| Personal information | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Born | (1951-12-03)December 3, 1951 (age 73) Maywood, Illinois, U.S. | ||||||||||||||
| Listed height | 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) | ||||||||||||||
| Listed weight | 210 lb (95 kg) | ||||||||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||||||||
| High school | Proviso East (Maywood, Illinois) | ||||||||||||||
| College | Minnesota (1970–1973) | ||||||||||||||
| NBA draft | 1973: 1st round, 2nd overall pick | ||||||||||||||
| Drafted by | Cleveland Cavaliers | ||||||||||||||
| Playing career | 1973–1985 | ||||||||||||||
| Position | Power forward | ||||||||||||||
| Number | 52, 42, 40, 8 | ||||||||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||||||||
| 1973–1979 | Cleveland Cavaliers | ||||||||||||||
| 1979 | Detroit Pistons | ||||||||||||||
| 1979–1980 | Portland Trail Blazers | ||||||||||||||
| 1980–1982 | Los Angeles Lakers | ||||||||||||||
| 1982–1985 | Ford / Jollycolombani Cantù | ||||||||||||||
| Career highlights | |||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||
| Career NBA statistics | |||||||||||||||
| Points | 4,099 (5.8 ppg) | ||||||||||||||
| Rebounds | 4,458 (6.3 rpg) | ||||||||||||||
| Assists | 1,038 (1.5 apg) | ||||||||||||||
Stats at NBA.com  | |||||||||||||||
| Stats atBasketball Reference | |||||||||||||||
Medals
| |||||||||||||||
James Turner Brewer (born December 3, 1951) is an American former professionalNational Basketball Association (NBA) player.
Brewer was the first notable player to come out ofProviso East High School, which has one of the most successful high school basketball programs inIllinois. In 1969, Brewer, playing center, led his team to the first of four state championships. Brewer was followed at Proviso East by other future NBA players, notablyDoc Rivers,Michael Finley,Dee Brown,Shannon Brown,Sterling Brown, andJevon Carter.
The 6'9" 210-pound forward then attended theUniversity of Minnesota. One of his teammates was futureBaseball Hall-of-FamerDave Winfield. He is infamous for his role in a 1972 brawl in Minneapolis, where white Ohio State centerLuke Witte was assaulted by fellow Gophers Corky Taylor andRon Behagen in a game. The fight escalated when Brewer repeatedly struck Witte's white teammate Dave Merchant in the face.
Brewer played in the1972 Summer Olympics, including the United States' controversial loss to the Soviet Union in the gold medal game, being violently injured byAlexander Belov during the free-throw in the second half and unable to continue playing.[1][2] The referees failed to properly assess the flagrant foul. After the Olympics, Brewer was drafted by theCleveland Cavaliers in the first round (2nd pick) of the1973 NBA draft.
Whenever Brewer scored a basket at a Cavaliers home game, the public address announcer would declare, "Two for the Brew!" Brewer played nine seasons in the NBA from 1973 to 1982. Then he played withPallacanestro Cantù in ItalianSerie A along with players asPierluigi Marzorati andAntonello Riva with coachGiancarlo Primo. He won aEuroleague and was anIntercontinental Cup finalist.
Brewer is the uncle of former NBA player and currentMilwaukee Bucks head coachGlenn "Doc" Rivers and the great-uncle of Doc's son, former NBA point guard,Austin Rivers.[3]
In 2007, theIllinois High School Association named Brewer one of the100 Legends of the IHSA Boys Basketball Tournament.[4]
| 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 |
| † | Won anNBA championship | * | Led the league |
Source[5]
| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1973–74 | Cleveland | 82* | 22.7 | .383 | .650 | 6.4 | 1.8 | .6 | .4 | 6.1 | ||
| 1974–75 | Cleveland | 82 | 24.3 | .455 | .648 | 6.2 | 1.6 | .9 | .5 | 8.4 | ||
| 1975–76 | Cleveland | 82 | 82 | 35.5 | .458 | .654 | 10.9 | 2.5 | 1.1 | 1.1 | 11.5 | |
| 1976–77 | Cleveland | 81 | 33.0 | .451 | .545 | 9.4 | 2.4 | 1.2 | 1.0 | 8.5 | ||
| 1977–78 | Cleveland | 80 | 22.5 | .449 | .460 | 6.2 | 1.2 | .8 | .6 | 5.0 | ||
| 1978–79 | Cleveland | 55 | 23.7 | .440 | .479 | 6.7 | 1.3 | .9 | 1.0 | 4.6 | ||
| 1978–79 | Detroit | 25 | 12.4 | .450 | .200 | 4.2 | .5 | .5 | .4 | 2.3 | ||
| 1979–80 | Portland | 67 | 15.2 | .489 | .000 | .483 | 3.8 | 1.1 | .6 | .6 | 2.9 | |
| 1980–81 | L.A. Lakers | 78 | 14.2 | .513 | .000 | .375 | 3.6 | .7 | .6 | .7 | 2.8 | |
| 1981–82† | L.A. Lakers | 71 | 9 | 13.6 | .463 | .167 | .368 | 3.7 | .6 | .5 | .6 | 2.4 |
| Career | 703 | 91 | 22.7 | .448 | .077 | .571 | 6.3 | 1.5 | .8 | .7 | 5.8 | |
| Year | Team | GP | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1976 | Cleveland | 13 | 37.6 | .436 | .542 | 10.8 | 2.8 | 1.0 | .9 | 8.8 | |
| 1977 | Cleveland | 3 | 37.7 | .407 | 1.000 | 12.0 | 1.7 | 1.3 | 1.3 | 7.7 | |
| 1978 | Cleveland | 1 | 9.0 | .000 | .000 | .0 | .0 | .0 | .0 | .0 | |
| 1980 | Portland | 3 | 22.3 | 1.000 | – | .333 | 5.3 | 1.0 | 1.7 | .7 | 7.0 |
| 1981 | L.A. Lakers | 3 | 2.3 | – | – | – | .3 | .0 | .0 | .0 | .0 |
| 1982† | L.A. Lakers | 8 | 7.1 | .500 | – | 1.4 | .5 | .3 | .8 | .8 | |
| Career | 31 | 23.9 | .469 | – | .519 | 6.6 | 1.6 | .8 | .8 | 5.3 | |
· Basketball Reference
