John Warren Marin ( ; born October 12, 1944) is an American former professional basketball player. A 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) small forward from Duke University, Marin was named to the 1967 NBA All-Rookie Team and spent 11 seasons in the National Basketball Association (1966–1977), playing for the Baltimore Bullets, Houston Rockets, Buffalo Braves, and Chicago Bulls. The left-handed Marin was a two-time NBA All-Star and scored 12,541 points in his career. He led the NBA in free throw percentage during the 1971–72 NBA season.
Marin played college basketball for the Duke Blue Devils (1963 to 1966), and was a starting forward during his junior (1964–65) and senior (1965–66) seasons. He was a consensus second-team All-American in 1966. He was first-team All-Atlantic Coast Conference in 1965 and 1966. Marin's Duke teams went to the Final Four of the NCAA men's Division I basketball tournament in 1964 and 1966. He was named to the 1966 NCAA All-Tournament Team. Duke had a 46–9 record during Marin's two years as a starter, and the Associated Press ranked Duke No. 2 in 1966 and No. 10 in 1965.
Early life Marin was born on October 12, 1944, in Sharon, Pennsylvania. Marin attended Farrell High School in Mercer County, Pennsylvania, and was valedictorian of his high school class at Farrell High.
Marin played high school basketball at Farrell. As a senior in 1961–1962, he was named first-team All-State, after scoring 529 points and leading Farrell to the league title. He had also been All-State in 1960–61. In 1962, the coaches of Section 3 of the Western Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic League (WPIAL), along with writers covering the league, named Marin the WPIAL's most valuable player. He was a unanimous choice as first-team All-Section 3. Marin had been selected to the All-Section 3 second team in his junior year. Marin was 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) in high school, but played guard on a team with a 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) center because the left-handed Marin was the only player on the team who could consistently make outside shots.
College career 65 colleges and universities expressed an interest in Marin attending their schools. Marin chose to attend Duke University on a basketball scholarship, playing under coach Vic Bubas. As Marin's Duke career progressed, Bubas described him as the most complete player Bubas had ever coached. Marin played from 1963 to 1966 on Duke's varsity team.
As a sophomore reserve forward (1963–64), Marin played in all 31 of Duke's games that season, averaging 7.9 points and 4.7 rebounds per game. Duke was 26–5 that season, and reached the final game of the NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament, losing to UCLA in the championship game. Marin's best game of the tournament came in the championship game against UCLA, where he scored 16 points. In Duke's East Regional semifinal victory over Villanova, Marin had eight points and five rebounds.
Marin became a starting forward as a junior (1964–65). He averaged 19.1 points and 10.3 rebounds per game, and led the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) in field goal percentage. Duke was the regular season champion in the ACC, but lost in the 1965 ACC men's basketball tournament championship game to North Carolina State (NC State), and did not participate in that season's NCAA tournament.
Duke defeated the South Carolina Gamecocks in the first round of the ACC tournament, with Marin making the game winning basket. Duke then defeated Wake Forest, 101–81, with Marin scoring 20 points. In the championship game against NC state, played at Reynolds Coliseum in Raleigh, Marin got into foul trouble early in the second half, limiting his playing time. Duke lost 91–85, with Marin scoring 10 points. Marin was selected first-team All-ACC in 1965, and named to the second-team of the All-ACC Tournament Team. The Associated Press (AP) ranked the 20–5 Duke team No. 10 in the 1964–65 season.
Duke had a 26–4 record in the 1965–66 season, Marin's senior year. Duke won the ACC regular season and the ACC tournament, and went to the Final Four of the 1966 NCAA tournament. Marin led Duke in scoring (18.6 points per game) and rebounding (9.7 rebounds per game) that season. Marin was a consensus second-team All American. The Associated Press named him a second-team All-American, and United Press International (UPI) named him a third-team All-American. He was once again first-team All-ACC, and second-team ACC All-Tournament Team.
Duke's second game of the 1966 ACC tournament was against the North Carolina Tar Heels. Tar Heels' coach Dean Smith used a strategy of having his players dribble and pass for long periods of time without shooting, in an effort to compete against a superior Duke team. North Carolina did not take its first shot until over four minutes of game-time had passed, and only made one field goal in the first half. Duke won the game 21–20. Marin was Duke's second leading scorer in the game with five points. One sportswriter said at the time "The delay became so tiresome that Duke's Jack Marin stood in a corner and lackadaisically clapped in a slow rhythm". Marin scored 15 points in Duke's victory over North Carolina State in the ACC tournament's championship game, 71–66.
Duke defeated No.5 ranked St. Joseph's University of Philadelphia in the East Regional semifinals of the 1966 NCAA tournament, 76–74. Marin had 18 points, 15 rebounds, and made four foul shots with 25 seconds left in the game, including two one-and-ones, to secure the victory. Duke next defeated Syracuse in the East Regional final, 91–81. Marin led Duke with 22 points, and had nine rebounds. Duke lost to Kentucky in the Final Four, 83–79. Marin led Duke with 29 points. Duke defeated Utah for third place in the tournament, 79–77. Marin again led Duke in scoring, with 23 points. Duke finished the 1965–66 season ranked No. 2 by the Associated Press. Marin was named to the 1966 NCAA All-Tournament Team, and to the East's All-Region Team.
Marin was nicknamed "Mr. Consistency" as a Duke player. In 1966, he also was named to the ACC's All-Academic team. He received an A.B. degree in chemistry from Duke.
