Facts: - draft round: 3 - draft pick: 50 - career end: 1981 - number: 12 , 22 - height in: 8 - team: spirits -lrb- aba and nba -rrb- buffalo braves detroit pistons kansas of city kings san antonio spurs st. louis -lrb- aba -rrb- denver nuggets - birth date: 27 july 1953 - draft team: portland trail blazers - weight lb: 200 - statlabel: points rebounds assists - statvalue: 3,765 -rrb- 560 -lrb- 1.3 apg -rrb- -lrb- 8.4 ppg -rrb- 1,811 -lrb- 4.1 rpg - draft year: 1975 - bbr: gerargu01 - college: virginia -lrb- 1972 -- 1974 -rrb- - stats league: aba and nba - letter: g - name: gus gerard - birth place: uniontown , pennsylvania - position: small forward / shooting guard - high school: laurel highlands -lrb- uniontown , pennsylvania -rrb- - career start: 1974 - nationality: american - years: 1974 1977 start 1977 -- 1978 start 1978 -- 1980 start -- 1981 1975 1975 -- 1976 start 1976 -- - height ft: 6 Based on these bullet points, write a short biography describing the life of gus gerard .
Answer:
gus gerard -lrb- born july 27 , 1953 -rrb- is a retired american professional basketball player who played for the carolina cougars and spirits of st. louis of the american basketball association and the denver nuggets , buffalo braves , detroit pistons , kansas city kings and san antonio spurs of the national basketball association .gerard played college basketball at the university of virginia .he was drafted by the portland trail blazers in the 3rd round -lrb- 14th pick , 50th overall -rrb- of the 1975 nba draft .gerard was on the 1974 -- 75 aba all-rookie first team and made the 1976 aba all star team .he played in all 84 games of his rookie season .gerard 's best nba season came in 1976 -- 77 when he averaged 10 points a game for the denver nuggets .gerard finally retired the nba after the 1980 -- 81 season .gerard 's aba and nba careers were hampered by drug problems ; after leaving professional basketball gerard became a licensed chemical dependency counselor and was involved in a program called bouncing back , in which athletes like himself , former spirits of st. louis teammate marvin barnes and former nba player dirk minniefield travel to schools and businesses , sharing their stories about addiction and recovery .