Bob Lanier

Per NCAA rules at the time, Lanier played on the freshman team during his first year at St. Bonaventure.

Lanier at Bonaventure

As a 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) sophomore in the 1967–68 season, Lanier made an immediate impact and gained national recognition. Lanier led St. Bonaventure (13–9 in the previous season) to an undefeated regular season (26–0) and a number three final poll ranking. He averaged 26.2 points and 15.6 rebounds per game for the season.[8] Against Loyola Maryland, Lanier had 27 rebounds, leading St. Bonaventure to a 94–78 victory.[3]

In the 23-team 1968 NCAA tournament, Lanier led St. Bonaventure to a 102–93 victory over Boston College and coach Bob Cousy. The Bonnies were then defeated 91–72 by North Carolina and coach Dean Smith in the East Regional semifinal, ending their undefeated season.[8] Lanier had 32 points and 15 rebounds in the victory over Boston College and 23 points with 9 rebounds in the North Carolina loss. Lanier then fouled out, scoring 18 points with 13 rebounds in the third-place East Region game; St. Bonaventure lost, 92–75, to Columbia.[9]

Lanier was named a second-team All-American, behind Lew Alcindor (who later changed his name to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar) at center.[10]

In the 1968–69 season, St. Bonaventure finished with a 17–7 record after starting the season 3–5.[11] Against Seton Hall, Lanier scored 51 points, setting the single-game scoring record for St. Bonaventure.[3] Lanier averaged 27.3 points and 15.6 rebounds in 24 games. Lanier was again named a second-team All-American behind Lew Alcindor at center.[10] During his junior year, Lanier was approached by representatives of the American Basketball Association's New York Nets, who reportedly offered him $1.2 million to leave school early and join the ABA. However, following his father's advice, Lanier chose to remain in school.

Lanier averaged 29.2 points and 16.0 rebounds as St. Bonaventure finished the 1969–70 regular season 25–1 (with the only loss at Villanova 64–62) and a number three national ranking. In the 25-team 1970 NCAA tournament, Lanier led St. Bonaventure to an 80–72 victory over Davidson College with 28 points and 15 rebounds. He had 24 points and 19 rebounds in an 80–68 victory over NC State, and had 26 points and 14 rebounds in the 97–74 victory over Villanova as St. Bonaventure advanced to the Final Four.[12][13]

However, Lanier injured his knee near the end of the regional championship game in a collision with Villanova's Chris Ford. The injury was severe enough that he could not play in the Final Four and eventually required the first of eight knee surgeries he would undergo throughout his life.[6][14] In the Final Four, the Bonnies lost to Jacksonville University, whose center was future Hall of Famer Artis Gilmore. St. Bonaventure was whistled for 32 personal fouls and was outscored 37–15 at the free-throw line in the 91–83 loss. In the third-place game, the Bonnies lost to New Mexico State, finishing the season 25–3.[6]

"Every year at this time you start thinking about it and my players start thinking about it," reflected Coach Larry Weise at age 81. "We have a reunion every three, four years and it's the same with them. It was a magical moment in our lives, no question. In our hearts, we knew we were good enough to win the championship."[6] "I think I appreciate it even more than my (college) teammates," Lanier reflected on the Final Four in 1985, "because I had a basis for comparison. It wasn't the money, or who got the 'numbers' like in the NBA. We weren't any big stars, it was a couple of guys from Buffalo and a guy from Troy all blending together."[14]

Lanier was named a first-team All-American at center alongside future Hall of Famers Dan Issel (center, Kentucky), Pete Maravich (point guard, LSU) and Calvin Murphy (point guard, Niagara), along with College Basketball Hall of Famer Rick Mount (shooting guard, Purdue).[10] Lanier graduated from St. Bonaventure with a degree in business administration.[3] Lanier holds St. Bonaventure records for scoring and rebounding, averaging 27.6 points and 15.7 rebounds, with 57% shooting in 75 career games.[15][16]

In March 2018, St. Bonaventure won its first game in the NCAA tournament since 1970, defeating UCLA. Coach Mark Schmidt said, "It can't get better. Our guys just fought, we persevered. ... In 1970, you know, Bob Lanier got hurt, and didn't have a chance to play UCLA and ... this is for him."[17] "When I got the job here 11 years ago, we hear the stories about 1970," Schmidt said. "And everybody talks about if Lanier was healthy, they would have taken on UCLA. This victory is for those guys."[18]

Lanier was the first overall pick by the National Basketball Association's Detroit Pistons in the 1970 NBA draft. He was also a territorial pick by the New York Nets of the American Basketball Association in the 1970 ABA Draft.[19][20]

Lanier signed with the Pistons, who eagerly presented him with his NBA contract while he was still in the hospital recuperating from knee surgery. Lanier reported to Pistons training camp limping, in significant pain, and overweight from his long period of inactivity following the surgery. Lanier played while still recovering from surgery. He was named to the 1971 NBA All-Rookie Team,[15] averaging 15.6 points and 8.1 rebounds for the 45–37 Pistons in 24 minutes per game under Coach Butch van Breda Kolff.[20] "I wasn't healthy when I got to the league," Lanier reflected. "I shouldn't have played my first year. But there was so much pressure from them to play, I would have been much better off—and our team would have been much better served—if I had just sat out that year and worked on my knee. My knee was so sore every single day that it was ludicrous to be doing what I was doing."[21] Lanier rehabilitated his knee with the help of Coach van Breda Kolff, who had Lanier stay at his beachfront house for 2½ weeks to run in the sand and strengthen his knee and legs.

