Harvey Lee Catchings (born September 2, 1951) is an American former professional basketball player.

Harvey Catchings
Personal information
Born (1951-09-02) September 2, 1951 (age 72)
Jackson, Mississippi
NationalityAmerican
Listed height6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)
Listed weight218 lb (99 kg)
Career information
High schoolJim Hill (Jackson, Mississippi)
College
NBA draft1974: 3rd round, 42nd overall pick
Selected by the Philadelphia 76ers
Playing career1974–1986
PositionCenter / power forward
Number42, 40
Career history
19741979Philadelphia 76ers
1979New Jersey Nets
19791984Milwaukee Bucks
1984–1985Los Angeles Clippers
1985–1986Segafredo Gorizia
Career NBA statistics
Points2,335 (3.2 ppg)
Rebounds3,639 (5.0 rpg)
Blocks1,226 (1.7 bpg)
Stats Edit this at Wikidata at NBA.com
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com

He played in the National Basketball Association (NBA) from 1974 to 1985 as a member of the Philadelphia 76ers, New Jersey Nets, Milwaukee Bucks, and Los Angeles Clippers. He has NBA career averages of 3.2 points per game, 5.0 rebounds per game and 1.6 blocks per game. On December 18, 1976, Catchings scored a career-high 16 points alongside grabbing 11 rebounds in a 97–93 victory over the Indiana Pacers.[1] On April 10, 1981, Catchings blocked 5 shots in only 16 minutes during Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals, a loss against the Philadelphia 76ers.[2]

He is one of 43 NBA players to have recorded at least 10 blocks in a single game. In his career, he made the Eastern Conference Finals three times (once with Philadelphia, twice with Milwaukee) and made the NBA Finals once with Philadelphia during the 1976-77 NBA season.[3]

Catchings is the all-time leader of Defensive Box Plus/Minus in Bucks franchise history at 2.6, above defensive greats such as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Giannis Antetokounmpo, and Alvin Robertson.[4]

NBA career statistics edit

Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game
 FG%  Field goal percentage  3P%  3-point field goal percentage  FT%  Free throw percentage
 RPG  Rebounds per game  APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game
 BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game  Bold  Career high
Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
1974–75 Philadelphia 37 14.3 .554 .640 4.1 0.6 0.3 1.6 2.6
1975–76 Philadelphia 75 23.1 .426 .604 6.9 0.8 0.3 2.2 3.5
1976–77 Philadelphia 53 25 16.3 .504 .702 4.4 0.6 0.4 1.5 3.0
1977–78 Philadelphia 61 2 12.3 .393 .618 4.1 0.6 0.3 1.1 2.9
1978–79 Philadelphia 25 4 11.6 .412 .765 3.9 0.7 0.3 1.4 2.8
1978–79 New Jersey 32 20.6 .423 .770 6.4 0.9 0.5 1.8 6.1
1979–80 Milwaukee 72 19.0 .398 .000 .629 5.7 1.1 0.3 2.3 3.2
1980–81 Milwaukee 77 21.2 .447 .000 .641 6.1 1.3 0.4 2.4 4.2
1981–82 Milwaukee 80 9 20.0 .420 .000 .594 4.5 1.2 0.5 1.7 2.9
1982–83 Milwaukee 74 33 21.0 .457 .000 .674 5.5 1.0 0.4 2.0 3.3
1983–84 Milwaukee 69 3 16.8 .399 .000 .524 3.9 0.6 0.4 1.2 2.1
1984–85 Los Angeles 70 14 15.0 .483 .000 .663 3.7 0.2 0.2 0.8 2.9
Career 725 90 18.2 .435 .000 .647 5.0 0.8 0.4 1.7 3.2

Playoffs edit

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
1975–76 Philadelphia 3 29.0 .615 .333 9.3 2.0 0.0 3.0 5.7
1976–77 Philadelphia 8 6.8 .400 .000 1.5 0.1 0.0 0.5 0.5
1977–78 Philadelphia 7 3.7 .375 .750 1.3 0.0 0.1 0.4 1.3
1978–79 New Jersey 2 13.0 .167 .000 4.0 0.5 0.0 0.5 1.0
1979–80 Milwaukee 6 10.7 .333 .000 .500 3.5 0.3 0.0 1.3 1.0
1980–81 Milwaukee 7 15.6 .188 .000 1.000 3.7 1.1 0.0 1.6 1.1
1981–82 Milwaukee 6 4.3 .667 .000 .000 1.2 0.0 0.0 0.5 0.7
1982–83 Milwaukee 9 15.4 .474 .000 1.000 4.2 0.4 0.2 1.1 2.3
1983–84 Milwaukee 5 5.0 .500 .000 .500 1.0 0.2 0.0 0.0 0.6
Career 53 10.5 .397 .000 .500 2.9 0.4 0.1 0.9 1.4

Personal life edit

Catchings is the father of WNBA former star Tamika Catchings, who played for the Indiana Fever. Catchings is currently a Reverse Mortgage Consultant with Open Mortgage-North Houston. His other daughter, Tauja, played college basketball for Illinois. His grandson through Tauja is five-star recruit Kanon Catchings who is committed to Purdue for the class of 2024.[5]

Both Harvey, and his daughter Tamika, identify as Christian.[6]

Catchings was friends with former 76ers teammate Joe Bryant, and both of their families spent time together while they each played professional basketball in Italy. Because of this, Catchings' children were childhood friends with Joe's son, Kobe Bryant.[7]

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ "Philadelphia 76ers at Indiana Pacers Box Score, December 18, 1976".
  2. ^ "Philadelphia 76ers at Milwaukee Bucks Box Score, April 10, 1981".
  3. ^ "Harvey Catchings Stats".
  4. ^ "Milwaukee Bucks Career Leaders".
  5. ^ "Kanon Catchings Class of 2024 Recruit". 247Sports. CBS Interactive. Retrieved 1 July 2023.
  6. ^ "Tamika Catchings: Champ on and off the Court". 20 July 2010.
  7. ^ "BBC World Service – Sportsworld – Farewell to the Mamba: Kobe Bryant".

External links edit