 Ferry as a senior at Saint Louis | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1937-05-31)May 31, 1937 St. Louis, Missouri, U.S. |
| Died | October 27, 2021(2021-10-27) (aged 84) Annapolis, Maryland, U.S. |
| Listed height | 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) |
| Listed weight | 230 lb (104 kg) |
| Career information | |
| High school | Cleveland (St. Louis, Missouri) |
| College | Saint Louis (1956–1959) |
| NBA draft | 1959:territorial pick |
| Drafted by | St. Louis Hawks |
| Playing career | 1959–1969 |
| Position | Power forward /center |
| Number | 20, 16, 12 |
| Coaching career | 1969–1973 |
| Career history | |
Playing | |
| 1959–1960 | St. Louis Hawks |
| 1960–1964 | Detroit Pistons |
| 1964–1969 | Baltimore Bullets |
Coaching | |
| 1969–1973 | Baltimore Bullets (assistant) |
| Career highlights | |
As player:
As executive: | |
| Career NBA statistics | |
| Points | 5,780 (9.1 ppg) |
| Rebounds | 3,343 (5.3 rpg) |
| Assists | 906 (1.4 apg) |
Stats at NBA.com  | |
| Stats atBasketball Reference | |
Robert Dean Ferry (May 31, 1937 – October 27, 2021) was an American professionalbasketball player, assistant coach, and general manager (GM) in theNational Basketball Association (NBA). He played for theSt. Louis Hawks,Detroit Pistons, andBaltimore Bullets from 1959 to 1969. He then served as GM of the Bullets from 1973 to 1990, overseeing the franchise's only NBA championship in1978. He playedcollege basketball forSaint Louis.
Ferry was born inSt. Louis on May 31, 1937, and was the oldest of four children.[1] His father, Willard, worked atFisher Body; his mother, Elsie, was a housewife who was also employed byPet, Inc.[1][2] He attendedCleveland High School,[2] where he played baseball, before concentrating on basketball.[1] Having been recruited byEddie Hickey, Ferry then studied atSaint Louis University, where he received All-America honors during hissenior year in 1959.[2][3] He graduated with a degree inGeneral Studies that same year,[1] and his number 43 was laterretired by theSaint Louis Billikens.[2] He was selected in the1959 NBA draft as theterritorial pick of theSt. Louis Hawks,[1] who had the seventh overall selection that year.[2][3]
Ferry made his NBA debut on October 24, 1959,[3] scoring one point on afree throw against theMinneapolis Lakers.[4] At the end of his rookie season, he was traded to theDetroit Pistons in exchange forEd Conlin. Ferry went on to lead the NBA ingames played in1960–61 (79) and1961–62 (80), while finishing eleventh infield goal percentage (.451) in the former season. After four seasons with the Pistons, he was traded to theBaltimore Bullets along withBailey Howell,Les Hunter,Wali Jones, andDon Ohl in an eight-player blockbuster deal on June 18, 1964, that included future Hall of FamerRod Thorn. Ferry ultimately played ten seasons in the NBA with the Hawks, Pistons, and Bullets, scoring 5,780 points to go along with 906assists and 3,343rebounds.[3]
After retiring as a player at the end of the1968–69 season due to an injury, Ferry remained with the Bullets and initially served as a scout and assistant coach toGene Shue. Ferry was credited with advising the franchise to selectWes Unseld in the1968 NBA draft. He was eventually promoted togeneral manager (GM) of the Bullets on June 13, 1973.[2][5] His son,Danny, joked that ownerAbe Pollin made Ferry GM because of the latter's success selling numerous advertisements for the Bullets' game programs, which gave management the impression that Ferry "must know a lot about business".[2]
