Slater Nelson "Dugie" Martin Jr. (October 22, 1925 – October 18, 2012) was an American professional basketball player and coach who was a playmaking guard for 11 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He was born in Elmina, Walker County, Texas and played in seven NBA All-Star Games.

Martin was one of the NBA's best defensive players in the 1950s, playing for the George Mikan-led Minneapolis Lakers that won four NBA championships between 1950 and 1954. In 1956, he joined Bob Pettit's St. Louis Hawks and won another NBA title in 1958.

Slater Martin

Martin was an alumnus of Jefferson Davis High School in Houston, where he led his school to two state basketball championships in 1942 and 1943. He is also a graduate of University of Texas at Austin, where he set a scoring record in 1949 with 49 points in a game for the Longhorns against Texas Christian University (or TCU). Throughout his career with the Longhorns, he averaged 12.7 points per game. His former high school now holds an annual fund raiser in his name, the "Slater Martin Golf Tournament", which successfully raises tens of thousands of dollars each year for high school student clubs and athletic teams.

Slater Martin

He was head coach of the Houston Mavericks of the American Basketball Association in the 1967–68 season and part of 1968–69, and led the Mavericks into the 1968 ABA Playoffs.

Slater Martin

Martin was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame on May 3, 1982, in Springfield, Massachusetts. He is the only Longhorn to be so honored. His jersey number 15 was retired by the University of Texas on January 31, 2009, making him only the second Longhorn basketball player to have his number retired.

He died of a brief illness on October 18, 2012, in Houston, Texas, aged 86.

NBA career statistics

Regular season

Playoffs

See also

List of NBA players with most championships

References

External links

NBA.com profile

Slater Martin player statistics at Basketball-Reference.com

Slater Martin coach statistics at Basketball-Reference.com

1925 births

2012 deaths

All-American college men's basketball players

American men's basketball coaches

American men's basketball players

Basketball coaches from Texas

Basketball players from Houston

Houston Mavericks coaches

Minneapolis Lakers players

Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame inductees

National Basketball Association All-Stars

National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame inductees

New York Knicks players

People from Walker County, Texas

Player-coaches

Point guards

St. Louis Hawks head coaches

St. Louis Hawks players

Texas Longhorns men's basketball players

Northside High School (Houston) alumni