Robert Allen McAdoo Jr. ( ; born September 25, 1951) is an American former professional basketball player and coach. He played 14 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA), where he was a five-time NBA All-Star and named the NBA Most Valuable Player (MVP) in 1975. He won two NBA championships in four consecutive trips to the Finals in four years with the Showtime Los Angeles Lakers of the 1980s. In 2000, McAdoo was inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame. He was named to the NBA 75th Anniversary Team in 2021.
The #2 pick of the 1972 NBA draft out of the University of North Carolina, McAdoo played center for the majority of his career, splitting the balance of his time between power and small forward. In a 21-year playing career, he spent his first 14 seasons in the NBA and final seven in the Lega Basket Serie A in Italy. McAdoo is one of the few players who have won both NBA and the FIBA European Champions Cup (EuroLeague) titles as a player. He later won three more NBA titles in 2006, 2012 and 2013 as an assistant coach with the Miami Heat.
Early life McAdoo was raised in Greensboro, North Carolina. His mother, Vandalia, taught at his grade school, and his father, Robert, was a custodian at North Carolina A&T University. McAdoo attended Ben L. Smith High School, where he participated in basketball and track and played saxophone in the marching band.
As a senior, he led Ben L. Smith to the state basketball semifinals, and was the high jump state champion in track, where he set a new state record of 6 feet 7.75 inches, beating out future North Carolina Tarheel teammate and fellow Basketball Hall of Famer Bobby Jones.Men’s Individual Event Champions by school. NCHSAA. Retrieved October 30, 2025.
College career
Coming out of high school in 1969, McAdoo lacked the academic test scores required by the Division I schools, so he enrolled for two years at Vincennes University, then a junior college, in Vincennes, Indiana. He averaged 19.3 points and 10 rebounds as a freshman, leading Vincennes to the NJCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship in 1970 with 27 points in the title game. His roommate was teammate and fellow future NBA point guard Foots Walker. As a sophomore, he averaged 25.0 points and 11.0 rebounds, and was named a Junior College All-American in 1971.
McAdoo played for Team USA at the 1971 Pan American Games, in the summer 1971, averaging 11.0 points per game.
McAdoo enrolled at the University of North Carolina in the Fall of 1971, the only junior college player Dean Smith recruited in his career.
"We didn't really recruit him," Coach Dean Smith said. "His mother called us to start it. She said all the other schools were recruiting him. Why weren't we?"
Playing alongside Bobby Jones, McAdoo led Smith's 1971–72 Tar Heels to a 26–5 record and the Final Four of the 1972 NCAA University Division basketball tournament. McAdoo averaged 19.5 points and 10.1 rebounds. He was named first-team All-American. He also earned MVP honors at the ACC tournament.
Following that success, McAdoo consulted with Coach Dean Smith, who encouraged him to leave college early for the NBA. Citing family hardship, McAdoo sought and won early eligibility for the 1972 NBA draft under the "hardship" clause that existed until 1977. McAdoo said, "When I left, a lot of people were very angry and upset. But Dean gave me his blessing. He told me, 'If they're going to offer you this kind of money, I think you should leave to help you and your family.' I had his blessing. My mother was totally against it," McAdoo added, "but my father and Dean Smith were the guys who got me to move."
Professional career 1972 ABA and NBA drafts McAdoo sought and won early eligibility in the 1972 NBA draft, and was selected as the number two overall pick by the Buffalo Braves.
It had been rumored that McAdoo had signed with the Virginia Squires of the rival American Basketball Association after a "secret" ABA draft in which names of those drafted were not made public. Even though no contract was produced and McAdoo denied it, NBA Commissioner Walter Kennedy reportedly had advised NBA teams not to draft McAdoo. Other reports were that a contract was signed and voided, because McAdoo was too young to have signed it and that Buffalo somehow knew this.Clubhouse Lawyer: Law in the World of Sports By Frederick J. Day pp. 50-51. Later, McAdoo was indeed selected as the No. 1 pick of the 1972 ABA draft.
Buffalo Braves (1972–1976)
After rumored contract talks between the number one draft pick-holding Portland Trail Blazers and McAdoo failed to come to fruition, Portland selected fellow center LaRue Martin, and Buffalo took the plunge on McAdoo with the number 2 pick. McAdoo signed, but quickly became frustrated with Buffalo's losing in his rookie season, saying, "Here I was sitting at Buffalo, we were on the way to losing 61 games and we didn't have any players. My wife could have outrun those people."
In spite of this, he immediately became one of the NBA's premier players, winning the 1973 NBA Rookie of the Year Award and being named to the NBA All-Rookie First Team.
As a sophomore in 1973-74, McAdoo exploded into the limelight, earning the first of three consecutive NBA scoring titles while leading the NBA in field goal percentage and shooting 54.7 percent. He also enjoyed his first of five All-Star selections, and led Buffalo to its first playoffs appearance, though they would lose in the first round to Dave Cowens and the eventual-champion Boston Celtics.Bob McAdoo Buffalo Braves NBA Star McAdoo's 1973-74 performance remains the last time an NBA player has averaged both 30.0 points and 15.0 rebounds per game.
