View source for Butch Beard

{{short description|American basketball player and coach}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2019}}
{{BLP sources|date=July 2016}}
{{Infobox basketball biography
| name            = Butch Beard
| image           = 
| width           = 
| caption         = 
| height_ft       = 6
| height_in       = 3
| weight_lb       = 185
| birth_date      = {{Birth date and age|1947|5|4}}
| birth_place     = [[Hardinsburg, Kentucky]], U.S.
| high_school     = Breckinridge County<br />(Harned, Kentucky)
| college         = [[Louisville Cardinals men's basketball|Louisville]] (1966–1969)
| draft_year      = 1969
| draft_round     = 1
| draft_pick      = 10
| draft_team      = [[Atlanta Hawks]]
| career_start    = 1969
| career_end      = 1979
| career_position = [[Guard (basketball)|Guard]]
| career_number   = 14, 21, 9
| years1          = {{nbay|1969|full=y}}
| team1           = [[Atlanta Hawks]]
| years2          = {{nbay|1971|full=y}}
| team2           = [[Cleveland Cavaliers]]
| years3          = {{nbay|1972|full=y}}
| team3           = [[Seattle SuperSonics]]
| years4          = {{nbay|1973|start}}–{{nbay|1974|end}}
| team4           = [[Golden State Warriors]]
| years5          = {{nbay|1975|start}}
| team5           = Cleveland Cavaliers
| years6          = {{nbay|1975|start}}–{{nbay|1978|end}}
| team6           = [[New York Knicks]]
| cyears1         = 1990–1994
| cteam1          = [[Howard Bison basketball|Howard]]
| cyears2         = {{nbay|1994|start}}–{{nbay|1995|end}}
| cteam2          = [[New Jersey Nets]]
| cyears3         = 2001–2006
| cteam3          = [[Morgan State Bears men's basketball|Morgan State]]
| highlights      = 
* [[List of NBA champions|NBA champion]] ({{nbafy|1975}})
* [[List of NBA All-Stars|NBA All-Star]] ({{nasg|1972}})
* Third-team [[NCAA Men's Basketball All-Americans|All-American]] – [[United Press International|UPI]] ([[1969 NCAA Men's Basketball All-Americans|1969]])
* 3× First-team All-[[Missouri Valley Conference|MVC]] (1967–1969)
* Second-team [[Parade All-America Boys Basketball Team|''Parade'' All-American]] (1965)
* [[Kentucky Mr. Basketball]] (1965)
| stat1label      = [[Point (basketball)|Points]]
| stat1value      = 5,622 (9.3 ppg)
| stat2label      = [[Rebound (basketball)|Rebounds]]
| stat2value      = 2,042 (3.4 rpg)
| stat3label      = [[Assist (basketball)|Assists]]
| stat3value      = 2,189 (3.6 apg)
| bbr             = beardbu01
| letter          = b
}}

'''Alfred''' "'''Butch'''" '''Beard Jr.''' (born May 5, 1947) is an American former professional [[basketball]] player and coach. He was the starting [[point guard]] with the 1975 NBA champion [[Golden State Warriors]]. He played [[college basketball]] for the [[Louisville Cardinals men's basketball|Louisville Cardinals]].

==Career==

===Early years===
Beard played high school basketball at Breckinridge County High School where, as a junior, he led the Bearcats to the 1964 state championship game losing to a [[Wes Unseld]]-led Louisville Seneca team. Beard and Unseld would later become roommates at the University of Louisville. In 1965, Beard led the Bearcats back to the title game, winning the state championship. Additionally, he was named the Kentucky Mr. Basketball.

Butch Beard played college basketball at the [[University of Louisville]].

===NBA===
Beard was selected by the [[Dallas Chaparrals]] in the [[1969 ABA draft]] and by the [[Atlanta Hawks]] in the first round of the [[1969 NBA draft]].<ref>{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20160303213137/http://www.databasebasketball.com/players/playerpage.htm?ilkid=BeardBu01 DatabaseBasketball.com Butch Beard page]}}</ref> Beard played nine seasons (1969–1970; 1971–1979) with five teams: the [[Atlanta Hawks]], the [[Cleveland Cavaliers]], the [[Seattle SuperSonics]], the [[Golden State Warriors]], and the [[New York Knicks]]. He scored 5,622 career points and represented Cleveland in the [[1972 NBA All-Star Game]]. While with the Warriors he scored the last seven points of the team's 1975 NBA Championship win. Beard retired as an NBA player in 1979, last playing for the New York Knicks.

===Coaching===
Beard later served as head coach of the [[New Jersey Nets]] from 1994 to 1996. He was also color analyst for [[New York Knicks]] games on [[MSG (TV network)|MSG Network]] during the 1980s.  He was the head coach at [[Howard University]] from 1990 to 1994 and head coach at [[Morgan State University]] until he stepped down in March 2006.

