Bill Bridges
From Hoopedia
William C. "Bill" Bridges (born April 4, 1939 in Hobbs, New Mexico) is a retired American basketball player.
A 6'6" power forward, Bridges was an All-American at the University of Kansas. He was drafted in the third round of the 1961 NBA Draft by the Chicago Packers. Instead, Bridges opted to play in the a new upstart league, the American Basketball League (ABL)
Bridges was one of the top players in the short history of the ABL. Playing for the Kansas City Steers for the entire existence of the ABL, Bridges's 2,546 points (23.6 PPG) is second (by 46 bpoints) behind only Connie Hawkins for career ABL scoring. His 1,496 rebounds (13.9 RPG) are the most in ABL history. Small wonder that Bridges was named to only All-ABL first team.
After the ABL folded, Brideges ended up with the [[St. Louis Hawks. He spent 13 seasons (1962–75) in the National Basketball Association as a member of the St. Louis/Atlanta Hawks, Philadelphia 76ers, Los Angeles Lakers, and Golden State Warriors. He won an NBA Championship with the Warriors in 1975 and appeared in three All-Star Games during the course of his career.
Though somewhat undersized for his position, Bridges was a strong rebounder and averaged a double-double (11.9 points, 11.9 rebounds) over the course of his career.
