Hal Greer was a professional basketball player who played in the National Basketball Association for the Syracuse Nationals and the Philadelphia 76ers. Greer played in the NBA from 1958-1973. Greer was born in Huntington, West Virginia, on June 23, 1936.

Greer played his college basketball at Marshall University before going on to be picked by the Nationals with the 13th pick in round two of the NBA Draft. Greer played for the Nationals from 1958 until 1963 when the Nationals moved to Philadelphia to become the Philadelphia 76ers. Greer would play for the 76ers for his next ten seasons before retiring in 1973.

Greer is listed at 6-2 and usually played shooting guard, but he would also fill in the small forward role on occasion. Throughout his career, Greer would be the model of consistency. He averaged double digits in points in all but one of his seasons, he played at least 70 games in all but two seasons, and he played more than 30 minutes per game in all but four seasons.

In his last season in the NBA, Greer participated in just 38 games as he was also the team assistant coach. This is a tribute to Greer's basketball brain that he was able to help coach, whilst playing.

Greer played in 10 NBA All-Star games winning one NBA All-Star Game MVP (1968); he was a seven time All-NBA Second Team selection (1963-1969); he was elected onto the NBA 50th Anniversary Team (1996); and he was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, (1982).http://www.nba.com/history/players/greer_bio.html http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/g/greerha01.html

As Greer liked to be remembered in his own words, "a great, consistent player", not many of his individual seasons stood out as they were all great, but there were many highlights in his career.

1958/59-1959/60 Seasons

Coming into the league as a second round pick, there were not a lot of expectations on Greer. Throughout his first two seasons, he would come off the bench as he adjusted to life in the NBA. In his first season he would average 11.1 points per game, shooting 45.4% from the floor (the fourth highest field goal percentage in the NBA that season).

In his second season in the league, Greer shot an even better clip from the field (47.6%) to place second, and helped his team to the NBA Playoffs where they ironically lost to the Philadelphia Warriors in the first round.

1960/61-1965/66

This is where Greer really started to blossom as an NBA star. He got given the nod as a starter in his third season, and he proved why. He went on to average 19.6 points per game, and was selected to his first NBA All-Star Game. He would lead the Nationals to the Eastern Division Semi-Finals, before losing to the Bostonn Celtics.

The next two seasons, Greer's status continued to rise. He would be selected for another All-Star game, while leading the Nationals to the Playoffs each year, and by the end of the 1962/63 Season, he would be selected to the All-NBA Second Team.

At the end of the 1962/63 Season, the Nationals changed ownership and moved to Philadelphia, to become the Philadelphia 76ers for the start of the 1963/64 Season. Philadelphia seemed to suit Greer just fine, as he would go on to average over 20 points per game the next three seasons, and would be selected to the NBA All-Star Game in each season.

1966/67 Season

This season has gone down in history. Arguably the greatest team in the history of the NBA, Greer helped lead the team to an NBA Championship with help from Wilt Chamberlain, Billy Cunningham, Chet Walker, Lucious Jackson, and Wally Jones. Greer would average 22 points per game during the regular season, but would step it up in the postseason to average 27.7 points per game.

1967/68-1972/73

In Greer's finest individual season, the '67/68 season would be one for individual accolades. He averaged 24.1 points per game, shot 47.8% from the field (a career best), was selected as the All-Star Game MVP after going 8-8 from the field and scoring a record 19 points in one quarter. The 76ers would go on to lose to the Celtics in the Playoffs in a gruelling seven game series, and then in the 1968/69 Season, Chamberlain was traded to the Los Angeles Lakers.

Although the 76ers remained perennial Playoff contenders due to the play of Cunningham and Greer, they lost their championship calibre status. Greer would be selected to the All-NBA Second Team for his 7th straight and final time at the end of the '68/69 season.

In the 1969/70 Season, Greer would have his last season as an NBA All-Star. Greer averaged 22 points per game, and helped lead the 76ers to the Playoffs for the 12th straight year, but could not help them advance versus the Milwaukee Bucks in the second round.

In Greer's last three seasons, his numbers would steadily decline as he got older and his playing time dwindled before he eventually retired at the end of the 1972/73 Season.

Greer will be remembered not just a part of the 1966/67 Championship Team, but as a lifetime Sixer, a great player, and one of the greatest, consistent players in NBA History. http://www.nba.com/history/players/greer_bio.html http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/g/greerha01.html