Jack Twyman, the six-time NBA All-Star and member of the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame, has died at the age of 78 due to a form of blood cancer.
Twyman played for the University of Cincinnati and was the No. 2 overall pick of the Rochester Royals in 1955. A teach that moved to Cincinnati a couple years later, and that’s where Twyman played most of his career.
He averaged 31 points per game in 1960 and finished with a career average of 19.2 points per contest. He was known as a guy with real shooting range back in the day before you were rewarded with the extra point, and he shot 45 percent for his career.
But maybe his biggest contribution was what he did for Maurice Stokes. Stokes was a budding star who fell and hit his head on the court in a game in 1958, eventually had a seizure and slipped into a coma. Twyman became Stoke’s guardian and conducted a charity game to raise money for his care. That game became an annual tradition to help players in need.
Twyman is survived by his wife Carole, one son, three daughters and 14 grandchildren.