Billy Gabor
# Billy Gabor

William A. Gabor (May 13, 1922 – June 4, 2019) was an American professional basketball player. A 5'11" guard/forward known as "Billy the Bullet", Gabor played collegiately at Syracuse University in the 1940s. He averaged 12.1 points per game during his freshman year before joining the United States Army Air Corps in 1943. He returned to Syracuse in 1945 and played three more seasons, finishing with a (then) team-record 1,344 career points. Gabor's jersey was retired by Syracuse University on March 1, 2009.

Gabor spent his professional career with the Syracuse Nationals of the National Basketball League and later the National Basketball Association. He played with Syracuse until injuries forced him into retirement in 1955. In his NBA career, Gabor averaged 9.8 points per game and logged one NBA All-Star Game appearance. He won a league championship with Syracuse in 1955.

## Time at Syracuse University

When Gabor first began playing basketball at Syracuse, there was a freshman and varsity team. He started all the freshmen games and then would suit up for the varsity game. Gabor started his first game on varsity against Cornell in 1942–43 season and scored 22 points. He started every game after that.

Gabor holds many school records, including:

* Only person to lead the team in scoring all four years they took the court
* First to score 400 points in a single season
* First to score over 1,000 points in a career

He held the all-time scoring record until Dave Bing bested it.

On May 1, 2009, Gabor was invited back to the Carrier Dome to see his jersey number 17 retired.

## Family

Gabor was married once. He had three children: Bill, Bob and Hallie, and eight grandchildren: Annie, Emily, SarahRose, Malone, Mimi, Jack, Will, and Madison. He last resided in Jupiter, Florida.

## NBA career statistics

### Regular season

| Year | Team | GP | MPG | FG% | FT% | RPG | APG | PPG |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1949–50 | Syracuse | 56 | – | .337 | .689 | – | 1.9 | 10.9 |
| 1950–51 | Syracuse | 61 | – | .342 | .740 | 2.5 | 2.0 | 11.3 |
| 1951–52 | Syracuse | 57 | 19.0 | .322 | .776 | 1.6 | 1.5 | 8.6 |
| 1952–53 | Syracuse | 69 | 19.4 | .350 | .764 | 1.5 | 1.9 | 9.4 |
| 1953–54 | Syracuse | 61 | 19.9 | .370 | .716 | 1.6 | 2.7 | 9.0 |
| 1954–55† | Syracuse | 3 | 15.7 | .318 | .600 | 1.7 | 3.7 | 5.7 |
| Career | Career | 307 | 19.4 | .344 | .737 | 1.8 | 2.0 | 9.8 |
| All-Star | All-Star | 1 | 25.0 | .000 | .000 | 5.0 | 2.0 | 0.0 |

### Playoffs

| Year | Team | GP | MPG | FG% | FT% | RPG | APG | PPG |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1950 | Syracuse | 10 | – | .258 | .839 | – | 2.5 | 7.6 |
| 1951 | Syracuse | 7 | – | .375 | .643 | 2.9 | 2.6 | 9.0 |
| 1952 | Syracuse | 7 | 11.4 | .333 | .750 | 0.9 | 1.4 | 4.9 |
| 1953 | Syracuse | 2 | 14.0 | .417 | .615 | 1.5 | 1.0 | 9.0 |
| 1954 | Syracuse | 10 | 19.6 | .289 | .700 | 2.8 | 1.9 | 7.6 |
| Career | Career | 307 | 19.4 | .344 | .737 | 1.8 | 2.0 | 9.8 |
