# Norm Van Lier

Norman Allen Van Lier III (April 1, 1947 – February 26, 2009) was an American professional basketball player and television broadcaster who spent the majority of his career with the Chicago Bulls.

## Early life

Norman Van Lier was born on April 1, 1947, in East Liverpool, Ohio to Helen and Norm Sr. Norm Sr. was the son of a Baptist preacher, and worked in a steel mill for decades (reported as 31 or 40 years). Van Lier was raised, along with three brothers and a sister, in Midland, Pennsylvania. Van Lier had six brothers in all, three of whom died after birth including a son Norm Sr. named Elgin Baylor Van Lier I. Van Lier would look back fondly to his childhood playing tackle football with a taped coffee can for a ball due to their circumstances. He would later credit this upbringing in forming his famed work ethic later in life.

## High school career

Van Lier was a member of the 1965 Midland High School Leopards, considered by many to be one of the greatest high school basketball teams in Pennsylvania history, and of all time, finishing 28–0 and easily winning the Western Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic League (WPIAL) title. The Leopards won the statewide Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association (PIAA) championship game (90–61). Van Lier won All-State honors that year.
The team only lost two regular season games in three years. One of Van Lier's teammates was future NBA and ABA player Simmie Hill, who would later be drafted by the Chicago Bulls in the second round, with Van Lier taken in the third round of the same draft by the Bulls. During weekends, Van Lier would hitchhike to the playgrounds in Harlem, once even playing with future NBA hall of famer Billy Cunningham.
Van Lier was also a co-captain of his football team, where he played both as a standout quarterback, and at safety. He was recruited to play for several colleges (such as Nebraska, USC and Alabama), but none allowed him to play his desired position of quarterback, although it is also reported that he did not choose football because his mother discouraged him from playing football.
He also played high school baseball, and had been on his high school and county all-star teams. Van Lier had received offers to play professional baseball as well, and turned down a $25,000 offer from the St. Louis Cardinals because his mother did not want him to play in the segregated south.

## College career

Van Lier's modest 6 ft 1 in stature and his emphasis on defense kept him under the radar of stardom, and he was not recruited by major basketball powers. He attended Saint Francis University in Loretto, Pennsylvania, playing on the basketball team from 1966 to 1969. At St. Francis, Van Lier was a standout defensive guard who also scored 1,410 points during his collegiate career. Over three years, he averaged 18.8 points per game and 10.3 rebounds per game. As a junior in 1967–68, he set a then school record for assists, and as a senior he averaged 21.0 points per game. He was a fierce competitor and excellent ball handler. In 1969, he graduated with a double major in history and special education.
In 1999, Van Lier was inducted into the Saint Francis Athletics Hall of Fame. The school retired his number 12 jersey. He was inducted into the Cambria County, Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame in 1981. He was inducted into the Beaver County, Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame in 1984.

## Professional career
### Cincinnati Royals (1969–1971)

The Chicago Bulls selected Van Lier in the third round of the 1969 NBA draft, but after training camp traded him to the Cincinnati Royals for backup center Walt Wesley. Van Lier led the NBA in assists in 1971. On January 5 of that year, Van Lier became the first player in NBA history to have a scoreless double-double with zero points, 13 assists and 11 rebounds in a victory against the Los Angeles Lakers. A scoreless double-double did not happen for another 50 years, when on December 26, 2021, rookie Josh Giddey of the Oklahoma City Thunder compiled 10 assists and 10 rebounds in the Thunder's 117–112 win over the New Orleans Pelicans.
At Cincinnati, Van Lier flourished under the tutelage of coach Bob Cousy, a hall of fame guard who had played for the great Boston Celtics teams (even dating Cousy's daughter for over a year). Cousy focused on the team playing as a unit, instead of as individuals, which fit Van Lier. Van Lier was renowned for his physical and relentless defense, his fearlessness and hard-nosed play. He once got in a brawl with future Chicago Bulls teammate and close friend Jerry Sloan, a similar style player, during and after an exhibition game between the Royals and Bulls. Cousy called him a “‘coach’s dream’” and greatly motivated all his teammates by the example of his all out playing style. After Van Lier's death, NBA Commissioner David Stern described him as a “'complete player, a wonderful passer, [and] a tenacious rebounder...."

### Chicago Bulls (1971–1978)

The Bulls reacquired Van Lier during the 1971–72 season. Coach Cousy told Van Lier the Royals backcourt of Van Lier and Nate "Tiny" Archibald was too small, and asked Van Lier where he wanted to be traded. Van Lier told Cousy to trade him to the Bulls. Van Lier remained with the Bulls until 1978, appearing in three All-Star games (1974, 1976, 1977) over the course of six seasons. Now paired up with Jerry Sloan (1971–1976), they formed "the roughest back court combination in the NBA" on defense. Other "pundits" asserted the two formed the best defensive backcourt in NBA history. He played under volatile Bulls coach Dick Motta from 1971 through the 1975–1976 season.
In game 6 of the 1973 playoffs between the Bulls and defending champion Los Angeles Lakers, in a career highlight, he had 10 steals, and held the Lakers future hall of fame guard Gail Goodrich to 4 points.
Nicknamed "Stormin' Norman" for his tenacity and aggression, Van Lier was one of the most popular Bulls players of the 1970s, being "worshipped all over Chicago". During his ten-year career, Van Lier was named to three NBA All-Defense First Teams and five NBA All-Defense Second Teams. He has the most selections to not be inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame. He was named to the All-NBA Second Team in 1974. Van Lier was waived by the Bulls in October 1978.
On January 19, 1977, Van Lier broke the record for the longest successful field goal in NBA history at 84 feet; the record stood for 24 years until Baron Davis eclipsed it on November 17, 2001, from a distance of 89 feet.

