Slater Martin

Verified Timeline

Lore & Background

Martin joined the St. Louis Hawks on December 12, 1956, in a trade from the New York Knicks for Willie Naulls, joining a team led by future Hall of Fame forward Bob Pettit. In the 1957 NBA Finals, the Hawks lost to the Boston Celtics four games to three, with Martin averaging 14.7 points, 4.1 assists, and 3.9 rebounds in 44.1 minutes per game. The following year, in 1958, Martin won an NBA title with the Hawks, defeating the Celtics four games to two. This Hawks team was the only team to win an NBA championship during the 10-season period from 1956-57 through 1965-66 other than the Boston Celtics. During the 1958 finals, Martin averaged 41.3 minutes per game, with 12.2 points, 4.2 assists and 3.3 rebounds per game. Martin was a starter on the Western Division All-Star team in 1958, with eight assists in 26 minutes of play. He was also second-team All-NBA in the 1956-57, 1957-58, and 1958-59 seasons. Martin was team captain for the Hawks. In the 1960 Western Division Finals, the Hawks defeated the Lakers 4–3, but lost the 1960 NBA Finals to the Celtics in seven games. Martin was injured and did not play any games in the 1960 NBA finals. His final NBA game came in Game 5 against the Minneapolis Lakers on March 22, 1960. At the time Martin retired, he was the oldest and smallest player in the NBA.

In Their Own Story

During the 1959 Western Division Finals between the Hawks and the Lakers, Martin was injured in the first game in a collision with Laker Ed Fleming. The Hawks claimed the collision involved Fleming using football-like tactics in tripping Martin and hitting him with an elbow. Lakers coach John Kundla, who had coached Martin for years, said he never ordered his players to use roughhouse tactics and that the collision and injury were unintentional, adding that Martin was 'one of the finest guys I know.' Martin did not play in the remainder of the series, and the Hawks lost the series two games to four. Hawks' coach Ed Macauley would not use Martin's injury as an excuse for the loss.

Reader's Guide

Martin was the first NBA player to be on five championship teams. Over his career, he scored 7,337 points in 745 games (9.8 points per game), with 3,160 career assists and 2,302 rebounds. He was in the NBA top 10 players in assists six times. Martin was a seven-time NBA All-Star and five-time NBA champion. He was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame on May 3, 1982. His jersey number 15 was retired by the University of Texas on January 31, 2009.

Did You Know?

• Martin was the first NBA player to be on five championship teams.
• At the time he retired, Martin was the oldest and smallest player in the NBA.
• Martin was the last active player from the Minneapolis Lakers championship teams of the early 1950s.
• Martin was the one defender who posed a problem to Boston Celtics' Hall of Fame guard Bob Cousy, who had to call for picks from teammates to get free of Martin's tight defense.
• Martin's jersey number 15 was retired by the University of Texas on January 31, 2009, making him only the second Longhorn to be so honored.