height_ft statvalue nationality birth_date career_start years draft_year team draft_pick number image college stats_league name statlabel high_school weight_lb birth_place draft_team career_end position draft_round letter height_in bbr article_title
6 7,355 -rrb- 843 -lrb- 1.6 apg -rrb- -lrb- 13.9 ppg -rrb- 4,142 -lrb- 7.8 rpg american 17 august 1933 1955 1955 start 1962 -- 1963 end start -- 1960 end 1961 -- 1962 1962 1955 new new york knicks san francisco warriors york knicks san francisco saints -lrb- abl -rrb- 4 12 , 20 , 17 ken sears.jpeg santa clara -lrb- 1951 -- 1955 -rrb- nba ken sears points rebounds assists watsonville -lrb- watsonville , california -rrb- 198 watsonville , california new york knicks 1964 power forward , small forward 1 s 9 searske01 ken sears

ken sears

kenneth robert sears -lrb- born august 17 , 1933 -rrb- is a retired american professional basketball player .
he holds the distinction of being the first basketball player to grace the cover of sports illustrated magazine , appearing on the december 20 , 1954 issue .
a 6 ' 9 '' forward from santa clara university , sears played eight seasons -lrb- 1955 -- 1961 , 1962 -- 1964 -rrb- in the national basketball association as a member of the new york knicks and san francisco warriors .
he averaged 13.9 points per game and 7.8 rebounds per game in his nba career , appearing as an nba all-star in and .
sears also led the nba in field goal percentage twice -lrb- 1959 , 1960 -rrb- .
sears spent the 1961 -- 62 basketball season in the short-lived american basketball league .
