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Cavaliers honor Austin Carr
Posted: Friday December 03, 1999 11:02 PM
CLEVELAND (AP) -- Austin Carr, the Cleveland Cavaliers' first star-quality player, was honored by the team as one of its All-Time Starting Five on Friday night. "It is good to hear the cheers one more time," Carr, 51, said in a tearful speech before a standing ovation at halftime of Cleveland's game against the Philadelphia 76ers. "I would like to thank the fans for making the past 29 years simply the best." Carr was Cleveland's first pick (No. 2 overall) in the 1971 NBA Draft out of Notre Dame, where he had scored 61 points in an NCAA Tournament game against Ohio University. That performance came after a 46-point game against UCLA that snapped a 47-game winning streak by the powerful Bruins. A 6-foot-4, 200-pound guard, Carr was fearless in driving to the hoop against taller NBA players, but his style took its toll. He suffered a broken foot during his rookie season but still averaged more than 21 points a game over his first three NBA seasons. In nine seasons in Cleveland, during which he underwent knee surgery five times, he averaged 16.2 points and is still the club's all-time leader in field goals made and among career leaders in most offensive categories. Carr's No. 34 jersey was retired in 1981 after he finished his NBA career with brief stints in Dallas and Washington. In 1991, Carr returned to the Cavaliers as director of community and business development. He is in his second season as an analyst on the team's TV broadcasts. Carr was joined at midcourt by former teammates Barry Clemens, Bobby "Bingo" Smith and Campy Russell and former coach Bill Fitch. Carr, current Cleveland star Shawn Kemp and former Cavs Brad Daugherty, Larry Nance and Mark Price were voted the team's All-Time Starting Five by members of the local media as the club celebrates its 30th anniversary in the NBA.
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