Bob Kauffman

Robert "Bob" Kauffman (July 13, 1946 – July 25, 2015) was an American professional basketball player and coach.

Bob Kaufmann, from Scarsdale, New York, starred at NAIA Guilford College in Greensboro, North Carolina, from 1964–1968. The 6-foot-8, 240-pound center is credited with turning the Quakers into an NAIA basketball powerhouse that won 86 games with three straight trips to the NAIA Tournament in his four seasons. Kauffman scored 2,570 points on 64 percent field-goal shooting and collected 1,801 rebounds in his 113-game career, all current school standards.

Kauffman was selected with the third pick of the 1968 NBA Draft by the Seattle SuperSonics; he was also selected in the 1968 ABA Draft by the Oakland Oaks. He played seven seasons in the NBA as a member of the Sonics, Chicago Bulls, Buffalo Braves, and Atlanta Hawks. A three-time All-Star (in 1971, 1972, and 1973), Kauffman averaged 11.5 points and 7.0 rebounds for his career. He had his statistically strongest season in 1970–71, when he averaged 20.4 points and 10.7 rebounds for the Braves.

Bob Kauffman died at the age of 69 peacefully one night as his heart stopped. Bob was a basketball player who played collegiately and professionally in the early 1960s to early 1970s. Although his career was not long he was able to accomplish many things throughout his time playing. Kauffman came from a relatively small college in which they competed other small colleges in the NAIA, a subdivision of the NCAA, Guilford College in Greensboro, North Carolina. He was one of the prominent and promising players in all of college basketball at his time. When he was drafted he played for several different teams and was successful for all of them. Bob was able to make the NBA all star team in 3 of his 7 seasons, from 1971–1973. While at Guilford he was an all-American and one of the best to ever play in the NAIA, coming as a top 3 pick in the 1968 NBA draft. Many believe Bob Kauffman should have played longer but due to injury had to call it quits sooner than expected. Most people remember him as the pioneer of tough basketball. He is the original blue collar worker, always worked hard for shots, rebounds and especially defensively where he competed against some of the best to ever play the game. He was physical and a lot of people enjoyed watching that type of play

Some of Bob's more outstanding accolades from college include, 32 rebounds in a single game, 698 rebounds in a single season, while averaging 15.9 for his college career. He has made 943 career field goals, shot a very impressive 71.2 percent in single-season from the field, 273 free-throws attempted in a single-season, while shooting a total of 344 in a single-season, nearly one third of his career free-throws made which happens to be 684 and single-season free-throw attempts (344, 1966–67). These were all of his great stats released by his alma mater Guilford. Many believe the jersey worn by Kauffman when he played for the Buffalo Braves should be retired by the clippers since he was the original star of the program.

As reported by NBA.com Bob Kauffman's death went extremely unnoticed in the sports world. He was the first real star for the Buffalo Braves, now the Los Angeles Clippers, making three consecutive appearances in the all-star game.

Kauffman is survived by his wife, Judy and four daughters; Lara, Joannah, Carey, and Kate. All of his daughters have had prolific basketball careers at the collegiate level for Georgia Tech, Duke, and Clayton University.