Hall of Famer Jack Twyman dies at age 78 – NBA Update
NBA Hall of Famer and one of the top scorers in the 50’s, Jack Twyman passed away here on Wednesday. He was 78 years old. Twyman died from complications from an aggressive form of blood cancer at a Cincinnati hospital, his son Jay Twyman said on Thursday.
Twyman played for the University of Cincinnati and later on had 11 successful years in the NBA with Rochester and Cincinnati Royals. At his university, he was the scoring leader from his sophomore to senior year and finished his affiliation with the university
as the all time scoring leader with 1598 points and 1242 rebounds. He was named an All American in 1955 and is one of the three former UC players to have their jerseys retired.
“The Bearcat family lost one of our legends yesterday with the passing of Jack Twyman. He was a true gentleman, a great man who loved UC” said the University’s athletics director Whit Babcock.
“He was a first-class man and obviously, one of the greatest to ever put on the Bearcats jersey” said UC head coach Mick Cronin.
Twyman then went on to play in the NBA where he averaged a career high 31.2 points per game in the 1959-60 NBA season. He was selected to six NBA All Star teams. He scored 15,840 points in his career with the NBA and was inducted into the basketball Hall
of Fame in 1983. After retiring from the league, he worked as a television analyst on NBA games.
Twyman is most remembered for a wonderful act of selflessness and kindness that he showed in 1958 when during a game, his teammate Maurice Stokes hit his head on the floor and went into coma. Stokes was paralyzed and Twyman became his guardian so that Stokes
could receive medical benefits. He is still remembered in the NBA today for this act of compassion.
In addition to that, Twyman also organized an exhibition game with other NBA players to raise money for his teammate. Stokes went on to die in 1970.
"He was a great man, a devoted husband and father and a tremendous grandfather” said his son Jay.
Twyman is survived by his wife Carole, one son, three daughters and 14 grand children.
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