCAA 2010, p.23
  7. ↑ NCAA (October 31, 2008). "NCAA Men's Basketball Records (Award Winners)". p. 137. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 8, 2011.
  8. ↑ NCAA 2010, p.39
  9. ↑ NCAA 2010, p.5
  10. ↑ NCAA 2010, pp.28–29
  11. ↑ Siegel, Alan (May 6, 2015). "What It Was Like To Play For The '80s Clippers, The Worst Team In Sports". Deadspin. Gawker Media. Retrieved 6 May 2015.
  12. ↑ 1998-99 Official CBA guide and register, page 259
  13. ↑ Years Later, Bo Kimble Still Honors Hank Gathers By Ronak Patel, The Hoops Report, April 15, 2010
  14. ↑ Drooz, Alan (July 22, 1990). "A Tough Road Ahead: Lions to Be Tested Early". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on March 9, 2011.
  15. ↑ Seidel, Jeff (March 7, 2011). "Never forget Wes Leonard, ex-teammate of Hank Gathers tells Fennville squad". Detroit Free Press. Archived from the original on March 8, 2011.
  16. ↑ "Wes Leonard: enlarged heart killed HS athlete". CBSNews.com. March 4, 2011. Archived from the original on March 9, 2011.

References

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Monday, December 14, 2015. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.