George Yardley
Inducted:
1996
Player Stats
6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)
190 lb (86 kg)
Born
November 3, 1928
Hollywood, California, U.S.
Died
August 12, 2004
Newport Beach, California, U.S.
Position
Small forward
College
Stanford (1947–1950)
George "The Bird" Yardley was a high-flying, offensive innovator who helped define the forward position in the 1950s. A 6'5" star from Stanford, Yardley was one of the NBA’s earliest elite scorers and a pioneer of high-volume offense in the league’s formative years. He famously spent years playing amateur AAU basketball and serving in the Navy before joining the Fort Wayne (later Detroit) Pistons, where he quickly became the league's most dangerous scoring threat.
Yardley's 1957–58 season is the stuff of legend. He became the first player in NBA history to score 2,000 points in a single season, eclipsing the previous record held by George Mikan. Despite his relatively short seven-year professional career, he was a six-time All-Star and twice led his team to the NBA Finals. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1996.
Yardley's Awards and Honors
- NBA Scoring Champion (1958)
- 6x NBA All-Star (1955–1960)
- All-NBA First Team (1958)
- All-NBA Second Team (1957)
- AAU National Champion & MVP (1951)
- College Basketball Hall of Fame (2006)
NBA Teams
Fort Wayne / Detroit Pistons (1953–1959)
Syracuse Nationals (1959–1960)
NBA Draft
1950: 1st round, 7th overall pick
Fort Wayne Pistons
Number Worn
12
NBA Stats
Seasons:
7 (1953-1960)
Game Played:
472
Points:
9,063 (19.2 ppg)
Rebounds:
4,220 (8.9 rpg)
Assists:
815 (1.7 apg)
Field Goal(%):
42.2%
Free Thorw(%):
78.0%
Single-Season Points:
2,001 (1957–58)
All-Star Selections:
6 (1955–1960)
All-NBA First Team:
1 (1958)