NBA, ABA great George McGinnis dead at 73
Basketball Hall of Famer George McGinnis has died at 73 years old.
The news was announced Thursday morning by the Indiana Pacers.
McGinnis had been hospitalized since suffering a cardiac arrest at his home last week, ESPN reported.
“McGinnis succumbed to complications from a cardiac arrest suffered last week at his home,” the Pacers said in their press release. “He was taken to Community North Hospital where family, friends and former teammates maintained a vigil of support until his passing.”
McGinnis began his professional basketball career with the Pacers in the ABA in 1971 — before the league merged with the NBA.
He was a hometown hero, having played at George Washington High School in Indianapolis and at college at Indiana University.
McGinnis starred on a Pacers team that won ABA championships in 1972 and 1973, winning the playoffs MVP in the latter year as he averaged 23.9 points and 12.3 rebounds per game in the postseason.
The following season he would be the ABA MVP and scoring champion, averaging 29.8 points per game.
“From his all-state high school days to his time as an IU All-American and, of course, to his legendary ABA championship runs with the Pacers, George McGinnis shaped so many of the fondest basketball memories for generations of Hoosiers,” Simon Family and Pacers Sports & Entertainment said in a statement.
“He was the very definition of an Indiana basketball legend, a champion, and Hall of Fame athlete. But he was more than that. George was family. A passionate advocate for his fellow ABA players and a present, smiling face around the franchise, George has been as synonymous with our Pacers franchise as anyone.
“He will be greatly missed, and all of us at Pacers Sports & Entertainment will keep George and his family in our prayers.”
McGinnis even nearly became a Knick.
The Sixers actually held McGinnis’ draft rights, having selected him in the second round of the NBA draft after his second ABA season.
In 1974, the Sixers had agreed to trade McGinnis to the Knicks provided they were able to sign him to a deal, but he ultimately opted to stay with the Pacers.
Then, in 1975, McGinnis sued the NBA in an attempt to become a free agent, but wound up dropping the suit and signing a six-year deal worth a total of $2.4 million with the Knicks in an attempt to circumvent the league’s bylaws.
Then-new NBA commissioner Larry O’Brien voided McGinnis’ deal with the Knicks, and punished the organization for trying to skirt around the league by docking them their first-round pick.
“There is no practice or rule more fundamental to the NBA — and to all professional athletic leagues —than the player draft,” O’Brien said in his ruling, according to the New York Times.
The Knicks did not fight the commissioner on the decision.
“We’re disappointed, but we respect the commissioner’s right to make a ruling,” Knicks president Mike Burke said at the time.
McGinnis ultimately signed a six-year deal with the Sixers worth $3.2 million.
He played three seasons with the Sixers, including the final two alongside fellow ABA veteran Julius Erving.
The Sixers reached the 1977 NBA Finals, falling to the Blazers in six games.
The organization offered sympathy to McGinnis’ family and friends Thursday on X.
“Our sincerest condolences go out to George’s family and friends. He will be sorely missed,” the Sixers wrote.
McGinnis then played for the Nuggets before a return to the Pacers for the final two-plus seasons of his NBA career.
He was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2017.
The Pacers said there will be a celebration of McGinnis’ life at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in 2024.
