Zelmo "Big Z" Beaty ( ; October 25, 1939 – August 27, 2013) was an American basketball player. He played eight seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA) and four in the rival American Basketball Association (ABA). In 2016, he was inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame. He was earlier selected to the ABA All-Time Team. Beaty excelled in both high school and college basketball before being selected as a first round draft pick by the St. Louis Hawks in the 1962 NBA draft, with the third overall pick. He was a member of the NBA's inaugural All-Rookie Team in 1963. He was a two-time NBA All-Star in seven years with the Hawks, and averaged double-doubles for six consecutive seasons after his rookie year. The Hawks went to the NBA playoffs every season he was on the team.
In October 1969, Beaty signed a contract to join the Los Angeles Stars (later the Utah Stars) in the American Basketball Association. He did not play in the 1969–70 season because of the restriction imposed by the option clause in his NBA contract with the Hawks. In four seasons with the Utah Stars (1970 to 1974), he was an ABA All-Star three times and second-team All-ABA twice, while being a key figure in the Stars run to the 1971 ABA championship, where he recorded 36 points and 16 rebounds in the decisive Game 7 victory on his way to being named the 1971 ABA Playoffs Most Valuable Player. This is still the only professional basketball championship for the state of Utah.
Beaty has also been inducted into the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame, the NAIA Hall of Fame, and the Small College Basketball Hall of Fame. Beaty played for Prairie View A&M University from 1958 to 1962, averaging 25 points and 20 rebounds per game over his college career. He led Prairie View to the NAIA national basketball tournament championship in 1962, had 28 points and 29 rebounds in the championship game, and was named the 1962 NAIA Chuck Taylor Tournament MVP. Beaty was a two-time first team NAIA All-American (1960, 1962), two-time first-team United Press International small college All-American (1961, 1962), and a first-team Associated Press Little All-American (1962) after being a second-team Little All-American the prior year (1961).
Early life Zelmo Beaty Jr. was born on October 25, 1939, in Hillister, Texas, a small town of 250. Beaty's father died when he was a child. He attended the segregated Scott High School in Woodville, Texas, and played for coach John Payton, winning back-to-back Prairie View Interscholastic League 1A state championships in 1957 and 1958.
Beaty credited his high school basketball coach John Payton with Beaty's future success playing basketball in college and professionally. Before Payton's involvement in his life, Beaty played sports generally, without an athletic focus. Payton believed Beaty could be a basketball player and focused Beaty on basketball; giving Beaty more direction as a basketball coach than any other coach Beaty had.
College Beaty attended Prairie View A&M University, a small National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) school outside of Houston. Prairie View is the oldest historically black college and university in Texas. Beaty played on the Prairie View Panthers basketball team from 1958 to 1962, in the Southwestern Conference. Prairie View was the Southwestern Conference champion in both 1960–61 and 1961–62, and Beaty was All-Southwestern Conference as a sophomore, junior, and senior. In March 1960, at the end of his sophomore season, Beaty was among 14 players selected by the NAIA for an Olympic basketball tryout team.
Over his college career, Beaty averaged 25 points and 20 rebounds per game, and was a two-time first team NAIA All-American selection (1960, 1962). Beaty received the most votes of any player selected to the 1962 NAIA All-America Team. In 1960, United Press International (UPI) named Beaty a third-team small college All-American. As a junior (1960–61) and senior (1961–62), UPI named Beaty to its first-team small college All-America basketball teams. He was named a first-team Little All-American by the Associated Press (AP) in 1962, after having been named a second-team Little All-American by the AP in 1961.
Beaty led Prairie View to a national small college championship in 1962, his senior season. He averaged 24.6 points and 21.6 rebounds per game that season, with a .601 field goal percentage. The Panthers had a 27–3 record; with Beaty missing three games due to injury. After having been ranked No. 1 by the Associated Press and United Press International at the end of the 1961–62 regular season, the Panthers went into the 1962 NAIA national championship tournament as the second seed, with the Westminster College Titans the top ranked team in the tournament.
Prairie View barely won its first-round game over the Ashland College Eagles; with Beaty scoring 33 points. Beaty tied the game with 32 seconds remaining in the second half; and then scored six straight points to start the overtime in leading the Panthers to a 73–64 win. The Panthers won their next three games in the tournament before defeating the Titans, 62–53, for the NAIA title. Beaty had 28 points and 29 rebounds in the championship game against Westminster. He was named the Chuck Taylor Tournament MVP, and was selected to the All-Tournament Team.
Beaty was known as the "Big Z" at Prairie View; and carried that nickname as a professional player as well.
Professional career
NBA
St. Louis/Atlanta Hawks Beaty was selected with the third pick of the 1962 NBA draft by the St. Louis Hawks. Hawks' owner Ben Kerner said they selected Beaty because the Hawks needed a tough rebounder. He played in 80 games as a rookie, averaging 24 minutes, 10.2 points, and 8.3 rebounds per game. Beaty was named to the inaugural NBA All-Rookie Team in 1963, along with Dave DeBusschere, Terry Dischinger, John Havlicek and Chet Walker. The Hawks played the Los Angeles Lakers in the 1963 Western Division playoff finals, losing in seven games. Beaty played in all seven games, averaging 29 minutes, 11.7 points, and 7.3 rebounds per game. He had 21 points and 15 rebounds in the Hawks first win of the series (Game 3), and 16 points and 13 rebounds in the Hawks Game 6 win.
