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Ed Macauley

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Ed Macauley
Macauley in Saint Louis, 1948
Personal information
Born(1928-03-22)March 22, 1928
St. Louis, Missouri, U.S.
DiedNovember 8, 2011(2011-11-08) (aged 83)
St. Louis, Missouri, U.S.
Listed height6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)
Listed weight185 lb (84 kg)
Career information
High schoolSt. Louis University HS
(St. Louis, Missouri)
CollegeSaint Louis (1945–1949)
BAA draft1949: territorial pick
Selected by the St. Louis Bombers
Playing career1949–1959
PositionCenter / power forward
Number50, 22, 20
Coaching career1958–1960
Career history
As player:
1949–1950St. Louis Bombers
1950–1956Boston Celtics
1956–1959St. Louis Hawks
As coach:
1958–1960St. Louis Hawks
Career highlights and awards
As player:

As coach:

Career statistics
Points11,234 (17.5 ppg)
Rebounds4,324 (7.5 rpg)
Assists2,079 (3.2 apg)
Stats at NBA.com Edit this at Wikidata
Stats at Basketball Reference Edit this at Wikidata
Basketball Hall of Fame
Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame

Charles Edward Macauley (March 22, 1928 – November 8, 2011) was a professional basketball player and coach. His playing nickname was "Easy Ed".[1] Macauley played in the National Basketball Association (NBA) from 1949 to 1959 for the St. Louis Bombers, Boston Celtics, and St. Louis Hawks. During his career, Macauley earned seven All-Star selections and won a championship with the Hawks in 1958. He played college basketball for Saint Louis.

Early life

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Macauley attended St. Louis University High School, where he excelled in basketball.[2]

College career

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Macauley attended Saint Louis University, where his team won the NIT championship in 1948. Macauley was named the "AP Player of the Year" in 1949.[2] Macauley acquired his nickname of "Easy Ed" during a pre-game warmup in his sophomore year, when fans shouted "Take it easy, Ed" because he (the captain of the team) did not realize that the national anthem was being played when he left the locker room and ran out onto the court.[3]

Professional career

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Macauley with the Boston Celtics c. 1950

Macauley played professional basketball for the St. Louis Bombers, Boston Celtics, and St. Louis Hawks.

St. Louis Bombers (1949–1950)

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The Bombers selected Macauley with the fifth overall pick in the 1949 BAA Draft.[4]

Boston Celtics (1950–1956)

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After playing one season with the Bombers, Macauley was chosen by the Celtics in a 1950 dispersal draft. He played for the Celtics in the NBA from the 1950–51 season through the 1955–56 season.[5] Macauley was named MVP of the first NBA All-Star Game[5] (he played in the first seven) and he was named to the NBA's All-NBA First Team in three consecutive seasons. He was named to the All-NBA second team for the only time in the 1953–54 season while also leading in field goal percentage.

St. Louis Hawks (1956–1959)

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Macauley was traded from the Boston Celtics to the St. Louis Hawks on the day of the 1956 NBA draft (April 29, 1956). He and Cliff Hagan were sent to the Hawks for Bill Russell,[5] who was drafted as the second overall pick in the draft that day. For his part, Macauley convinced reluctant Celtics owner Walter A. Brown to trade him to St. Louis, as Macauley's son had been diagnosed with spinal meningitis and was in St. Louis receiving care.[6] All three players would eventually make the Hall of Fame, although Russell is considered one of the greatest players in league history.

Macauley made the NBA Finals in 1957, averaging 14.9 points and 5.9 rebounds per game in the seven-game series. The Hawks were defeated by the Celtics (who were making their first Finals appearance in team history) in seven games.[7] In the 1958 NBA Finals, the Hawks faced the Boston Celtics. The Hawks had four future Hall of Famers, while the Celtics had eight. Macauley averaged 5.8 points and 6.3 rebounds in the series, which the Hawks won in seven games.[8]

Macauley was named player-coach of the Hawks for the 1958–59 season, and he played in 14 regular-season games before retiring as a player. After leading the Hawks to the 1960 NBA Finals (which they lost in seven games to the Celtics), Macauley retired from coaching. In the two years Macauley coached the Hawks, he led them to an 89–48 record and a 9–11 playoff record.

