“Fight on, Dribble on” is a weekly column by Joseph Domingot about how Trojans are performing in the NBA.
This week is a little bit different than usual.
Due to the NBA All-Star break, only three Trojans suited up once in the past week. Here are the Trojans who played on February 22 and how they performed:
- Evan Mobley (Cleveland Cavaliers): 14 points, eight rebounds and six assists in a seven-point home loss to the Orlando Magic.
- Nikola Vucevic (Chicago Bulls): 22 points and 14 rebounds against the No. 1 seeded Boston Celtics.
- DeMar DeRozan (Chicago Bulls): 19 points in a double-digit loss at home alongside Vucevic.
Because of the lack of action in the past seven days, this week’s column will take a different approach to highlighting former Trojans in the NBA.
We will be taking a look at the decorated college and professional careers of two former USC Trojans inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame who also have their numbers hung in the rafters at Galen Center.
Bill Sharman
Credited for inventing morning shootaround, Bill Sharman lit up Trojan men’s basketball in an era where the team played at the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena, which was demolished in 2016 to make way for BMO Stadium. Despite spending his four collegiate years between 1946 and 1950, his iconic No. 11 jersey still hangs in the rafters of the recently built Galen Center.
The then-Washington Capitols would then select him in the second round of the 1950 NBA Draft. However, due to the organization’s dissolution, “Bullseye Bill” was shipped off to the Boston Celtics, where he would spend the rest of his playing career.
During his ten years in green and white, the Southern California native would go on to win four NBA titles before calling it quits in 1961. In a team loaded with other superstar players like Bill Russell and Bob Cousy, the former shooting guard would also eventually have his No. 21 retired in Boston Garden.
The College Basketball Hall of Fame inductee contributed heavily to the winning Celtics culture of the mid-1900s. The eight-time NBA All-Star averaged 17.8 points per game in his NBA career, the second-best average by a former Trojan behind DeRozan. Sharman proved to be hyper-efficient from the charity stripe, averaging just above 88% from the line, the 16th-highest efficiency in NBA history.
Sharman is the only Trojan to be recognized as a member in all of the NBA’s anniversary teams: the 25th anniversary team, the 50th anniversary team and the 75th anniversary team.
Paul Westphal
Another former Trojan guard, Paul Westphal, helped the Trojans to their best winning percentage in a single season in USC history. In 1971, “Westy” led the team to a 24-2 record and averaged just under 17 points per game during his career as a Trojan.
The 1968 national high school player of the year would eventually enter the NBA Draft in 1972, being selected 10th overall by the Celtics.
Westphal spent three years as a Celtic, winning an NBA championship in his sophomore season. The eventual five-time All-Star was eventually dealt to the Phoenix Suns in 1975, where he made his name professionally. He guided the organization to its first ever NBA Finals appearance against his former team, but inevitably came up short.
The Redondo Beach native was named to three All-NBA First Teams and one All-NBA Second Team between 1975 and 1980 in Phoenix.
After spending stints as a Seattle SuperSonic and a New York Knick, Westphal returned to Phoenix, where he would finish his career in 1984. The Hall of Famer ended his playing career averaging 15.6 points per game on over 50% shooting from the field — highly efficient for a 6-foot-4 guard.
Westphal’s No. 44 and No. 25 jerseys are both retired by the Phoenix Suns and the USC Trojans, respectively.
“Fight on, Dribble on” runs every Friday.