Sports
George Yardley
1928–2004 · basketball forward
Hall of Fame forward who, in the Pistons' first season in Detroit (1957–1958), became the first NBA player to score 2,000 points in a season.
- Born
Los Angeles, California- Died
Newport Beach, California
aged 75- Birth name
- George Harry Yardley III
- Also known as
- The Bird
- Detroit years
- 1957–1959
- Field
- Sports
01 / The Detroit story
The Detroit story
Yardley, a Stanford walk-on who became a college scoring star, joined the Fort Wayne Pistons in 1953 and developed into one of the league's most versatile offensive forwards, helping the team reach the NBA Finals in 1955 and 1956. When Fred Zollner moved the franchise to Detroit before the 1957–1958 season, Yardley came with it and gave the new city's fans something to watch at the Olympia. That season he scored 2,001 points, breaking George Mikan's record of 1,932 and becoming the first player in NBA history to reach 2,000 in a season; he led the league in scoring at 27.8 points per game. Early in the following season he was traded to the Syracuse Nationals, and he retired in 1960 while still at his peak to pursue an engineering career in California. He was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1996.
Highlights
- First NBA player to score 2,000 points in a season (1957–1958)
- Led the NBA in scoring in the Pistons' first Detroit season
- Six-time NBA All-Star
- Basketball Hall of Fame, 1996
02 / Their Detroit places
Their Detroit places 1
Where they lived, worked, performed and liked to hang out. Closed and demolished places stay here too, because they are part of the city's history.
Played here · 1957–1959
Olympia Stadium
Demolished · 1927–1979
The Pistons' first Detroit home, where he set the 2,000-point mark; demolished in the 1980s.