After his rookie season, Beaty averaged a double-double with the Hawks over the next six seasons (1963 to 1969). He averaged more than 20 points per game in three of his last four seasons with the Hawks; and at least 10.7 rebounds per game for six seasons. A physical player, Beaty led the NBA in personal fouls in 1962–63 and 1965–66, and tied for the league lead in disqualifications during the 1963–64 season.
In the 1965–66 season, Beaty averaged 20.7 points and 13.6 rebounds per game in 80 regular season games. He was sixth in the NBA in rebounding average and 10th in scoring average that season. Beaty was selected to play for the West in his first All-Star Game. He had 18 rebounds and 10 points in 24 minutes during the 1966 All-Star Game. In the Hawks first round sweep of the Baltimore Bullets in the 1966 Western Division semifinals, Beaty averaged 13.3 points and 12 rebounds per game. The Hawks lost in seven game to the Lakers in the 1966 Western Division finals. During that series, Beaty led the Hawks in minutes per game (43), points per game (21.4), and rebounds per game (13.6).
Beaty suffered a knee injury during the 10th game of the 1966–67 season in early November that required knee surgery. He did not play between November 8, 1966 and January 12, 1967; but did return to finish the season on January 12. He played in a career-low 48 regular season games, while still averaging 17.8 points and 10.7 rebounds per game. He averaged 26.7 minutes, 13 points, and 7.3 rebounds per game in the three game 1967 Western Conference semifinals sweep of the Chicago Bulls. He then played nearly 40 minutes per game in all six games of the Hawks Western Conference playoff finals series loss to the San Francisco Warriors; averaging 17.3 points and 11.2 rebounds per game. Beaty led the Hawks in their Game 6 loss in minutes played (45), points (28), and rebounds (16).
Beaty played in all 82 regular season games for the Hawks during the 1967–68 season. He averaged 37.4 minutes, 21.1 points (team-leading and 12th in the NBA), and 11.7 rebounds (11th in the NBA) per game. On December 3, 1967, Beaty scored an NBA career high 42 points in a 123–109 win over the Seattle SuperSonics. He was selected to play in the 1968 NBA All-Star Game, and had 10 rebounds in that game. The Hawks lost in the 1968 Western Division semifinals to the Warriors in six games, but Beaty averaged 39.8 minutes, 21.5 points, and 13.5 rebounds per game.
Beaty played in 72 games during the 1968–69 season. He averaged 35.8 minutes, 21.5 points, and 11.1 rebounds per game in the regular season. In a late January 1969 game against the Los Angeles Lakers, Beaty scored 36 points playing against Wilt Chamberlain. During the 1969 NBA Playoffs, the first Hawks postseason in Atlanta, Beaty averaged 22.5 points (his highest NBA playoffs average) and 12.9 rebounds in 11 games. In a pattern familiar for the 1960s Hawks, they were eliminated in the Western Division finals by the Los Angeles Lakers, the round before the NBA Finals. In the five-game series loss to the Lakers, Beaty led the Hawks playing 45 minutes per game and scoring 24.2 points per game, while also averaging 13.2 rebounds and three assists per game.
During his Hawks tenure, Beaty made two NBA All-Star Game appearances in 1966 and 1968, and helped the Hawks reach the playoffs every season of his tenure. Beaty played 501 regular season games in his seven seasons with the Hawks. He averaged 33.4 minutes, 17.1 points, and 10.9 rebounds per game. In 63 playoff games with the Hawks, Beaty averaged 37.2 minutes, 17 points, and 11 rebounds per game.
In October 1969, Beaty signed a contract to play in the rival American Basketball Association (ABA), and he did not play for the Hawks again. In early February 1970, the Hawks traded Beaty's contract rights to the San Francisco Warriors for a first round draft choice (later used to select Pete Maravich). The trade also included a contingency that if the Hawks were able to sign Beaty, despite his commitment to join the ABA, then the Warriors also had to send Clyde Lee to the Hawks.
The Hawks were in the playoffs every season Beaty was with the team. Beaty served as the union player representative with the Hawks.
Los Angeles Lakers In late September 1974, nearly four years and eight months after the February 1970 trade with the Warriors, the Hawks signed Beaty to a contract and then traded him to the Lakers the same day. NBA commissioner J. Walter Kennedy still required the Warriors to send Lee to the Hawks, since they had signed Beaty. Beaty returned to the NBA for his final season, 1974–75, playing in 69 games as a reserve center for the Los Angeles Lakers.
ABA
Utah Stars Beaty's contract with the Hawks ended on September 30, 1969. He received a lucrative four-year contract offer to play for the Los Angeles Stars of the American Basketball Association, doubling his salary with the Hawks, and signed with the Stars on October 7. At the time, Beaty stated that the Stars' offer provided him greater financial security than he had with the Hawks. Under the option clause in his contract with the Hawks, if Beaty did not sign with the Hawks and the Hawks wanted to retain him, he either had to play for the Hawks one more season (1969–70) without a new contract, or sit out an entire season to be free of the Hawks. Upon signing with the Stars, Beaty said he would choose to forego playing altogether in the 1969–70 season rather than playing for the Hawks, so as not to risk injury before joining the Stars in 1970–71. The Hawks separately obtained a court injunction legally barring Beaty from playing in the ABA during the 1969-70 NBA season.