|
Bobby Frank Rule is a retired American basketball player at center for the NBA's Seattle SuperSonics, Philadelphia 76ers, Cleveland Cavaliers, and briefly, the Milwaukee Bucks.
Earlier in his college career, Rule played under the legendary Jerry Tarkanian, then head coach at Riverside Community College, as a member of two state championship teams. A second round pick in the 1967 NBA Draft, Rule quickly became one of the stars of Seattle's expansion franchise. Named to the 1967-68 NBA All-Rookie Team, Rule's 18.1 points per game average stood as the SuperSonics rookie record for forty seasons, until broken by Kevin Durant. His rebounding average of 9.5 is the second best ever by a SuperSonics rookie, behind only Pete Cross's 12.0 in the 1970-71 season. Also during his rookie season, Rule scored 47 points in a game against the Los Angeles Lakers — still a SuperSonics rookie record.
Rule's game grew stronger during the next two seasons. In the 1968-69 season, he averaged 24.0 points per game and 11.5 rebounds per game. In the 1969-70 season, he averaged 24.6 points per game and 10.3 rebounds per game, set a then-Supersonics record of 49 points in a game against the Philadelphia 76ers, and played in the 1970 NBA All-Star Game. In the 1970-71 season, Rule began the season averaging 29.8 points per game and 11.5 rebounds per game in his first four games before going down with a season-ending torn achilles tendon. He never regained his All-Star form after his scoring fell to 15.1 PPG the following season and saw limited playing time thereafter. By 1974 his career was over.
|
