How Can We Help?
You are here:
< Back

Charles Paulk (June 14, 1946 – October 1, 2014) was an American basketball player who spent four seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA).

High school career

Paulk played basketball for Lester High School in Memphis, Tennessee. Along with him, the 1964 team also featured Rich Jones and Claude Humphrey.

College career

Due to the University of Memphis not admitting African-American players at the time, he went to the University of Tulsa. After one year, he transferred to Northeastern State, an NAIA school at the time.

NBA career

Paulk was drafted by the Milwaukee Bucks in the first round of the 1968 NBA draft. That same year, he was drafted by the Army. In his first season, he played just 17 games, scoring three points per game and garnering 4.6 rebounds per game. He sat out the 1969-70 season due to military service, serving a tour of duty in Vietnam.[1]

In 1970, the Bucks traded him along with Flynn Robinson to the Cincinnati Royals for Oscar Robertson.[2] The following year, he was traded to the Chicago Bulls for Matt Guokas and a future draft pick. Later that year, he was again traded, this time to the New York Knicks for a second-round draft pick.[3]

NBA career statistics

Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game
 FG%  Field goal percentage  3P%  3-point field goal percentage  FT%  Free throw percentage
 RPG  Rebounds per game  APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game
 BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game  Bold  Career high

Regular season

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
1968–69 Milwaukee 17 - 12.8 .226 - .565 4.6 0.2 - - 3.0
1970–71 Cincinnati 68 - 17.8 .430 - .603 4.7 0.4 - - 9.2
1971–72 Chicago 7 - 8.6 .286 - .778 2.1 0.6 - - 3.3
1971–72 New York 28 - 5.4 .267 - .667 1.8 0.3 - - 1.4
Career 120 - 13.7 .392 - .611 3.9 0.3 - - 6.2

Playoffs

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
1971–72 New York 7 - 1.9 .300 - .000 0.7 0.0 - - 0.9
Career 7 - 1.9 .300 - .000 0.7 0.0 - - 0.9

Personal life and death

After his career, he became a road promotions manager for bands in the New Orleans area. Paulk had six siblings, five sisters, and one brother. He had two children, Derrek Paulk and Zonna Whitlow. He married Jacqueline Newby in 1990. Together he and Jacqueline (also an educator) co-founded Lincoln High School Boys Basketball Foundation, dedicated to teaching kids life skills using basketball. The foundation now known as Ground-Up is run by Shaun Manning, Jacqueline's son and Charles' stepson.[4] On October 1, 2014, Paulk died of a heart attack at 68.

References

  1. ^ "Charlie Paulk, one of Memphis' greatest basketball players, dead at 68".
  2. ^ "Charlie Paulk". Basketball-Reference.com. Retrieved June 17, 2011.
  3. ^ "Charles Charlie Paulk". nhowensfuneralhome.com. October 1, 2014.
  4. ^ "Jacqueline "Jackie" Paulk". March 22, 2017.
Categories
Table of Contents