| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1941-05-09)May 9, 1941 Toledo, Ohio, U.S. |
| Died | March 22, 2009(2009-03-22) (aged 67) Toledo, Ohio, U.S. |
| Listed height | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) |
| Listed weight | 185 lb (84 kg) |
| Career information | |
| High school | Woodward (Toledo, Ohio) |
| College | Bowling Green (1961–1964) |
| NBA draft | 1964: 2nd round, 13th overall pick |
| Selected by theNew York Knicks | |
| Playing career | 1964–1974 |
| Position | Point guard |
| Number | 16, 30, 5, 15 |
| Career history | |
| 1964–1968 | New York Knicks |
| 1968–1972 | Detroit Pistons |
| 1972–1973 | Buffalo Braves |
| 1973–1974 | Kansas City-Omaha Kings |
| Career highlights and awards | |
| |
| Career NBA statistics | |
| Points | 7,550 (10.2 ppg) |
| Rebounds | 1,804 (2.4 rpg) |
| Assists | 2,941 (4.0 apg) |
Stats at NBA.com  | |
| Stats atBasketball Reference | |
Howard K. "Butch" Komives (/ˈkoʊmaɪvz/KOH-myvze;[1] May 9, 1941 – March 22, 2009) was an American professionalbasketball player who spent ten seasons in theNational Basketball Association (NBA) with theNew York Knicks,Detroit Pistons,Buffalo Braves andKansas City-Omaha Kings.
Born inToledo, Ohio, he graduated fromWoodward High School in 1960.
Komives playedcollege basketball atBowling Green State University (BGSU), where he led the team in scoring in each of his three varsity seasons. As a startingshooting guard, he teamed withNate Thurmond, the school's all-time leadingrebounder, to lead the Falcons to back-to-backMid-American Conference (MAC) championships andNCAA tournament appearances in 1962 and 1963.
Despite Thurmond'sgraduation and the team's fall to third place in the conference, Komives led theNational Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in scoring during the 1963–64 season with 36.7 points per game, still BGSU and MAC records.[2] Even though he no longer is the school's all-time leading scorer (his 1,834 total points is currently third), his 25.8 scoring average is still a Falcons record. Komives still holds the Bowling Green single game scoring record of sixty six points. In this game, he was guarded by Sumner Goldstein, who would later go on to become an attorney.
He was inducted into the BGSU Athletics Hall of Fame in 1970. His son Shane was a four-year basketballletterman at the same school from 1993 to 1996.
Komives was selected thirteenth overall in the second round by the New York Knicks in the1964 NBA draft.[3] He was named to theAll-Rookie Team in1965, after starting in every regular-season match and averaging 12.2 points per game. After the Knicks acquiredDick Barnett prior to the1965–66 season, Komives was shifted topoint guard, a position with which he struggled, drawing the wrath of Knicks fans. The most productive campaign of his professional career was in1967, when his averages per contest were 15.7 points and 6.2 assists.[1]
By the timeRed Holzman became the Knicks'coach midway through the1967–68 season, Komives was involved in a personal feud withCazzie Russell that negatively affected the rest of the team. Russell was an ardent supporter of Richard Nixon in the 1968 Presidential election, while Komives worked for the Hubert Humphrey campaign.[4] With the emergence ofWalt Frazier as the starting point guard, Komives was traded along withWalt Bellamy to the Pistons forDave DeBusschere on December 19, 1968. DeBusschere would become the last major addition to the Knicks before it won its firstNBA Championship in1970.
In 2007, Komives was inducted into the Ohio Basketball Hall of Fame.[5]
Komives died atUniversity of Toledo Medical Center on March 22, 2009, at age 67. His wife Marcia had found him unconscious and unresponsive in their home three days earlier.[6]
| 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[7]
| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1964–65 | New York | 80* | 63 | 29.7 | .374 | .835 | 2.4 | 3.3 | 12.2 | ||
| 1965–66 | New York | 80* | 79 | 32.7 | .391 | .861 | 3.5 | 5.3 | 13.9 | ||
| 1966–67 | New York | 65 | 4 | 35.1 | .404 | .858 | 2.8 | 6.2 | 15.7 | ||
| 1967–68 | New York | 78 | 6 | 21.3 | .369 | .820 | 2.2 | 3.2 | 7.7 | ||
| 1968–69 | New York | 32 | 26 | 26.1 | .346 | .849 | 3.0 | 4.3 | 9.0 | ||
| 1968–69 | Detroit | 53 | 32.6 | .409 | .775 | 3.8 | 5.0 | 12.9 | |||
| 1969–70 | Detroit | 82* | 29.5 | .413 | .812 | 2.4 | 3.8 | 11.2 | |||
| 1970–71 | Detroit | 82 | 23.6 | .385 | .801 | 1.9 | 3.2 | 8.2 | |||
| 1971–72 | Detroit | 79 | 26.2 | .373 | .808 | 2.2 | 3.7 | 8.7 | |||
| 1972–73 | Buffalo | 67 | 21.9 | .380 | .867 | 1.8 | 3.6 | 6.1 | |||
| 1973–74 | Kansas City–Omaha | 44 | 18.9 | .406 | .868 | 1.0 | 2.2 | .7 | .1 | 4.3 | |
| Career | 742 | 178 | 27.2 | .388 | .830 | 2.4 | 4.0 | .7 | .1 | 10.2 | |
| Year | Team | GP | MPG | FG% | FT% | RPG | APG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1967 | New York | 4 | 32.0 | .271 | .769 | 2.8 | 3.8 | 10.5 |
| 1968 | New York | 6 | 22.5 | .341 | .667 | 2.3 | 3.8 | 5.7 |
| Career | 10 | 26.3 | .301 | .737 | 2.5 | 3.8 | 7.6 | |