Professional career
Baltimore Bullets
Reserve years (1966 to 1968) In 1966, Marin had been accepted into Duke's medical school, but decided to pursue professional basketball, and was drafted and signed by the Baltimore Bullets in 1966. Marin was the fifth player taken in the 1966 NBA draft. As a rookie (1966–67), Marin played in 74 games, playing nearly 18 minutes per game behind starting small forward Gus Johnson. Marin averaged 9.6 points, 4.2 rebounds and one assist per game. The Bullets finished the season 20–61, last in the NBA's Eastern Division. He was selected to the first-team 1967 All-Rookie Team.
The next season (1967–68), Marin averaged 24.8 minutes, 13.5 points, 5.8 rebounds, and 1.3 assists per game, still playing behind Johnson at small forward. Rookie of the Year Earl Monroe joined the team that season; which the Bullets finished 36–46 (still last in the Eastern Division). The Bullets protected Marin from being available in the 1968 NBA expansion draft.
Starting player Even though reporting to training camp, Marin delayed signing his contract in September 1968 in connection with his unhappiness at being used as a reserve instead of a starter. After experimenting with Marin as a shooting guard in the 1968–69 preseason, Marin became a starter at small forward in the season's third game, and was regularly playing over 30 minutes a game by the end of October. Johnson played power forward (though only in 49 games that season because of torn knee ligaments in early February that ended his season).
1968–69 Rookie of the Year and NBA Most Valuable Player Wes Unseld joined the team that season at center, with a starting lineup now consisting of Marin, Johnson, Unseld, Monroe and Kevin Loughery. Johnson, Monroe and Unseld were all future Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame members. That Bullets team went 57–25, finishing in first place in the Eastern Division. Marin played in all 82 games, averaging 33 minutes, 15.9 points, 7.4 rebounds, and 2.8 assists per game. The New York Knicks swept the Bullets (without Johnson) in four games in the Eastern Division semifinals, Marin averaging 38.3 minutes, 13.8 points, 4.5 rebounds, and three assists per game in that series.
In the 1969–70 season, the Bullets started Marin, Johnson, Unseld, Monroe, and Loughery. Marin played in all 82 games, playing 35.9 minutes per game. He averaged 19.7 points, 6.5 rebounds, and 2.6 assists per game. He scored 41 points on February 27, 1970 against the Atlanta Hawks, 18 in the first period, despite being involved in a fight with Hawks' forward Bill Bridges. Marin scored the majority of his points after the fight. The Bullets once again played the Knicks in the Eastern Division semifinals that season, losing in seven games. Marin averaged 37.9 minutes, 17.9 points, 6.7 rebounds, and 3.1 assists against the eventual 1970 NBA champion Knicks.
1970-71 season Marin played in all 82 games again in the 1970–71 season. He averaged 35.6 minutes, 18.8 points, 6.3 rebounds, and 2.6 assists per game; and had an .848 free throw percentage. On November 7, 1971, Marin scored a career-high 42 points in a 109–106 loss to his later team, the Houston Rockets. The Bullets were 42–40 that season, but reached the 1971 NBA Finals. In 18 playoff games, Marin played 41.7 minutes per game (second only to Wes Unseld on the team), and averaged 20.6 points per game (second only to Earl Monroe on the team). He averaged 8.1 rebounds and 3.1 assists per game. His minutes played, scoring, and rebounding averages were all career playoff highs.
The Bullets first won the Eastern Conference semifinals over the 47–35 Philadelphia 76ers in seven games. Marin averaged 20.6 points, 9.4 rebounds, and 3.6 assists per game against the 76ers. His 40.9 minutes per game led the team. In the deciding Game 7 win, 128–120, Marin led the Bullets with 33 points, and had 16 rebounds and four assists. The Bullets then played the 52–30 New York Knicks in the Eastern Conference finals, having lost to the Knicks in the playoffs the previous two seasons. The Bullets upset the defending NBA champions in seven games, winning Game 7, 93–91.
In the 1971 playoff series against the Knicks, Marin averaged 42.6 minutes, 21.9 points, 8.3 rebounds, and three assists per game. The Baltimore Sun sportswriter Alan Goldstein described Marin as "the most consistent performer for the Bullets in the series". In a Game 4 Bullets' win, Marin led the Bullets with 27 points. In Gus Johnson's absence, Marin also had 14 rebounds. Baltimore sportswriter Bill Tanton call it Marin's greatest game in five years with the Bullets. In a series tying win in Game 6, Marin scored 22 points and Bullets' assistant coach Bob Ferry said it was the best game Marin had ever played. Marin reportedly had been outplaying Knicks' small forward Bill Bradley in the series, and Knicks' coach Red Holzman replaced Bradley with Cazzie Russell during Game 6 in an effort to limit Marin's scoring. Marin scored eight quick points against Russell, and Bradley returned to the game.
In the deciding Game 7 win, Marin played 46 minutes (more than any other Bullets player), and scored 20 points. He also had nine rebounds and three assists. With the Bullets ahead 89–88, Marin got an offensive rebound and put in a critical field goal to put the Bullets ahead by three points, 91–88, with less than two minutes to play in the game. On the game's last play Bullets' coach Gene Shue made a defensive switch to have the 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) Marin cover the 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) Dick Barnett, the Knicks' leading scorer in the game, to stop Barnett from having a shooting opportunity. The Bullets won the game on the Knicks' home court, Madison Square Garden. After the game Marin said, "'I'd rather have won here than anywhere else in the world'".