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The Spurs are no. 40 of the 50 biggest stars of 50 years: the "long gunner" on the bench - Chuck Person

author:Mason Station

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This season marks the Spurs' fiftieth year of roots in San Antonio. In the five decades of the NBA's upheavals, insistence on team culture and stability has always been the label of the San Antonio Spurs, and the key to displaying these qualities lies in the generations of Spurs players. In addition to the three epoch-making superstars George Gervin, David Robinson and Tim Duncan, the Spurs are also known for developing and discovering international players ahead of the curve, a model that has made them one of the most successful teams in NBA history. As we begin the countdown to the new season, we'll look back at the Silver and Black Army's top 50 stars in history. Every day countdown, we launch a big 50.

Nicknamed the "Spearman", he came to the Spurs in the twilight of his career and became the team's three-point king, but left a year before winning the championship

40th: Chuck Person

The Spurs are no. 40 of the 50 biggest stars of 50 years: the "long gunner" on the bench - Chuck Person

The San Antonio Spurs are not a team known for their three-point range, which was held by a bench veteran until Danny Green set a new single-season three-point record (191) in 2015, and he held the league bench record for a single-season three-pointer for a long time — until it was broken by the Suns' Mirza Teletović in 2016. The veteran is Chuck Person, who has the nickname "Lancers", interestingly, his nickname is not only because he is good at three points, but also because his mother is very fond of Chuck Connors, the star of the hit drama "The Rifleman", so she named him Chuck Connors Person!

Chuck Person, a legendary star at Auburn University, contributed far more to the team than teammate Charles Barkley. He played 126 games for the Tigers in four years, scoring 2,311 points, making him the team's all-time scorer, the highest-ranking player in school history in terms of shots (1899) and shots (1017), and third in rebounds (940). In 1985 and '86, he was named to the All-America Team for two consecutive years, led the team to March Madness three times, reached the Elite Quarterfinals once, won an SEC Regional Championship, and retired his No. 45 jersey at Auburn University in 2006.

The Spurs are no. 40 of the 50 biggest stars of 50 years: the "long gunner" on the bench - Chuck Person

In the 1986 draft, Chuck Person was selected by the Pacers with the fourth pick in the first round. As the overlord of the ABA, the Pacers have far outperformed the Spurs and Nuggets after entering the NBA, and have only made the playoffs once in a decade, and Person's arrival has given them hope. Person averaged 18.8 points, 8.3 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 1.1 steals per game in his rookie season, becoming the team's top scorer and rebounding king, and led the team to the playoffs for the second time. In the first round against the Eagles led by Wilkins, the "essence of human cinema", although the Pacers eventually lost 1:3, Person's newborn calves were not afraid of the tigers, averaging a staggering 27 points, 8.3 rebounds, 5 assists and 1.3 steals per game, including a career-high 17 rebounds and 40 points in the third and fourth games, respectively. At the end of the season, Person was unanimously elected Best Rookie.

The Spurs are no. 40 of the 50 biggest stars of 50 years: the "long gunner" on the bench - Chuck Person

In the next two seasons, the Pacers welcomed three future key players, Reggie Miller, Schlemf and Rick Schmitz, and Person also improved his scoring average to a career-high 21.6 points per game, but the team missed the playoffs for two consecutive years. In the '89-90 season, the Pacers finally made it to the playoffs again, while Person gradually transformed into a fixed-point pitcher on the periphery, ceding the main attacker and boss seat to Miller. The playoffs were relegated to the third scoring point, averaging just 13.3 points per game, shooting less than 40 percent, and the Pacers were swept out by the Pistons. In the 90-91 season, the Pacers made the playoffs for the first time in two consecutive years, but once again went out in the first round, but Person played an unforgettable performance in the series against the Celtics, facing the "big bird" Bird at the end of his career, he not only averaged 26 points per game, averaging 3.4 three-pointers per game with a staggering 54.8% shooting rate, but also made the big bird angry with the garbage.

