Walt Bellamy was the starting center on the 1960 Olympic gold medal team. He played for Indiana University and made most of the All-America teams in 1960 and 1961 before being drafted in 1961 by the Chicago Packers, a short-lived NBA expansion team. Bellamy starred in the NBA from the start – he was Rookie of the Year in 1962, leading the league in field-goal percentage (with what was then a record .519) and averaging 31.6 points and 19 rebounds a game. During a 14-year career which saw him play for five teams - the Packers, who became the Baltimore Bullets, the New York Knicks, the Detroit Pistons, the Atlanta Hawks, and the New Orleans Jazz. Bellamy was one of the top centers in the league and ended up with career averages of over 20 points and 13.5 rebounds. From 1964-66 he was the NBA career leader in field goal percentage, but was later surpassed by Wilt Chamberlain.
Bellamy’s 14th year was a short one as he played just one game with the Jazz but this made him the last of the 1960 Olympians to be playing pro basketball. Bellamy had an active business career while he played pro basketball. Investing wisely in real estate and office buildings his career since leaving basketball was spent managing his investments and doing public relations for several Southern firms.
United States