Larry Kenon
Larry Joe Kenon (born December 13, 1952 in Birmingham) is a former professional basketball player.
A 6'9" forward who had a productive career in both the American Basketball Association (ABA) and the National Basketball Association (NBA), Kenon played for the New York Nets, San Antonio Spurs, Chicago Bulls, Golden State Warriors and Cleveland Cavaliers.
College
After graduating from Birmingham's Ullman High School, Kenon went to Amarillo College. He later transferred to play basketball at Memphis State University. In his junior year, 1972-73, he averaged 20.1 points and 16.7 rebounds per game and led the Tigers to the NCAA championship game, where they were defeated by the Bill Walton-led UCLA Bruins. After that season, Kenon left Memphis State and turned pro.
The ABA
In 1973 the Detroit Pistons selected Kenon in the third round (15th pick overall) of the NBA Draft. He was also drafted by the Memphis Tams of the ABA, but the New York Nets secured his draft rights. During his rookie season (1973-74) Kenon averaged 15.9 points and 11.5 rebounds per game. He also won an ABA title playing alongside Julius Erving.
After averaging 18.7 points during the 1974-75 season Kenon was traded San Antonio for Swen Nater. Once again he averaged 18.7 points and 11.1 rebounds per game in the Spurs' final season in the ABA before they joined the NBA.
Kenon made the All-Star Team in each of his three ABA seasons. In 249 ABA games he had scored 4419 ponts and grabbed 2759 rebounds for an average of 17.7 and 11.1 per game, respectively.
The NBA
Kenon would form an explosive scoring duo in San Antonio with George Gervin. In each of the four seasons the two were teammates after the NBA/ABA merger, both averaged at least 20 points per game. In those four NBA seasons, Kenon averaged 21.9 (1976-77), 20.6 (1977-78), 22.1 (1978-79) and 20.1 (1979-80) points per game. He also made the NBA All-Star team in 1978 and 1979. He also averaged at least 10.7 rebounds per game in each of those four seasons, his high being 12.0 in 1976-77.
After the 1979-80 season Kenon signed with the Chicago Bulls. While his minutes per game went down in Chicago (28.1 during the 1980-81 season; he had never averaged fewer than 34.6 previously), his production during those minutes did not. He averaged 14.1 points per game; however, this would be his last effective season.
In his seven NBA seasons Kenon played 503 games and scored 8535 points for a 17.0 average. His NBA and ABA totals were 12,954 points for a 17.2 average.
Trivia
- In a December 26, 1976 game against the Kansas City Kings at Kemper Arena, Kenon set an NBA record for steals in a game with eleven. (The New Jersey Nets' Kendall Gill tied the record in an April 3, 1999 game against the Miami Heat.)
- Though Memphis State, now the University of Memphis, has retired the numbers of other former basketball players, like Larry Finch, Keith Lee, and Anfernee Hardaway, Larry Kenon has never had his number retired. He arguably had the most successful pro career of any Memphis State basketball player.
- Kenon was known as "Special K." One of his "specialties" was grabbing one-handed rebounds.
References
- Larry Kenon. (2007, November 2). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 03:53, November 29, 2007 [1]
External links
- NBA stats @ basketballreference.com