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Power Forward · Utah Jazz

Mel Counts

Age 84 · USA · 213 cm (6'12") · 104 kg · Born Oct 16, 1941 · Oregon State

7.9 PPG 5.9 RPG 1.4 APG 689 games 9 seasons
Mel Counts

Career snapshot

9seasons
689games
5,421career pts
14.2PER (avg)
Most-played franchise: Los Angeles Lakers · 344 games · 1967-68–1973-74

Position rank · 1974-75

#13PPG rank
#16PER rank
#16WS rank
Among 20 Power Forward players (min. 41 games)

Career highs (single season)

PPG 12.6 1969-70 · LAL
RPG 8.9 1967-68 · LAL
APG 2.4 1974-75 · UTA
PER 18.4 1967-68 · LAL
WS 5.0 1967-68 · LAL

Draft

1964
Round 1 · Pick 9
by Boston Celtics
from Oregon State

Career by team

Utah Jazz
1974-75 – 1974-75 · 1 seasons
6.9 PPG 5.9 RPG 2.4 APG
75 games
Los Angeles Lakers
1967-68 – 1973-74 · 5 seasons
9.8 PPG 7.0 RPG 1.5 APG
344 games
Philadelphia 76ers
1972-73 – 1972-73 · 1 seasons
1.4 PPG 2.3 RPG 0.4 APG
7 games
Boston Celtics
1964-65 – 1965-66 · 2 seasons
6.8 PPG 5.7 RPG 0.6 APG
121 games

Stats by season

SeasonTeamGGSMIN PTSREBASTSTLBLK FG%3P%FT%PERWS
1964-65 BOS 54 0 10.6 4.8 4.9 0.4 0.0 0.0 36.8 0.0 78.4 13.5 1.5
1965-66 BOS 67 0 15.2 8.4 6.4 0.7 0.0 0.0 40.3 0.0 82.8 16.4 2.9
1967-68 LAL 82 0 21.2 11.7 8.9 1.7 0.0 0.0 47.5 0.0 74.8 18.4 5.0
1968-69 LAL 77 0 24.2 12.4 7.8 1.4 0.0 0.0 45.0 0.0 80.5 16.5 4.3
1969-70 LAL 81 0 27.1 12.6 8.4 2.0 0.0 0.0 42.7 0.0 77.6 13.9 2.7
1971-72 NBA 76 0 11.9 5.2 3.4 1.3 0.0 0.0 42.7 0.0 72.1 — —
1972-73 NBA 66 0 10.0 4.6 3.8 1.0 0.0 0.0 44.9 0.0 67.2 — —
1972-73 LAL 59 0 10.4 5.0 4.0 1.1 0.0 0.0 45.7 0.0 67.2 17.1 1.6
1972-73 PHI 7 0 6.7 1.4 2.3 0.4 0.0 0.0 31.3 0.0 0.0 6.2 -0.1
1973-74 LAL 45 0 11.1 3.2 3.2 1.2 0.4 0.5 36.5 0.0 72.7 11.4 0.3
1974-75 UTA 75 0 18.9 6.9 5.9 2.4 0.7 0.6 43.8 0.0 76.1 — —

Transfers & team changes

Derived from season-by-season team membership.

Date Move Type Notes
Jul 1974 Los Angeles Lakers Utah Jazz season change
Jul 1973 Philadelphia 76ers Los Angeles Lakers season change
Oct 1972 Los Angeles Lakers Philadelphia 76ers mid season trade From 1972-73 to 1972-73
Oct 1967 Boston Celtics Los Angeles Lakers offseason From 1965-66 to 1967-68

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Born on October 16

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About Mel Counts

Mel Grant Counts is an American former basketball player who played in the National Basketball Association (NBA) from 1964 to 1976. He was on the United States Olympic basketball team that won the gold at the 1964 Summer Olympics. He played college basketball for the Oregon State Beavers and was selected by the Boston Celtics in the 1964 NBA draft. The Celtics won the NBA Championship in 1965 and 1966 with Counts on the team as Bill Russell's backup, but he was traded for the 1967 season to the Baltimore Bullets. Halfway through that season he was traded to the Los Angeles Lakers, who made it