Lanier became a star for Detroit, playing alongside teammate Dave Bing. He averaged more than 21 points per game for each of the next eight seasons, with a high mark of 25.7 PPG in the 1971–72 season. Lanier averaged more than 11 rebounds per game in seven straight seasons. On January 15, 1974, Lanier led all scorers in that season's NBA All Star Game with 24 points, and was named the All-Star Game MVP.[22]

Detroit was a franchise in constant transition. Lanier played under eight coaches in ten seasons: Butch van Breda Kolff (1970–1971), Terry Dischinger (1971), Earl Lloyd (1971–1972), Ray Scott (1972–1975), Herb Brown (1975–1977), Bob Kauffman (1977–1978), Dick Vitale (1978–1979), and Richie Adubato (1979–1980). Each coach was hired or fired in mid-season.[23] Of his time in Detroit, Lanier said, "I think '73–74 was our best team [52–30]. We had Dave [Bing], Stu Lantz, John Mengelt, Chris Ford, Don Adams, Curtis Rowe, George Trapp. But then for some reason, they traded six guys off that team before the following year. I just didn't feel we ever had the leadership... That was a rough time because, at the end of every year, you'd be so despondent."[21]

Lanier's latter years in Detroit were marred by recurring injuries, as he never played more than 64 games in any of his last four seasons as a Piston.

In his ten seasons with the Detroit Pistons, Lanier averaged a double-double 22.7 points, 11.8 rebounds, 3.3 assists, 2.0 blocks and 1.2 steals in 681 games. Lanier is the Pistons' all-time leader in scoring average (22.7 ppg); he ranks second in total rebounds (8,063), third in total points (15,488), and was voted to seven All-Star games.[4][24]

On February 4, 1980, Lanier was traded by the Pistons to the Milwaukee Bucks for Kent Benson and a 1980 first-round draft pick (which the Pistons used to select Larry Drew).[24] On April 20 of that year, Lanier scored 19 points and grabbed 15 rebounds in a Game 7 loss against the Seattle SuperSonics in the Western Conference Semifinals (the final season for the Bucks in that conference).[25]

On May 5, 1982, Lanier's 27 points led the Bucks to a Game 5 playoff victory against the Philadelphia 76ers.[26] The Bucks eventually lost the series. Lanier's 27 points represented his highest single post-season game point total for the Bucks.[27] In Lanier's five seasons with the Bucks, they won the Midwest Division championship each year under Coach Don Nelson, with Lanier playing alongside teammates Marques Johnson, Sidney Moncrief, Quinn Buckner, Junior Bridgeman, and Dave Cowens. Still highly effective, but with aging knees, Lanier played a key role with the Bucks while averaging nearly 10 minutes less per game in his Milwaukee tenure that he had in Detroit (36.2 to 26.8).[24]

Of going to Milwaukee, Lanier said, "I wanted the trade. I got to Milwaukee... and the people gave me a standing ovation and really made me feel welcome. It was the start of a positive change. I just wish I had played with that kind of talent around me when I was young. But if I had had Marques [Johnson] and Sidney [Moncrief] and all of them around me? Damn."[20] Lanier officially retired from the Milwaukee Bucks on September 24, 1984.[24] He cited reoccurring knee injuries as the reason for his retirement.[28] In 278 games with the Bucks, Lanier averaged 26 minutes, 13.5 points, 5.9 rebounds, 2.7 assists, and 1.0 steals per game. He played in the 1982 All-Star Game with Milwaukee.[24] During Lanier's five-season tenure, the Bucks advanced as far as the Eastern Conference Finals twice.[24]

Over his fourteen-season NBA career, Lanier played in 959 games, averaging 20.1 points, 10.1 rebounds, 3.1 assists, 1.5 blocks, and 1.1 steals per game. He scored 19,248 total points and had 9,698 total rebounds.[24] In 67 career playoff games, Lanier averaged 18.6 points, 9.7 rebounds, 3.5 assists, and 1.5 blocks. Lanier played in eight NBA All-Star Games; he never appeared in an NBA Finals game.[4][24]

"Bob probably wasn't as good a total player as he could have been because of the knee injury," said Hall of Famer Willis Reed. Reed acknowledged that Lanier "probably was one of the best all-around big men ever to play the game of basketball."[14] Lanier was known across the league as being tenacious, and was referred to as an "enforcer" due to his physical style of play. His intensity sometimes spilled over from playing into fighting, as he knocked out Atlanta's Bob Christian in 1971 and broke the nose of Detroit's Bill Laimbeer in 1983.[29][30] In the 1977 NBA Playoffs, in the third game of a best of three series against Golden State Warriors, the game was marred by a 3rd quarter fight with Charles Dudley of Golden State tangling with Eric Money of the Pistons. The fight spilled into the stands as a Warriors fan punching Piston M.L. Carr and Lanier then decking the fan. Reflective of the different era in the game, personal fouls were called on Dudley and Money, and the game resumed with the Warriors winning 109-101.[31]