1. Zelmo "Big Z" Beaty was an American basketball player.
15 Facts About Zelmo Beaty
1. 2.
Zelmo Beaty played eight seasons in the National Basketball Association and four in the rival American Basketball Association.
3.
Zelmo Beaty attended the segregated Scott High School in Woodville, Texas, and played for coach John Payton, winning back-to-back Prairie View Interscholastic League 1A state championships in 1957 and 1958.
4.
Zelmo Beaty was selected with the third pick of the 1962 NBA draft by the St Louis Hawks.
5.
Zelmo Beaty was named to the inaugural NBA All-Rookie Team in 1963, along with Dave DeBusschere, Terry Dischinger, John Havlicek and Chet Walker.
6.
Zelmo Beaty averaged more than 20 points per game in three different seasons, and over ten rebounds per game in six of his seven seasons with the Hawks.
7.
In 1969, Zelmo Beaty left the NBA to play in the rival American Basketball Association.
8.
In total, Zelmo Beaty played four seasons with the Stars, being named to the All-ABA Second Team twice and making the ABA All-Star Game three times, before returning to the NBA as a member of the Los Angeles Lakers.
9.
Zelmo Beaty served as president of the ABA's Player Association, as well as union player representative with the Hawks.
10.
Zelmo Beaty worked at a bank in Southern California during the year between playing for the Hawks and Stars.
11.
Zelmo Beaty worked as a substitute physical education teacher in Seattle elementary schools.
12.
Zelmo Beaty went into the unruliest schools in Washington State because he wanted Afro American kids to have a chance to learn.
13.
Zelmo Beaty died from cancer on August 27,2013, at his home in Bellevue, Washington.
14.
Zelmo Beaty had been married to his wife for about 50 years, and had two children.
15.
Zelmo Beaty was selected to be inducted into the 2014 National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame class, the 2015 Texas Sports Hall of Fame class, and the 2016 Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame class.