113. Fred Brown
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One of the games first great three-point shooters, Fred Brown was always considered an outside threat even before the addition of the three-point line, but once the line was added it added a whole new dimension to one of the best shooters in the NBA.
Brown played two stellar years at the University of Iowa averaging 18 points his first year and 28 his second year. He was a deadly scorer and was named an all-American. He entered the NBA and ABA drafts in 1971 and was selected by the Kentucky Colonels of the ABA and by the Seattle Supersonics with the sixth pick in the draft.
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Brown elected to play with the Sonics, and at first regretted that decision as he seldom played his rookie year averaging only 4 points and appearing in 33 games. He seen so little action because the Sonics backcourt was loaded with the likes of Lenny Wilkens and Dick Snyder. After both of them were traded, however, Brown’s numbers began to increase.
In his second year after Wilkens was traded Brown averaged 14 points and played in 79 games. His third year following Snyder’s trade Brown’s scoring jumped to 16 and in his 4th year he averaged 21 points a game.
His 5th year was the best of his career. He averaged 23 points on 49 percent shooting and 4 rebounds and was named to his only all-star team. The Sonics were slowly improving during this time and starting to become a threat in the western conference. In the playoffs that year Brown averaged 29 points a game but the Sonics lost in the second round.
The Sonics added more talent and Brown’s numbers dipped a little bit but he was still one of the teams better players. The Sonics made the NBA finals in 1978 and went up 3 games to 2 on the Washington Bullets but would end up losing a heart breaking game 7. The following season the Sonics and Bullets once again faced off in the NBA finals this time the Sonics came out ahead and won the city of Seattle’s only professional sports title.
With the addition of the three-point line Brown became a specialist player. Spreading the floor so that bigs like Gus Johnson could more easily work. In the first year of the three-point line Brown lead the NBA in three-point percentage at 44 percent.
By the early 1980s Brown had become a key bench player for the Sonics and his numbers and shoot began to dip. Brown would play his entire 13 year career with the Sonics and retire after the 1984 season.
Brown owns career averages of 15 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists and 1 steal a game in 963 games. His number 32 was retired by the Sonics in 1986.
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