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John Q. Trapp

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John Q. Trapp
Trapp, circa 1969
Personal information
Born (1945-10-02) October 2, 1945 (age 79)
Detroit, Michigan, U.S.
Listed height6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)
Listed weight210 lb (95 kg)
Career information
High schoolHighland Park
(Highland Park, Michigan)
College
NBA draft1968: 2nd round, 15th overall pick
Selected by the San Diego Rockets
Playing career1968–1973
PositionPower forward
Number31, 24
Career history
1968–1971San Diego Rockets
1971–1972Los Angeles Lakers
1972–1973Philadelphia 76ers
1973Denver Rockets
Career highlights and awards
Career statistics
Points2,193 (7.2 ppg)
Rebounds1,320 (4.4 rpg)
Assists303 (1.0 apg)
Stats at NBA.com Edit this at Wikidata
Stats at Basketball Reference Edit this at Wikidata

John Quincy Trapp (born October 2, 1945) is an American retired professional basketball player.[1]

A 6'7" forward from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, Trapp played five seasons (1968–1973) in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the San Diego Rockets, Los Angeles Lakers, and Philadelphia 76ers. He averaged 7.4 points per game in his NBA career and won a league championship with the Lakers in 1972.[1]

When Trapp arrived in Philadelphia via a trade with the Lakers, it made a modicum of sense on paper. Despite his limited minutes with the world champion Lakers, Trapp was known as a strong defender and rebounder. He had his moments with a team that would finish 9-73, the worst record in NBA history for a team that completed a full 82-game schedule. For instance, during a game against the Boston Celtics, he covered John Havlicek so well that Celtics coach Tom Heinsohn made it a point to praise him after the game. However, he was not well liked in the Sixers locker room. According to one of his teammates, Fred Carter, "Trapp played with a chip on his shoulder, but it was too big." It showed during his first game after coming to Philadelphia, when he was subbed out after only two minutes (out of five total) against the Kansas City-Omaha Kings; he cursed loudly enough to be heard in the cheap seats of The Spectrum. Later, after being suspended for skipping practice, Trapp was seen drinking Coke spiked with bourbon whiskey on the bench.[2] In a December game against Detroit, Trapp told head coach Roy Rubin to look at one of his friends sitting behind the bench at Cobo Arena when Rubin tried to sub him out. The friend opened his jacket to show a gun; Trapp stayed in the game.[3] It proved to be one of his last games in a Sixers uniform, though the timing of his departure depends on the source. According to an ESPN post-mortem on the 1972-73 Sixers, Kevin Loughery waived Trapp soon after taking over as player-coach in January 1973.[2] However, according to a 2013 article in the Philadelphia Daily News, the Sixers unloaded Trapp earlier in January, before Rubin was fired in favor of Loughery.[3]

Trapp finished out the 1972–73 season with the American Basketball Association's Denver Rockets, and never played a meaningful basketball game again.[3][4]

Personal life

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Trapp's younger brother, George, also played at Pasadena City College (PCC) and in the NBA before dying in 2002.[5] Both of the Trapp brothers are in the PCC Athletics Hall of Fame with John honored in 2002.[6]

According to ESPN, Trapp has not been heard from since at least 1995, when he was reported to be living in Detroit.[2] A 2012 obituary for his aunt, Velonia Browning, mentioned Trapp as being deceased, but did not provide a date for when he died.[7] Several other public data sets list him as being deceased, but likewise do not provide a date.[2]

Career statistics

[edit]
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

NBA/ABA

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Source[1]

Regular season

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Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG PPG
1968–69 San Diego 25 5.7 .363 .655 2.0 .2 3.1
1969–70 San Diego 70 14.6 .426 .692 4.4 .7 6.3
1970–71 San Diego 82 25.4 .420 .755 6.2 1.7 9.6
1971–72† L.A. Lakers 58 13.1 .443 .669 3.1 .7 5.7
1972–73 L.A. Lakers 5 7.0 .250 .700 2.8 .4 2.6
1972–73 Philadelphia 39 11 21.9 .412 .741 4.8 1.2 10.7
1972–73 Denver (ABA) 24 14.3 .422 .000 .594 3.0 .8 5.3
Career (NBA) 279 11 17.5 .420 .725 4.5 1.0 7.4
Career (overall) 303 11 17.3 .420 .000 .717 4.4 1.0 7.2

Playoffs

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Year Team GP MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG PPG
1972† L.A. Lakers 10 7.1 .242 .571 1.6 .5 2.0
1973 Denver (ABA) 5 10.2 .438 – .667 1.4 .4 4.4
Career 15 8.1 .306 – .632 1.5 .5 2.8

References

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  1. ^ a b c "John Trapp NBA/ABA Stats". Basketball Reference. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved August 16, 2024.
  2. ^ a b c d Anthony Oliveri (July 10, 2023). "Inside the worst team in NBA history, the 1972-73 Sixers". ESPN.
  3. ^ a b c Perner, Mark (March 7, 2013), "Recalling the 9-73 Sixers of 1972-73", Philadelphia Daily News, archived from the original on March 28, 2014
  4. ^ rsd (September 2, 2018). "John Trapp Net Worth 2018: What is this basketball player worth?". The Squander. Retrieved November 24, 2018.
  5. ^ Kantowski, Ron (December 14, 2015). "Former UNLV player John Q. Trapp knew NBA fame, infamy". Las Vegas Review-Journal. Retrieved April 27, 2021.
  6. ^ "PCC Sports Hall of Fame".
  7. ^ "VELONIA BROWNING Obituary (2012) - Detroit, Michigan - The Detroit News". Legacy.com. Retrieved July 15, 2023.
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