Butch Beard

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Butch Beard

Personal information
Born	(1947-05-04) May 4, 1947 (age 77) Hardinsburg, Kentucky, U.S.
Listed height	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
Listed weight	185 lb (84 kg)
Career information
High school	Breckinridge County (Harned, Kentucky)
College	Louisville (1966–1969)
NBA draft	1969: 1st round, 10th overall pick
Selected by the Atlanta Hawks
Playing career	1969–1979
Position	Guard
Number	14, 21, 9
Career history
As player:
1969–1970	Atlanta Hawks
1971–1972	Cleveland Cavaliers
1972–1973	Seattle SuperSonics
1973–1975	Golden State Warriors
1975	Cleveland Cavaliers
1975–1979	New York Knicks
As coach:
1990–1994	Howard
1994–1996	New Jersey Nets
2001–2006	Morgan State
Career highlights and awards
NBA champion (1975) NBA All-Star (1972) Third-team All-American – UPI (1969) 3× First-team All-MVC (1967–1969) Second-team Parade All-American (1965) Kentucky Mr. Basketball (1965)
Career statistics
Points	5,622 (9.3 ppg)
Rebounds	2,042 (3.4 rpg)
Assists	2,189 (3.6 apg)
Stats at NBA.com
Stats at Basketball Reference

Alfred "Butch" Beard Jr. (born May 5, 1947) is an American former professional basketball player and coach. He was the starting point guard with the 1975 NBA champion Golden State Warriors.

Beard played high school basketball at Breckinridge County High School where, as a junior, he led the Bearcats to the 1964 state championship game losing to a Wes Unseld-led Louisville Seneca team. Beard and Unseld would later become roommates at the University of Louisville. In 1965, Beard led the Bearcats back to the title game, winning the state championship. Additionally, he was named the Kentucky Mr. Basketball.

Butch Beard played college basketball at the University of Louisville.

Beard was selected by the Dallas Chaparrals in the 1969 ABA draft and by the Atlanta Hawks in the first round of the 1969 NBA draft.^[1] Beard played nine seasons (1969–1970; 1971–1979) with five teams: the Atlanta Hawks, the Cleveland Cavaliers, the Seattle SuperSonics, the Golden State Warriors, and the New York Knicks. He scored 5,622 career points and represented Cleveland in the 1972 NBA All-Star Game. While with the Warriors he scored the last seven points of the team's 1975 NBA Championship win. Beard retired as an NBA player in 1979, last playing for the New York Knicks.

Beard later served as head coach of the New Jersey Nets from 1994 to 1996. He was also color analyst for New York Knicks games on MSG Network during the 1980s. He was the head coach at Howard University from 1990 to 1994 and head coach at Morgan State University until he stepped down in March 2006.

• Butch Beard's Basic Basketball: The Complete Player (M. Kesend, 1994), ISBN 978-0935576481^[2]

• Butch Beard career player stats at basketball-reference.com