During Ferry's tenure as GM from 1973 to 1990, the Bullets won their onlyNBA championship in1978 and made it to three other Finals: the Bullets lost to theMilwaukee Bucks in1971, theGolden State Warriors in1975 and theSeattle SuperSonics in1979. Ferry also won theNBA Executive of the Year Award in 1979 and 1982,[5] and was one of only 11 league GMs to win the award in multiple seasons at the time of his death.[6]
He was also one of four GMs in NBA history with at least 700 wins, 13playoff appearances, and one championship, the others beingR. C. Buford,Jerry West, andJerry Krause.[2][7] Ferry was responsible for hiringK. C. Jones (1973) and Unseld (1988), becoming the second GM in the NBA (afterRed Auerbach) to hire two African-American head coaches on a permanent basis.[1][7]
Ferry quit as the Bullets GM on June 12, 1990,[5] on the heels of two subpar seasons, having come to a mutual agreement with Pollin that the franchise was in need of a change in administration.[1] He then became a scout for theCleveland Cavaliers, the Hawks (who relocated to Atlanta), and theBrooklyn Nets over the next quarter of a century.[1][7][8] He also had a brief stint onThe NBA on NBC as an "Insider" alongsidePeter Vescey in the early 1990s.[9] He participated in a senior basketball league until he was in his 70s, and also took up tennis and golf.[2] In the 31 seasons from his retirement until his death, the since-renamed Wizards advanced to the playoffs just ten times.[1][2]
Ferry was married to Rita Brooks for over sixty years until his death. They met at Saint Louis University. Together, they had three children: Bob Jr.,Danny, and Laura.[1][2] Danny had a thirteen-year NBA playing career,[10] and later was general manager of the Cleveland Cavaliers andAtlanta Hawks.[11] Bob Jr. played forDematha Catholic High School andHarvard University. Laura is a professor atGeorgetown University and marketing executive in the DC Metro area.[2]
Ferry was a practicingCatholic. His family initially resided inBowie, Maryland, before relocating toAnnapolis.[2] He died on October 27, 2021, atAnne Arundel Medical Center in Annapolis. He suffered frommelanoma and a heart condition, and was hospitalized for 12 days prior to his death at the age of 84.[1][2][7]
| GP | Games played | GS | Games started | MPG | Minutes per game |
| FG% | Field goal percentage | 3P% | 3-point field goal percentage | FT% | Free throw percentage |
| RPG | Rebounds per game | APG | Assists per game | SPG | Steals per game |
| BPG | Blocks per game | PPG | Points per game | Bold | Career high |
| * | Led the league |
Source[3]
| Year | Team | GP | MPG | FG% | FT% | RPG | APG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1959–60 | St. Louis | 62 | 14.1 | .426 | .639 | 3.8 | .6 | 5.9 |
| 1960–61 | Detroit | 79* | 21.0 | .451 | .741 | 6.3 | 1.6 | 11.3 |
| 1961–62 | Detroit | 80* | 24.0 | .438 | .678 | 6.3 | 1.8 | 13.9 |
| 1962–63 | Detroit | 79 | 31.4 | .433 | .649 | 6.8 | 2.2 | 13.6 |
| 1963–64 | Detroit | 74 | 20.6 | .445 | .667 | 5.8 | 1.3 | 10.6 |
| 1964–65 | Baltimore | 77 | 16.6 | .423 | .613 | 4.6 | .8 | 5.3 |
| 1965–66 | Baltimore | 66 | 18.6 | .411 | .669 | 5.1 | 1.7 | 7.3 |
| 1966–67 | Baltimore | 51 | 19.4 | .419 | .636 | 5.1 | 1.8 | 6.5 |
| 1967–68 | Baltimore | 59 | 14.3 | .412 | .624 | 3.2 | 1.0 | 5.6 |
| 1968–69 | Baltimore | 7 | 5.1 | .357 | .500 | 1.3 | .6 | 1.9 |
| Career | 634 | 20.2 | .433 | .664 | 5.3 | 1.4 | 9.1 | |
| Year | Team | GP | MPG | FG% | FT% | RPG | APG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960 | St. Louis | 11 | 5.1 | .526 | .571 | 1.4 | .0 | 2.2 |
| 1961 | Detroit | 5 | 33.4 | .405 | .837 | 12.6 | 2.2 | 20.2 |
| 1962 | Detroit | 9 | 18.4 | .457 | .605 | 4.6 | 1.4 | 11.1 |
| 1963 | Detroit | 4 | 35.8 | .444 | .333 | 8.8 | 2.8 | 12.0 |
| 1965 | Baltimore | 10 | 6.7 | .438 | .222 | 1.9 | .8 | 1.6 |
| 1966 | Baltimore | 3 | 27.3 | .550 | .692 | 8.3 | 1.0 | 10.3 |
| Career | 42 | 16.2 | .451 | .621 | 4.7 | 1.1 | 7.6 | |
