Larry Staverman

Lawrence Joseph Staverman (October 11, 1936 – July 12, 2007) was an American professional basketball player and coach.

Basketball career A 6'7" forward from Villa Madonna College (now known as Thomas More College), Staverman was drafted in the 9th round of the 1958 NBA draft by the Cincinnati Royals. He had a five-year career as a player in the NBA, with the Royals, the Chicago Zephyrs/Baltimore Bullets, and the Detroit Pistons.

Coaching career Staverman was the first coach of the American Basketball Association's Indiana Pacers. He coached the team for its first season, where they went 38–40 and lost in a three-game sweep in the playoffs. According to his family, Staverman made sure to keep the game ball of the first Pacers game ever played.

He coached the first nine games of the next season before being replaced by Bobby Leonard. He later served as an interim coach for the Kansas City Kings in the 1977–78 season after they had won just thirteen of 37 games to start the year. He went 18–27 as the Kings finished dead last in the Western Conference. He was replaced by Cotton Fitzsimmons as head coach for the next season, although he stayed with the Kings until May 1981, when he resigned organization to join the Cleveland Browns as an assistant to the team president.

Career playing statistics

NBA Source

Regular season Year Team GP MPG FG% FT% RPG APG PPG Cincinnati 57 11.9 .470 .763 3.8 .9 4.3 Cincinnati 49 9.8 .470 .734 3.7 .7 3.8 Cincinnati 66 14.3 .446 .849 4.3 1.3 4.6 Chicago 33 18.2 .485 .790 4.8 1.3 7.2 Baltimore 6 16.5 .429 1.000 2.2 .3 2.7 Detroit 20 12.8 .537 .667 3.5 .6 5.7 Cincinnati 34 9.4 .414 .830 2.8 .5 4.0Career 265 12.8 .465 .785 3.8 .9 4.7

Playoffs Year Team GP MPG FG% FT% RPG APG PPG 1963 Cincinnati 7 10.0 .478 .789 3.7 .7 5.3

Head coaching record ABA/NBA