LaRue Martin

At 74 years old, LaRue Martin has this physical status:

LaRue Martin (born March 30, 1950) is a retired American professional basketball player.

Martin was drafted first overall by the National Basketball Association's (NBA) Portland Trail Blazers in the 1972 NBA draft out of Loyola University Chicago.

He was drafted ahead of the future Hall of Famers, Bob McAdoo and Julius Erving.

Martin has been dubbed one of the worst overall draft picks in NBA history, but he has gone on to make a fruitful corporate career.

Personal life

Martin received a B.A. Loyola has a minor in sociology with a minor in education. He worked with Nike in Oregon and an insurance company before joining UPS in the mid-1980s. He has been the Community Services Manager at UPS since August 2005.

Martin is a member of the National Basketball Retired Players Association Board of Directors.

Martins' community involvements have included the City Club of Chicago, the YMCA Mentoring Service, the African American Advisory Council of the Cook County State's Attorney's office, and the Urban League of N.W. M.L.K. Indiana, M.L.K. The Leverage Network and the De La Salle Instite Board of Directors of Boys and Girls Club of Chicago, Inc., and the Boys and Girls Club of Chicago.

In 2011, Martin appeared in a segment on HBO's Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel.

Martin said, "I don't believe in saying anything negative," because you have no idea what you're doing," said Martin, who did what I needed to do, but I can't dwell off the negatives." I can't. "I kept my head up and shifted to a more positive way of life, and it has been kind to me."

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College career

Martin, a 6-foot-11 center from Chicago, Illinois, who attended De La Salle Institute high school as a youth, was shy and reserved as a youth. Coach Jerry Tokars coached him and was a classmate of Bryant Gumbel. Martin stayed in Chicago for college and was recruited by Coach George Ireland to Loyola University Chicago.

Martin debuted for the Loyola Ramblers in 1969-1970, after a year on the freshman squad (freshman were not allowed to participate in NCAA basketball in this period), finishing 13-11.

Martin was a junior on a dreadful 4–20 squad, averaging 18.7 points and 17.6 rebounds.

Despite Loyola's scoring 19.6 points and 15.7 rebounds in Martin's senior season (1972-1902), he went 8–14.

Martin attracted notice when he played well against Bill Walton in a game between Loyola and UCLA in 1971–72. Though the Ramblers lost 92-64 to UCLA on January 28, 1972, while the Bruins were battling future teammate Walton, who had 18 points and 16 rebounds, Martin had 19 points and 18 rebounds against future teammate Walton, who had 18 points and 16 rebounds. In their game against Jim Chones of Marquette the night before, Martin had played a similar way against Jim Chones of Marquette.

Stu Inman, the Portland Trail Blazers' scout, was present for both games and was taken note of Martin's excellent back-to-back performances against the country's two top big men. Both Walton and Martin would be drafted in the future by Portland.

Martin had a double-double of 18.2 points and 19.9 rebounds in 67 games during his career at Loyola. He had 1222 points in his career with 1062 rebounds. Martin is Loyola's all-time leading rebounder.

Professional career

Martin was selected by the Portland Trail Blazers as the first overall pick in the 1972 NBA Draft; Martin was also the top pick of the American Basketball Association draft by the Dallas Chaparrals.

Chones' 1972 NBA draft may have been controversially influenced: Chones may have worked with the New York Nets of the ABA.

After a "unknown" ABA draft took place, according to reports, NBA Commissioner Walter Kennedy had advised NBA teams not to draft McAdoo, unquestionably the best player on the draft. According to other reports, a deal was signed and canceled because McAdoo was too young to have signed it, and the NBA Buffalo Braves had no idea about it. Another tale was that Portland negotiated with McAdoo on the eve of the project but was unable to comply with his demands. McAdoo, who later became the No. Among the general population, was the No. 1. The 1972 American Basketball Association Draft includes 1 pick from the 1972 American Basketball Association's Draft.

The Buffalo Bills drafted Julius Erving with the No. 1 pick behind Martin, while the Milwaukee Bucks selected McAdoo with the pick behind Martin. He was already playing in the ABA and remained with the Virginia Squires, but he was still a member of the Virginia Squires.

Martin was 6'11" and weighed 205 pounds as a rookie in the 1972–73 season (Portland's third overall season as a franchise). He averaged 4.4 points and 4.6 rebounds in 77 games with limited minutes (12 per game) in his rookie year. Under new head coach Jack McCloskey, the Trail Blazers went 21-61. McCloskey benched Martin for the entire game when the Trail Blazers played in Chicago in his rookie season. "It was a difficult pill to take." I was ashamed. "I had tears in my eyes." Martin, who had numerous family and friends in attendance, was overwhelmed. "Every time I think about it." Martin had similar numbers last season, when he was playing for McCloskey and the Trail Blazers, 27–55.

Martin reflected on coach McCloskey by saying he "wasn't a believer in my abilities." "He came from Wake Forest, North Carolina, and he wanted Bob McAdoo." Well, Bob was a jack of a gamer. I know that. I'm not sure I was the right one for Jack. Be it. However, I never gave him any grief when I was playing for him. I'm not into that. I just kept my mouth shut and did what I was told and did what I was told. It wasn't quite right," I guess.

Martin's playing time began to decline more during the Trail Blazers' selection of Bill Walton as the No. No. in 1974-75. 1 pick of the 1974 NBA draft and inserted him in the lineup. Martin finished the year with 7.0 points in 17 minutes and shot.452 from the field, although Walton missed the majority of the year due to injuries. Portland finished 37-45.

Before the 1976 season, Martin was moved from the Trail Blazers to the Seattle SuperSonics. However, Martin would not play another game after being suspended by Seattle before the 1976-77 season began. Martin signed contracts with the Cleveland Cavaliers (Sept. 1, 1977) and the Chicago Bulls (August 1, 1978). In both cases, he was released on waivers within weeks of signing. Martin has also turned down numerous offers to play in Europe.

Martin averaged 5.3 points and 4.6 rebounds in 271 games, averaging 14 minutes per game.

Martin's brief career has often become the punchline to draft jokes. In Bill Walton's case, he was the predecessor in Portland to another unfulfilled big-man role (No. 1). Sam Bowie (No. 1), the top pick in the NBA draft 1974), Sam Bowie (No. 1). Just before Michael Jordan (No. 8) and Greg Oden, the top pick in the NBA draft in 1984 was selected by the second overall pick. 1 overall pick of the 2007 NBA draft.

"Being a No. 1" At a National Basketball Retired Players Association tournament, Martin said, "you are a marked man" with the big zero on your back." "My work went up and down." And that bothered me. They rated me as the worst draft choice in the country. However, I had the opportunity to move forward and join the corporate world, and I've never looked back."

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