In 1974–75, he was awarded the NBA Most Valuable Player Award, averaging 34.5 points, 14.1 rebounds and 2.12 blocks per game, while shooting 51.2 percent from the field and 80.5 percent from the free throw line. He also led the league in fan voting for the 1975 All-Star Game with 98,325 votes.Jones, Attles to coach all-stars. January 6, 1975Frazier, Monroe on East 'Stars'. January 5, 1975. McAdoo is the youngest player to have had a 50-point/20-rebound game. That season, with McAdoo aided by strong play from Jim McMillian and Randy Smith, the Braves would finish with an improved 49–33 record, though again they would lose in the opening round of the playoffs, this time in seven games to Elvin Hayes, Wes Unseld, and the Washington Bullets1974-75 Buffalo Braves Roster and Stats
McAdoo averaged 30.3 points, 18.7 rebounds, and 4.3 assists in 47.3 minutes per game in 1975-1976, capturing his third scoring crown.1976 NBA Eastern Conference First Round The Braves finally advanced out of the first round in the 1976 NBA Playoffs, beating the Philadelphia 76ers, before falling to the eventual champion Boston Celtics.
The following season, on December 7, 1976, McAdoo grabbed a career-high 29 rebounds, while adding 42 points, in a 107–103 loss to the Indiana Pacers.Bob McAdoo Career High 29 Rebounds Two days later, McAdoo was traded by the Buffalo Braves with Tom McMillen to the New York Knicks for John Gianelli and cash.
McAdoo's style was very modern for his time. Primarily a center, he excelled at shooting from the perimeter, which, in his prime, made him a nearly unstoppable force on offense and a valuable offensive boost off the bench. In 334 games with Buffalo, the McAdoo averaged 28.2 points, 12.7 rebounds, 2.6 assists, 2.4 blocks and 1.1 steals.
New York Knicks (1976–1979) Joining the Knicks, McAdoo played alongside future Hall of Fame teammates Walt Frazier, Earl Monroe, Spencer Haywood, Bill Bradley and Phil Jackson. In 52 games with the Knicks in 1976–77 under Hall of Fame Coach Red Holzman, McAdoo averaged 26.7 points, 12.7 rebounds, 2.7 assists, 1.3 blocks and 1.2 steals. Still, the Knicks finished 40–42, and missed the playoffs.
In 1977–78, the Knicks, finished 43–39 under new Coach, Hall of Famer Willis Reed, as McAdoo averaged 26.5 points, 12.8 rebounds, 3.8 assists, 1.6 blocks and 1.3 steals in 79 games. The Knicks defeated the Cleveland Cavaliers 2–0 in the Eastern Conference Playoffs, before losing to the Philadelphia 76ers with Julius Erving 4–0 in the Eastern Conference semi-finals. McAdoo averaged 34.0 points, 9.0 rebounds and 2.0 assists in the Cavaliers series and 18.8 points, 10.0 rebounds, 4.8 assists 2.3 blocks and 1.5 steals in the 76ers series.
In 1978–79, the Knicks fired Reed and rehired Holtzman mid-season. On January 23, 1979, McAdoo scored his most points as a Knick, with 45 in a 148–124 loss to Los Angeles Lakers.Bob McAdoo Most Points In A Game As A Knick After 40 games with the Knicks, McAdoo was averaging 26.9 points, 9.5 rebounds and 3.2 assists when he was traded on February 12, 1979, to the Boston Celtics for Tom Barker and three first-round picks in the 1979 NBA draft. The Knicks used them on Bill Cartwright with the third pick, Larry Demic with the ninth, and Sly Williams with the 21st.
In 171 games with the Knicks, McAdoo averaged 26.7 points, 12.0 rebounds, 3.3 assists, 1.4 blocks and 1.3 steals.
Boston Celtics (1979) In his tenure with Boston under player/Coach Dave Cowens, Boston finished 29–53. McAdoo averaged 20.6 points, 7.1 rebounds, playing fewer minutes in a frontcourt with Cowens, Cedric Maxwell, Marvin Barnes and Rick Robey.
After the season Boston fired Cowens as coach, replaced him with Bill Fitch, and 6'9" forward Larry Bird arrived from Indiana State.
On September 6, 1979, McAdoo was traded by the Celtics to the Detroit Pistons for the first and thirteenth overall picks in the 1980 NBA draft, an arrangement made as compensation for Boston signing veteran free agent M.L. Carr on July 24, 1979. Boston later traded the #1 pick to the Golden State Warriors in return for center Robert Parish and the #3 overall pick, which it used to select Kevin McHale, netting them two Hall of Famers. Golden State picked Joe Barry Carroll.
Detroit Pistons (1979–1981) In 1979–80, McAdoo joined a Pistons team that finished 16–66 under coaches Dick Vitale (4–8), who had encouraged the trade for McAdoo, and Vitale's replacement Richie Adubato (12–58). Playing alongside Hall of Famer Bob Lanier, McAdoo averaged 21.1 points and 8.1 rebounds in 58 games.
On February 19, 1981, McAdoo, who had been injured, claimed he was healthy and asked to be reinstated into the Pistons starting lineup. Coach Scotty Robertson denied his request, saying McAdoo had not practiced and was not in proper physical shape. McAdoo asked to be allowed to go home and was allowed to leave. The next day Pistons general manager Jack McCloskey notified McAdoo to not return for the rest of the season. On March 11, 1981, McAdoo was waived by the Pistons after playing in only six games with the team in 1980–81, as Detroit finished 21–61. He would be the last Piston to wear #11 before the arrival of Isiah Thomas.
New Jersey Nets (1981) On March 13, 1981, McAdoo signed as a free agent with the New Jersey Nets. He played ten games with the Nets, averaging 15 minutes per contest as the Nets finished 24–58.
Los Angeles Lakers (1981–1985) On December 24, 1981, McAdoo was traded by the New Jersey Nets to the Los Angeles Lakers for a 1983 2nd round draft pick (Kevin Williams was later selected). McAdoo had not played for the Nets in the 1981–82 season and power forward/center Mitch Kupchak had become injured for the Lakers.