==NBA career statistics==
{{NBA player statistics legend|champion=y|leader=y}}

===Regular season===
{{NBA player statistics start}}
|-
| align="left" | [[1969–70 NBA season|1969–70]]
| align="left" | [[1969-70 Atlanta Hawks season|Atlanta]]
| 72 || - || 13.1 || .467 || - || .828 || 1.9 || 1.7 || - || - || 7.0
|-
| align="left" | [[1971–72 NBA season|1971–72]]
| align="left" | [[1971-72 Cleveland Cavaliers season|Cleveland]]
| 68 || - || '''35.8''' || .464 || - || .760 || 4.1 || '''6.7''' || - || - || '''15.4'''
|-
| align="left" | [[1972–73 NBA season|1972–73]]
| align="left" | [[1972-73 Seattle SuperSonics season|Seattle]]
| 73 || - || 19.2 || .439 || - || .714 || 2.4 || 3.4 || - || - || 6.6
|-
| align="left" | [[1973–74 NBA season|1973–74]]
| align="left" | [[1973-74 Golden State Warriors season|Golden State]]
| 79 || - || 27.0 || .512 || - || .739 || '''4.9''' || 3.8 || 1.3 || '''0.1''' || 10.2
|-
| style="text-align:left;background:#afe6ba;" | [[1974–75 NBA season|1974–75]]†
| align="left" | [[1974-75 Golden State Warriors season|Golden State]]
| '''82''' || - || 30.7 || '''.528''' || - || '''.832''' || 3.9 || 4.2 || '''1.6''' || '''0.1''' || 12.8
|-
| align="left" | [[1975–76 NBA season|1975–76]]
| align="left" | [[1975-76 Cleveland Cavaliers season|Cleveland]]
| 15 || - || 17.0 || .389 || - || .730 || 2.9 || 3.0 || 0.7 || '''0.1''' || 6.5
|-
| align="left" | [[1975–76 NBA season|1975–76]]
| align="left" | [[1975-76 New York Knicks season|New York]]
| 60 || - || 24.2 || .475 || - || .755 || 4.5 || 2.9 || 1.2 || '''0.1''' || 8.4
|-
| align="left" | [[1976–77 NBA season|1976–77]]
| align="left" | [[1976-77 New York Knicks season|New York]]
| 70 || - || 15.5 || .505 || - || .688 || 2.3 || 2.1 || 0.8 || '''0.1''' || 5.3
|-
| align="left" | [[1977–78 NBA season|1977–78]]
| align="left" | [[1977-78 New York Knicks season|New York]]
| 79 || - || 25.1 || .502 || - || .806 || 3.3 || 4.3 || 1.5 || 0.0 || 9.4
|-
| align="left" | [[1978–79 NBA season|1978–79]]
| align="left" | [[1978-79 New York Knicks season|New York]]
| 7 || - || 12.1 || .423 || - || .000 || 1.4 || 2.7 || 1.0 || 0.0 || 3.1
|- class="sortbottom"
| style="text-align:center;" colspan="2"| Career
| 605 || - || 23.6 || .487 || - || .771 || 3.4 || 3.6 || 1.3 || 0.1 || 9.3
|}

===Playoffs===
{{NBA player statistics start}}
|-
| align="left" | [[1969–70 NBA season|1969–70]]
| align="left" | [[1969-70 Atlanta Hawks season|Atlanta]]
| 9 || - || 16.2 || .477 || - || '''.731''' || 2.9 || 0.9 || - || - || 9.0
|-
| style="text-align:left;background:#afe6ba;" | [[1974–75 NBA season|1974–75]]†
| align="left" | [[1974-75 Golden State Warriors season|Golden State]]
| style="background:#cfecec;" | '''17'''* || - || 26.4 || .411 || - || .642 || '''4.2''' || 3.1 || 1.4 || 0.1 || '''9.1'''
|-
| align="left" | [[1977–78 NBA season|1977–78]]
| align="left" | [[1977-78 New York Knicks season|New York]]
| 6 || - || '''26.7''' || '''.500''' || - || .600 || 3.5 || '''4.5''' || '''1.7''' || '''0.3''' || 9.0
|- class="sortbottom"
| style="text-align:center;" colspan="2"| Career
| 32 || - || 23.6 || .444 || - || .663 || 3.7 || 2.8 || 1.5 || 0.2 || 9.0
|}

==Bibliography==
* ''Butch Beard's Basic Basketball: The Complete Player'' (M. Kesend, 1994), {{ISBN|978-0935576481}}<ref>{{cite book|title=Butch Beard's Basic Basketball|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZfPwNAAACAAJ|isbn = 9780935576481|access-date=January 15, 2021|last1 = Beard|first1 = Butch|last2 = Popowitz|first2 = Glenn|last3 = Samson|first3 = David|date = December 1994}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* [https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/b/beardbu01.html Butch Beard career player stats at basketball-reference.com]

{{navboxes|list=
{{Howard Bison men's basketball coach navbox}}
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{{Golden State Warriors 1974–75 NBA champions}}
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}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Beard, Butch}}
[[Category:1947 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:20th-century African-American sportsmen]]
[[Category:20th-century American sportsmen]]
[[Category:21st-century African-American sportsmen]]
[[Category:21st-century American sportsmen]]
[[Category:All-American college men's basketball players]]
[[Category:American men's basketball players]]
[[Category:Atlanta Hawks draft picks]]
[[Category:Atlanta Hawks players]]
[[Category:Basketball coaches from Kentucky]]
[[Category:Basketball players from Kentucky]]
[[Category:Cleveland Cavaliers expansion draft picks]]
[[Category:Cleveland Cavaliers players]]
[[Category:Dallas Chaparrals draft picks]]
[[Category:Dallas Mavericks assistant coaches]]
[[Category:Golden State Warriors players]]
[[Category:Guards (basketball)]]
[[Category:Howard Bison men's basketball coaches]]
[[Category:International Basketball League (1999–2001) coaches]]
[[Category:Louisville Cardinals men's basketball players]]
[[Category:Morgan State Bears basketball coaches]]
[[Category:NBA All-Stars]]
[[Category:New Jersey Nets head coaches]]
[[Category:New York Knicks announcers]]
[[Category:New York Knicks players]]
[[Category:Parade High School All-Americans (boys' basketball)]]
[[Category:People from Hardinsburg, Kentucky]]
[[Category:Seattle SuperSonics players]]