Ron Boone

Ronald Bruce Boone (born September 6, 1946) is an American former professional basketball player.

He had a 13-year career in the American Basketball Association (ABA) and National Basketball Association (NBA).

Boone set a record for most consecutive games played in professional basketball history with 1,041 and claims to have never missed a game from when he started playing basketball in the fourth grade until his retirement.

Boone is the current color commentator on Utah Jazz broadcasts.

Boone grew up in the Logan Fontenelle housing project and attended Technical High School in North Omaha, Nebraska.

In high school, Boone played basketball for Coach Neal Mosser, who had led Tech to the 1963 State title and had coached Basketball of Famer Bob Boozer and Baseball Hall of Famer Bob Gibson before Boone.

Boone stood only 5'7" when he graduated from high school and didn't become a starter in basketball until his senior season. Boone played baseball under Coach Josh Gibson, older brother of Baseball Hall of Fame pitcher Bob Gibson, who also was an Omaha native and Technical High School alumnus.

Small in stature at the time, Boone reflected on his basketball aspirations after high school.

“I remember playing in a league down at the local YMCA and just having a good time — scoring points — and this friend of mine asked one of the officials if he thought I could play major college basketball and the guy said, ‘No way,’ Boone recalled.

“That was always in the back of my mind because I thought I could.

If there was anything in my life that I can say inspired me, it was those comments.”

After high school, Boone and a teammate accepted offers to play junior college basketball.

Boone played one season at Clarinda Community College in Clarinda, Iowa, where he suddenly grew to 6'2" and averaged 26 points per game.

Following his tenure at Clarinda Community College, Boone enrolled at Idaho State University (ISU) in Pocatello, Idaho, where he received a scholarship and played for the Bengals, of the Big Sky Conference from 1965 to 1968.

As a sophomore, Boone averaged 10.9 points and 9.4 rebounds in 1965–1966.

Boone played under Idaho State Coach Claude Retherford, as the Bengals finished the season with a 7–19 overall.

Retherford was a former college teammate of Boone's high school coach Neil Mosser.

"It was Coach Mosser who helped me get a basketball scholarship to Idaho State."

Boone reflected later, "I was accepted sight unseen and now, 30 years later, Claude Retherford is still one of my best friends. He visits me in Salt Lake City every spring and I teach his basketball camp every summer."

In 1966–1967, Idaho State finished the season with a record of 10–15, with Boone averaging 22.3 points and 5.1 rebounds.

As a senior in 1967–1968, Boone averaged 21.3 points, 4.2 rebounds and 3.8 assists as Idaho State finished the season with a record of 10–12, playing under new Coach Danny Miller.

In his three seasons with Idaho State University, Boone averaged 20.0 points and 5.4 rebounds in 61 games, never missing a game.

Boone was named to the First–team All-Big Sky teams in both 1967 and 1968.

After graduating from Idaho State University, Boone was selected by both the American Basketball Association's Dallas Chaparrals in the 1968 ABA draft and by the Phoenix Suns in the 1968 NBA draft.

Boone opted to play for Dallas in the ABA.

Of his choice to play in the ABA, Boone said: "I chose the ABA because my college coach said it was a young league and I’d probably have a better chance of making professional basketball there. I felt that by going to the ABA I probably had a shot. I still had to prove myself. At the time Cliff Hagan, who is a legend, was the coach for the Chaparrals. We had to play two-on-two and he would always play. I remember hearing about this hook shot that he had that was awesome, left and right, and during that time I blocked his hook shot a couple of times. I really think, even today, that’s the reason I ended up making the team."

Boone played two seasons with the Dallas Chaparrals (today's San Antonio Spurs) from 1968 to 1971.

As a rookie in 1968–1969, Boone averaged 18.9 points, 5.1 rebounds and 3.6 assists under Coach Cliff Hagan.

Dallas finished 41–37, losing to the New Orleans Buccaneers 4 games to 3 in the ABA Playoffs.

Boone made the ABA All-Rookie First Team.

Boone averaged 17.1 points, 5.3 rebounds and 4.3 assists in 201 games with the Dallas Chaparrals.

Boone was traded to the Utah Stars from Dallas in mid-season 1970, while averaging 20.0 points in 42 games with Dallas.

Utah finished the 1970–1971 regular season 57–27, with Boone averaging 18.8 points, 5.8 rebounds and 2.6 assists after coming over in the trade from Dallas.

Boone averaged 17.6 points in the ABA Finals 4 games to 3 victory over the Kentucky Colonels, with Dan Issel and Louis Dampier.

The Stars had defeated the Indiana Pacers 4 games to 3 and his former team, the Dallas Chaparrals 4 games to 0 to reach the ABA Finals.

Boone averaged 21.0 points in the Dallas series and 14.9 in the Indiana series.

Over the course of six seasons with the Utah Stars, Boone averaged 18.6 points, 5.0 rebounds, 3.9 assists and 1.5 steals in 396 games.

In January 1971, the Stars traded Donnie Freeman and Wayne Hightower to the Chaparrals for Boone and Glen Combs.

Boone, alongside Zelmo Beaty, Willie Wise and Glen Combs, helped lead the Utah Stars to the 1971 ABA championship under Coach Bill Sharman.

The Utah Stars franchise folded after 16 games in 1975–1976, with the NBA and ABA merger imminent.