### Milwaukee Bucks (1978–1979)

After being waived in October 1978 by the Bulls, the Milwaukee Bucks picked him up. He only lasted two months, as Van Lier could no longer play at that level. However, Van Lier had become addicted to Quaaludes to deal with constant pain over the years, and Bucks coach Don Nelson helped Van Lier get the treatment necessary to overcome that addiction.
Van Lier retired in 1979 with career totals of 8,770 points and 5,217 assists.

## Coaching career

In 1989, Van Lier was the assistant coach of the Worcester Counts in the World Basketball League.
Van Lier was the head basketball coach for the Worcester Vocational Technical High School team during part of the 1989–90 season. His team reached the Massachusetts Division II championship game.

## Media career

Van Lier served as a color analyst on Bulls radio broadcasts from 1980 to 1982. From 1992 to 2009, he was a television pre-game and post-game analyst for Chicago Bulls games, originally for SportsChannel, and later Fox Sports Chicago and Comcast SportsNet Chicago, winning an Emmy for the 1995–1996 season. He frequently appeared on other Chicago television programs to discuss the Bulls, and co-hosted shows on sports talk radio, including "the Bull and the Bear" on WSCR-AM. He also did afternoon sports talk on WMVP.
Van Lier also served as a special disc jockey on the Chicago rock music station 97.9 WLUP. In 2002 and 2004, he had supporting roles in the movies Barbershop and Barbershop 2: Back in Business.

## Public service

Van Lier was a member of Project Teamwork, a group formed by the Reebok Foundation working to improve racial and human rights sensitivity in school-age children.

## Legacy

On June 21, 2008, Van Lier was inducted into the WPIAL Hall of Fame. "Western Pennsylvania is football country, but my years are considered the golden era of basketball not only in the state but maybe the country," Van Lier said that night. "Uniontown, Midland, Schenley and Ambridge could play with anybody, anytime and in any era in the country."

## Death

On February 25, 2009, Van Lier was unexpectedly absent from his scheduled television appearance on Comcast SportsNet following a Bulls game. He was found dead in his apartment in Chicago's Near West Side neighborhood on February 26, 2009. He had a pacemaker implanted five months earlier. Fellow Bulls broadcaster and former Bulls head coach Johnny "Red" Kerr also died later that day.

## Career statistics
### NBA
#### Regular season

| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
| 1969–70 | Cincinnati | 81 | — | 35.7 | .403 | — | .741 | 5.0 | 6.2 | — | — | 9.5 |
| 1970–71 | Cincinnati | 82* | — | 40.5 | .420 | — | .816 | 7.1 | 10.1* | — | — | 16.0 |
| 1971–72 | Cincinnati | 10 | — | 27.5 | .311 | — | .773 | 5.8 | 5.1 | — | — | 7.3 |
| 1971–72 | Chicago | 69 | — | 31.0 | .456 | — | .791 | 4.3 | 7.1 | — | — | 12.1 |
| 1972–73 | Chicago | 80 | — | 36.0 | .445 | — | .787 | 5.5 | 7.1 | — | — | 13.9 |
| 1973–74 | Chicago | 80 | — | 35.8 | .406 | — | .778 | 4.7 | 6.9 | 2.0 | .1 | 14.3 |
| 1974–75 | Chicago | 70 | — | 37.0 | .420 | — | .792 | 4.7 | 5.8 | 2.0 | .2 | 15.0 |
| 1975–76 | Chicago | 76 | — | 39.8 | .366 | — | .737 | 5.4 | 6.6 | 2.0 | .3 | 12.6 |
| 1976–77 | Chicago | 82* | — | 37.8 | .412 | — | .778 | 4.5 | 7.8 | 1.6 | .2 | 10.2 |
| 1977–78 | Chicago | 78 | — | 32.4 | .419 | — | .751 | 3.6 | 6.8 | 1.8 | .1 | 7.3 |
| 1978–79 | Milwaukee | 38 | — | 14.6 | .390 | — | .904 | 1.1 | 4.2 | 1.1 | .1 | 2.8 |
| Career | Career | 746 | — | 35.1 | .414 | — | .780 | 4.8 | 7.0 | 1.8 | .2 | 11.8 |
| All-Star | All-Star | 3 | 1 | 12.3 | .286 | — | .500 | 1.0 | 1.0 | .7 | .3 | 1.7 |

#### Playoffs

| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
| 1972 | Chicago | 4 | — | 36.0 | .415 | — | .857 | 6.3 | 8.3 | — | — | 14.0 |
| 1973 | Chicago | 7 | — | 36.9 | .349 | — | .733 | 5.3 | 5.1 | — | — | 14.4 |
| 1974 | Chicago | 11 | — | 42.4 | .424 | — | .830 | 4.3 | 6.8 | 1.5 | .3 | 14.6 |
| 1975 | Chicago | 13 | — | 42.1 | .409 | — | .747 | 5.2 | 4.7 | 1.5 | .4 | 15.1 |
| 1977 | Chicago | 3 | — | 44.7 | .158 | — | .833 | 5.0 | 9.7 | 3.3 | .3 | 5.3 |
| Career | Career | 38 | — | 40.8 | .389 | — | .784 | 5.0 | 6.2 | 1.7 | .3 | 13.9 |