Broadcasting career

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After retiring from basketball, Macauley became a sportscaster at KTVI, a St. Louis television station.[9]

Post-playing career

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In 1989, Macauley was ordained a deacon of the Catholic Church.[10] With Father Francis Friedl, he co-authored the book Homilies Alive: Creating Homilies That Hit Home.[11]

Basketball legacy

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Macauley (left) becoming coach of Saint Louis in November 1958

Macauley scored 11,234 points in ten NBA seasons and was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1960. At age 32, he still holds the record for being the youngest male player to be admitted.[12] His uniform number 22 was retired by the Celtics on October 16, 1963, the same date when the Celtics retired the number of his teammate, Bob Cousy. Macauley was also awarded a star on the St. Louis Walk of Fame.[5][13] As of 2019, Macauley was one of only two Celtics to have his number retired without having won a championship with the team; the other was Reggie Lewis.[14]

Personal life

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Macauley and his wife, Jackie, had seven children and 17 grandchildren. He suffered from Alzheimer's disease.[10] Macauley died on November 8, 2011, at his home in St. Louis at the age of 83.[3]

NBA career statistics

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Legend
  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 an NBA championship  *  Led the league

Regular season

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Year Team GP MPG FG% FT% RPG APG PPG
1949–50 St. Louis 67 – .398 .718 – 3.0 16.1
1950–51 Boston 68 – .466 .759 9.1 3.7 20.4
1951–52 Boston 66 39.9 .432 .799 8.0 3.5 19.2
1952–53 Boston 69 42.1 .452* .750 9.1 4.1 20.3
1953–54 Boston 71 39.3 .486* .758 8.0 3.8 18.9
1954–55 Boston 71 38.1 .424 .792 8.5 3.9 17.6
1955–56 Boston 71 33.2 .422 .794 5.9 3.0 17.5
1956–57 St. Louis 72 35.9 .419 .749 6.1 2.8 16.5
1957–58† St. Louis 72 26.5 .428 .724 6.6 2.0 14.2
1958–59 St. Louis 14 14.0 .293 .600 2.9 0.9 4.6
Career 641 35.7 .436 .761 7.5 3.2 17.5
All-Star 7 22.0 .387 .854 4.6 2.6 11.9

Playoffs

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Year Team GP MPG FG% FT% RPG APG PPG
1951 Boston 2 – .472 .625 9.0 4.0 20.4
1952 Boston 3 43.0 .551 .842 11.0 3.7 23.3
1953 Boston 6 46.3 .437 .722 9.7 3.5 16.8
1954 Boston 5 25.4 .364 .692 4.2 4.2 5.0
1955 Boston 7 40.4 .462 .759 7.4 4.6 18.1
1956 Boston 3 24.3 .400 .636 5.0 1.7 10.3
1957 St. Louis 10 29.7 .404 .730 6.2 2.2 14.2
1958† St. Louis 11 20.6 .404 .720 5.6 1.6 9.8
Career 47 31.4 .437 .729 6.8 2.9 13.8

References

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  1. ^ "Basketball Hall of Famer 'Easy Ed' Macauley dies at 83", USA Today, November 9, 2011
  2. ^ a b "The Ed Macauley Interview". Celtic-Nation.org. October 27, 2018.
  3. ^ a b Timmermann, Tom (November 9, 2011), "SLU great 'Easy Ed' Macauley dies", St. Louis Post-Dispatch
  4. ^ "Ed Macauley Stats, Height, Weight, Position, Draft Status and more". Basketball-Reference.com.
  5. ^ a b c d "Hall of Famer, former Celtic Macauley dies at 83". ESPN.com. November 9, 2011.
  6. ^ Milligan, Rashad (May 17, 2020). "Looking back: The time Bill Russell never played for the Hawks because of racism". Peachtreehoops.com. Retrieved June 6, 2022.
  7. ^ "1957 NBA Finals - Hawks vs. Celtics". Basketball-Reference.com. Archived from the original on June 3, 2022. Retrieved June 6, 2022.
  8. ^ "1958 NBA Finals - Hawks vs. Celtics". Basketball-Reference.com. Archived from the original on April 14, 2022. Retrieved June 6, 2022.
  9. ^ "'Easy Ed' Macauley dead at 83". Alton Telegraph. November 9, 2011.
  10. ^ a b "Deacon, Hall of Famer 'Easy Ed' Macauley dies". www.ncronline.org.
  11. ^ Macauley, Ed; Francis P. Friedl (1994). Homilies alive: creating homilies that hit home. Mystic, Connecticut: Twenty-Third Publications. ISBN 0-89622-574-7.
  12. ^ Martin, Douglas (November 9, 2011), "Ed Macauley, Basketball Hall of Famer, Dies at 83", The New York Times
  13. ^ "St. Louis Walk of Fame Inductees". St. Louis Walk of Fame. Archived from the original on October 31, 2012. Retrieved April 25, 2013.
  14. ^ Tommy McArdle (February 21, 2019). "Every retired number for the Celtics and who wore it". Boston.com. Retrieved February 19, 2020.
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