George Yardley

Lore & Background

Yardley was born in the Hollywood neighborhood of Los Angeles. He attended Newport Harbor High School and later Stanford University, where he played varsity basketball from 1947-50. After college, he played one year of AAU basketball with Stewart Chevrolet, then enlisted in the United States Navy and served for two years, playing another two years of AAU basketball at Los Alamitos Naval Air Base. He turned down offers to play professionally to maintain his amateur status for the 1952 Olympics, but a broken wrist or hand playing for Los Alamitos in 1952 removed that possibility. After leaving the Navy in 1953, he toured South America with an amateur U.S. team. He was drafted by the NBA's Fort Wayne Pistons in the 1950 NBA draft, but his first NBA season came in 1953-54 after his AAU and Navy years. He played for the Pistons (later Detroit) and was traded to the Syracuse Nationals in 1959. He retired after the 1959–60 season.

Reader's Guide

Yardley was a 6 ft 5 in forward known for his scoring, leaping ability, and jump shot. He led the NBA in scoring in 1957-58 with 27.8 points per game, becoming the first to score 2,000 points in a season. He was a six-time All-Star, All-NBA First Team in 1958, and second-team All-NBA in 1957. He played in two NBA Finals with the Pistons (1955, 1956). He averaged 19.2 points per game over his career.

Did You Know?

• Yardley earned the nickname 'Yardbird' from chores required by his fraternity brothers at Stanford.
• He was an All-American volleyball player and five-time tennis champion in his age-bracket.
• He set NBA records in 1957-58 for most free throws attempted (808) and made (655).
• Yardley was the first player in NBA history to retire after averaging at least 20 points per game in his final season.