- McGinnis played high school, college and pro basketball in Indiana
- Pacers announced his death on Thursday after reportedly suffering cardiac arrest
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George McGinnis, the former NBA and ABA All-Star who was later inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame, has died at the age of 73 after reportedly suffering cardiac arrest.
The 73-year-old's medical emergency was first revealed on Tuesday by the Indianapolis Record Newspaper and former NBA reporter Peter Vescey, who reported that McGinnis has been on a ventilator for three days.
“The greatest Indiana Pacer ever is fighting for his life after going into cardiac arrest,” read a Facebook post on the newspaper's account. “Please light a candle for George McGinnis.”
On Thursday, the Pacers announced that McGinnis had died.
George McGinnis, the former NBA and ABA All-Star who was later inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame, is fighting for his life after reportedly suffering cardiac arrest
McGinnis is a basketball kingpin in the Hoosier State, where he was recently inducted into the Indiana University Athletics Hall of Fame. Not only is he from Indianapolis, but he played at IU in 1970 and 1971 before joining the ABA's Pacers from 1971 to 1975. He would win two ABA titles during that time and was named ABA MVP in 1975 before joining the NBA: season.
It was in Philadelphia that McGinnis became a household name, playing alongside Julius Erving, Darryl Dawkins, Mike Dunleavy, World B. Free, Caldwell Jones and Doug Collins on a team famously upset by Maurice Lucas, Bill Walton and the Portland Trail Blazers in the 1977 NBA Finals.
'McGinnis' Sixers teams were among the NBA's best never to win a title,' WFAN's Joey Wahler wrote on X.
A 76ers fan followed up: “Every kid in Philadelphia of a certain age grew up imitating his one-handed jumper. Then we realized it was impossible if you didn't have hands as big as George's. God bless Big Mac.”
McGinnis was a star at Washington High School in Indianapolis, where he and future IU teammate Steve Downing led the school to a 31-0 record and a state title in 1969.
The two would have similar success at Indiana under coach Lou Watson – one season before the school hired Bob Knight, the Hoosier legend who died earlier this year.
George McGinnis has some fun with the Indiana Pacers mascot in April 2004 in Indianapolis
But McGinnis' stay in Bloomington was short-lived and he soon left for the upstart ABA, where he was named to the All-Rookie team in 1972.
The Pacers were dominant in his first two seasons, winning a pair of ABA crowns under coach Slick Leonard, who passed away in 2021. He was at his best in 1974-75, averaging 29.8 points and 10.3 rebounds per game, though the Pacers would. falling to Artis Gilmore, Dan Issel and the Kentucky Colonels in the ABA Finals that season.
Following the ABA-NBA merger in 1976, McGinnis would return to the Pacers in 1980 after a two-year stint with the Denver Nuggets. He finally retired in 1982.
He was inducted into the Naismith Hall of Fame in 2017, along with Tracy McGrady, Bill Self and Rebecca Lobo.