Hank Finkel

Henry J. Finkel (born April 20, 1942) is an American basketball player whose professional career lasted from 1966 to 1975. Selected by the Los Angeles Lakers in second round of the 1966 NBA draft he remained with the team through 1966–67, then played with the San Diego Rockets from 1967 to 1969 and spent the remaining years with the Boston Celtics, when, during his next to last season, the Celtics won the 1974 NBA Championship.

Early life Finkel was born in Union City, New Jersey and attended Holy Family High School. He enrolled at nearby Saint Peter's University in Jersey City, New Jersey, but dropped out and worked as a sandblaster in a shipyard after his father died of cancer. He was spotted at a Dairy Queen out with some friends by Harry Brooks, who had seen Finkel play in high school. Brooks was a "bird dog" (an independent scout) for the University of Dayton, which had just won the 1962 National Invitation Tournament (NIT) in Madison Square Garden. Soon, Finkel enrolled at Dayton.

College career A 6'11" center (at times listed as 7'0"), Finkel attended Dayton to play for Tom Blackburn, Dayton's coach since 1947. Finkel redshirted his first year, and eligibility-wise was a sophomore the following year. As a sophomore in 1963–64, Finkel averaged 23.0 points and 13 rebounds per game as the Flyers had a record of 15–10. However, Blackburn, who had been battling cancer, died eight days after the Flyers' final game of the season. Assistant coach Don Donoher was then named head coach.

As a junior, Finkel averaged 25.3 points and 14.9 rebounds for the 22–7 Flyers.

As a senior in 1965–66, he averaged 22.7 points and 12.1 rebounds per game as the Flyers were 23–6. On December 30, 1965, he had a career-high 44 points against the University of Maryland. He was named All-American by the Helms Foundation.

He led the Flyers to the NCAA tournament's Sweet Sixteen in both his junior and senior seasons, with the Flyers eventually losing to the #1-ranked team both years.

He remains the third-leading scorer in UD history with 1,968 points, behind only 1965–66 teammate Don May and four-year player Roosevelt Chapman. He holds the Dayton record for scoring average in a single season (25.3 as a junior) and career (23.7). His career field goal percentage of .619 is third all-time and first among players with 500 or more field goals made.

He received a bachelor's degree in Education. In 1974 he was inducted into the University of Dayton Hall of Fame.

Due to Finkel's age (22), after his sophomore year he was eligible for the 1964 NBA draft and was chosen in the fourth round by the Los Angeles Lakers, but he chose to remain in school. He was selected again in the 1965 NBA draft, again in the fourth round, by the Philadelphia 76ers, but he returned to Dayton for his senior year.

NBA career Finkel was drafted in the second round (17th overall) in the 1966 NBA draft by the Los Angeles Lakers. In his first year, he played sparingly—in 27 games he averaged 5.2 minutes, 1.5 points and 2.4 rebounds per game, mostly as a backup to center Darrall Imhoff.

On May 1, 1967, he was drafted by the San Diego Rockets in the NBA expansion draft.

The following season, his third in the NBA, his playing time dipped again. In 35 games he averaged 9.5 minutes, 3.7 points and 3.1 rebounds. With career highs in games (80) and minutes per game (23.3, seventh on the team), Finkel averaged 9.7 points and a career-best 7.7 rebounds per game.

In 1971–72, his sixth in the NBA, in 78 games his minutes dropped to 9.4 per game with averages of 3.2 points and 3.2 rebounds per game. He played three more seasons with the Celtics, averaging about seven minutes per game and just over two points and two rebounds per game.

In November 1975, the Celtics released Finkel, ending his NBA career. Finkel averaged 5.1 points per game and 3.9 rebounds per game in his nine-year career.

Career statistics

NBA Source

Regular season Year Team GP MPG FG% FT% RPG APG STL BLK PPG L.A. Lakers 27 5.2 .362 .583 2.4 .2 1.5 San Diego 53 21.1 .492 .686 7.1 1.4 11.6 San Diego 35 9.5 .441 .756 3.1 .6 3.7 Boston 80 23.3 .454 .670 7.7 1.3 9.7 Boston 80 15.4 .438 .732 4.3 1.0 6.5 Boston 78 9.4 .406 .581 3.2 .8 3.2 Boston 76 6.5 .451 .538 2.0 .3 2.4 † Boston 60 7.1 .462 .651 2.3 .5 .1 .1 2.5 Boston 62 8.4 .403 .535 1.8 .5 .1 .0 2.0Career 551 12.5 .449 .662 3.9 .8 .1 .1 5.1

Playoffs Year Team GP MPG FG% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG 1967 L.A. Lakers 1 1.0 – – .0 .0 .0 1969 San Diego 2 6.0 .000 – 3.5 .0 .0 1972 Boston 8 8.5 .455 – 3.0 .4 2.5 1973 Boston 7 3.3 .667 – .9 .4 1.7 1974† Boston 8 5.8 .444 1.000 1.3 .4 .1 .0 2.1 1975 Boston 7 3.6 .429 .600 .9 .6 .0 .0 1.3Career 33 5.3 .458 .667 1.6 .4 .1 .0 1.8