Jack Nichols

Jack Edward Nichols (April 9, 1926 – December 24, 1992) was an American professional basketball player.

A 6'7" power forward who played college basketball for the Washington Huskies and USC Trojans, Nichols played nine seasons (1948–1951;1952–1958) in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Washington Capitols, Tri-Cities Blackhawks, Milwaukee Hawks, and Boston Celtics. He scored 5,245 points in his career and was a contributor to the Celtics' 1957 NBA championship team, who was coached by his former Washington Capitol coach, Red Auerbach. During his last 3 years with the Celtics, he attended Tufts Dental School full-time, earning his doctor of dentistry in 1958.

During his collegiate career, Nichols was named an all-conference player in five different seasons, twice with USC, and three times at UW (only player ever to achieve this). In 1948 he set the single game (39 points vs. Idaho) and single season scoring records for the Pacific Coast Conference. He was named a Helms Foundation All-American, and led the Huskies to the 1948 NCAA tournament by Beating Cal in a 3-game series.

Upon his retirement from professional basketball, Nichols served as the team dentist for the University of Washington and for the Seattle SuperSonics. Nichols has been inducted into the University of Washington Hall of Fame, the State of Washington Sports Hall of Fame, and the Pac-12 Conference Hall of Honor.

BAA/NBA career statistics

Regular season Year Team GP MPG FG% FT% RPG APG PPG 1948–49 Washington 34 – .390 .730 – 1.6 11.7 Washington 49 – .362 .736 – 1.7 13.1 Tri-Cities 18 – .374 .800 – 3.4 13.1 Tri-Cities 6 – .342 .762 10.5 2.5 11.7 Milwaukee 69 38.1 .363 .708 7.7 2.8 15.8 Milwaukee / Boston 75 21.4 .309 .743 4.8 1.4 5.9 Boston 64 29.8 .380 .780 8.3 2.3 9.9 Boston 60 32.7 .413 .791 10.4 2.7 14.3 † Boston 61 22.5 .363 .794 6.1 1.4 8.2 Boston 69 17.7 .351 .738 4.4 .9 5.8Career 505 26.9 .368 .752 6.9 1.9 10.4

Playoffs Year Team GP MPG FG% FT% RPG APG PPG 1949 Washington 11 – .408 .667 – 2.5 14.4 1950 Tri-Cities 3 – .300 .742 – 3.7 19.7 1954 Boston 6 35.2 .486 .789 10.3 5.2 16.7 1955 Boston 7 33.0 .370 .813 7.0 3.3 10.4 1956 Boston 3 33.3 .372 .900 12.0 3.3 13.7 1957† Boston 10 11.7 .400 .600 1.7 .7 3.5 1958 Boston 11 13.5 .348 .700 4.1 .7 4.8Career 51 21.8 .389 .739 5.6 2.3 10.2