Jim Fox

James L. Fox (born April 7, 1943) is an American former professional basketball player.

College career Fox was born in Atlanta and attended Gordon High School in Barnesville, Georgia. A 6'10" center, Fox played in junior college before enrolling his junior year at the University of South Carolina, playing in 13 games his junior season. He burst onto the scene his senior year, 1964–65, leading the Gamecocks in both scoring and rebounding. He averaged 17.8 points and 13.6 rebounds per game.

Professional career He was drafted in the eighth round of the 1965 NBA draft by the Cincinnati Royals, but he elected to play professionally in Europe for two seasons.

Fox joined the NBA's Royals for the 1967–68 season. In 31 games for the Royals, he averaged 3.2 points and 3.1 rebounds in eight minutes per game. Then, on February 1, 1968, he was part of a big trade which sent him and Happy Hairston to the Detroit Pistons for Tom Van Arsdale and John Tresvant. His playing time increased to over 15 minutes per game in 24 games for the Pistons, and he averaged 4.1 points and 5.6 rebounds per game.

The 1974–75 season was his third full season with Seattle as Fox averaged 9.0 points and 6.5 rebounds per game.

On October 22, 1975, Fox was traded to the Milwaukee Bucks for a second-round draft pick. For the season, he averaged 3.9 points and 3.4 rebounds per game.

On October 20, 1976, the Bucks waived Fox, and a week later he signed with the New York Nets. In his final NBA season, he averaged 6.5 points and 4.6 rebounds per game.

Fox averaged 9.3 points and 7.4 rebounds in his 10-year NBA career.

NBA career statistics

Regular season

Playoffs

Personal life After retiring from his 10-year NBA career, in 1978 Fox founded Sport Court of Arizona, which specializes in game court construction, outdoor recreation, performance sports products, and surfacing. Sport Court of Arizona serves residential communities and commercial properties in Scottsdale, Tucson, Phoenix and their surrounding areas.

In 2005, Fox was inducted into the South Carolina Athletic Hall of Fame.

His two sons, Mike and Jim Jr., who grew up on Sport Court products, have taken over the business since Jim Sr. has retired.

Fox has taken up watercolors in his retirement. He is a signature member of the Arizona Watercolor Association and the National Watercolor Society.

In 2018, Jim became a published illustrator with the debut of the bilingual picture book, Babies Nurse / Asi se alimentan los bebes written by his daughter-in-law, Phoebe Fox. He is also the illustrator of Babies Bond and the author/illustrator of The Legend of the Verde River Smelter House and The Legend of the Jekyll Island Submarine.

He is a grandfather of five and resides in Phoenix with his wife, Mary Alice.