The Spurs are no. 40 of the 50 biggest stars of 50 years: the "long gunner" on the bench - Chuck Person

When the Pacers lost to the Celtics for the second year in a row in the '91-92 season and fell back in the first round of the playoffs for the third straight year, the intolerable management was determined to take a shot at the lineup and send Person to the Minnesota Timberwolves. In his six years at Indiana, he played 479 games and started 461 games, averaging 19.0 points, 6.3 rebounds and 3.6 assists per game. Person didn't stay in Minnesota for long, and in his second season he began to fall off the bench with rookie Leddell, becoming a role player altogether, averaging 11.6 points per game. In the summer of 1994, Person's contract expired, and the Spurs, who were in desperate need of replenishing their outside firepower, were hit by the spurs as the main shooter left the team in urgent need of replenishing their outside firepower, and the two sides hit it off, so San Antonio became the next stop for the "long gunner".

Person, who set a new career low in playing time, lived up to expectations and took his already good three-pointers to the extreme, shooting 172 three-pointers in the regular season, breaking the record of 131 that Ellis had just set the previous season, and he only started in 81 games, and 164 substitute three-pointers also set the NBA record at the time (which was not broken by Teletovic until more than 20 years later). Under his influence, Elliott, who didn't necessarily excel in three-pointers early in his career, also improved his season three-point shooting to 136 (never before breaking 50). The newly rehabilitated horse stabbed into the Western Conference Finals, achieving the best record of the David Robinson era.

The Spurs are no. 40 of the 50 biggest stars of 50 years: the "long gunner" on the bench - Chuck Person

In the 95-96 season, Person continued his three-point momentum, breaking his own and his team's three-point record again, shooting 190 three-pointers with 41 percent shooting (until 191 by Danny Green in 2015) and 28 consecutive three-pointers (until 31 games by Brin Forbes in 2019). Interestingly, as if it were a team game, Elliott also set a new personal three-point record, shooting 161. In the playoffs, despite spurs losing to the Utah Jazz in the semifinals, Person played his best playoff performance with the Spurs, averaging 12.1 points per game and averaging 2.5 three-pointers per game with a 53.2 percent shooting rate — another team record (broken by Danny Green with 2.6 in the 12-13 season).

The Spurs are no. 40 of the 50 biggest stars of 50 years: the "long gunner" on the bench - Chuck Person

In 1996, the wave of injuries swept through San Antonio, David Robinson and Elliott were long-term absent due to injuries, and the 32-year-old Person was not spared, and he was reimbursed for the season due to a back injury. When he returned to the game, he was in much worse shape, hitting a total of 95 three-pointers this season, ending his record of more than 100 hits in five consecutive seasons, while also ceding the team's top three-pointer and sixth-man position to the new arrival Jaylen Jackson. Still, Person Sr. worked hard to set the record, and on December 30, 1997, in a game against the Grizzlies, he made 14 shots from outside the three-point line and hit nine goals — a record in Spurs history to this day. At the end of the season, spurs, eager for championship experience, sent him to the Bulls in exchange for Steve Kerr (who missed the team's first title in '99).

Person didn't play for the Bulls, and he then played a season each for the Charlotte Hornets and Seattle Supersonics, with fewer and fewer roles. In 2000, he was traded to the Lakers by supersonics, who cut him, and he immediately announced his retirement (missing OK's first crown again). After retiring from the army, Person has served as an assistant coach in the Cavaliers, Kings and Lakers, and has also returned to his old club Pacers as a player relations assistant and scout, and in 2009, as an assistant coach of Zen Masters, he won the championship with the Lakers, which is a small compensation for the regrets of the player era. After leaving the Lakers, he moved to Asia to become an assistant coach for the K-League all-state Aegis. In 2014, he accepted an invitation from his alma mater, Auburn University, to join the teaching assistantship, but after a recruitment and bribery scandal broke out in 2017, Person announced his resignation.

The Spurs are no. 40 of the 50 biggest stars of 50 years: the "long gunner" on the bench - Chuck Person

Because of his age and injury, Chuck Person played just three seasons for the Spurs, starting just 28 of 222 games and averaging 9.7 points per game. However, he set a series of team records on three-point shooting that no one could shake for twenty years, and it began with him, Jaylen Jackson, Steve Cole, Robert Holly, Brent Barry, Mike Finley, Matt Bonner, Gary Neal, Marco Belinelli, Patti Mills... One shooter after another who stepped up from the bench wrote countless great chapters for Alamo City.

Next: A lost draft from Michigan who eventually became the starting backcourt for the Silver and Blacks and returned to Holy City after winning the championship.

(Text/Mu Yan 1199)