Small Forward: McCoy McLemore, 1967-68
During the 1967-68 season, the Chicago Bulls were just starting to get their feet under them. The Bulls had their first official season in the NBA just one year before. They finished up with a record of 29-53 under head coach Red Kerr. But there were some very notable names on this team, including Jerry Sloan and Bob Boozer.
McLemore is one of the few former Bulls players to ever be a regular starter in the lineup and also post a number of win shares per 48 minutes of less than .040. Box plus/minus rating was not available from this time period, at least as of yet, but the efficiency that McLemore registered (or lack thereof) was rather uninspiring.
The 6-foot-7 small forward spent to seasons with the Bulls, with the second at least panning out better than the first.. But McLemore wasn’t getting starter-level minutes for the Bulls until his second season with the team. He played in more than 27 minutes per game during the 1967-68 campaign. He did that while averaging 12.7 points per game, 5.7 rebounds, and 1.7 assists, while shooting just 39.8 percent from the field.
McLemore would register just .038 win shares per 48 minutes in this rather bad season, along with a 12.7 player efficiency rating, and a 45.4 true shooting percentage.
The Houston, TX, native would later win an NBA title during the 1970-71 season, but his career didn’t produce much beside that. He was a career journeyman that spent time with seven different NBA teams, playing the most games with the San Francisco Warriors.