Vester Marshall
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | December 22, 1948 Tuscaloosa, Alabama, U.S. |
| Died | January 5, 2023 (aged 74) Shoreline, Washington, U.S. |
| Listed height | 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) |
| Listed weight | 200 lb (91 kg) |
| Career information | |
| High school | Druid (Tuscaloosa, Alabama) |
| College | Oklahoma (1968–1970) |
| NBA draft | 1971: undrafted |
| Position | Small forward |
| Number | 45 |
| Career history | |
| 1973–1974 | Seattle SuperSonics |
| Stats at NBA.com | |
| Stats at Basketball Reference | |
Vester Marshall Jr. (December 22, 1948 – January 5, 2023) was an American professional basketball small forward who played one season in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Seattle SuperSonics during the 1973–74 season.
Biography
[edit]Marshall was born on December 22, 1948, in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.[1] He became a standout basketball player for the Druid High School in Tuscaloosa where he led his team to the state championship his first year. Marshall participated in the Selma to Montgomery marches along with Martin Luther King Jr. and other leaders of the Civil Rights Movement. He attended University of Oklahoma where his teammates included Garfield Heard and Clifford Ray. Coach John MacLeod removed Marshall from the basketball team for leading a racially motivated protest. He missed the 1970–71 season due to his suspension.[2]
After graduating, he went to Mexico to play professional basketball. In December 1973 the Seattle SuperSonics waived Jim McDaniels and replaced him on the roster by Marshall who signed for the league minimum US$25,000 ($146,088.44 adjusted for inflation). He practices yoga and has been an instructor in Seattle, Washington. He was an assistant coach at Bellevue Community College for two years (1978–79). Marshall has been an ordained minister since 2006. In 2008, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer wrote an article on Marshall where it stated he lived in a studio apartment in Seattle working as a street minister, herbalist and artist.[3]
Marshall died on January 5, 2023, at the age of 74 in Shoreline, Washington.[1]
Career statistics
[edit]| GP | Games played | GS | Games started | MPG | Minutes per game |
| FG% | Field goal percentage | 3P% | 3-point field goal percentage | FT% | Free throw percentage |
| RPG | Rebounds per game | APG | Assists per game | SPG | Steals per game |
| BPG | Blocks per game | PPG | Points per game | Bold | Career high |
NBA
[edit]Source[4]
Regular season
[edit]| Year | Team | GP | MPG | FG% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1973–74 | Seattle | 13 | 13.4 | .241 | .429 | 2.8 | .3 | .3 | .2 | 1.3 |
References
[edit]- ^ a b "Vester Marshall Obituary". Dignity Memorial. Retrieved May 30, 2025.
- ^ "Vester Marshall". The Draft Review. Retrieved May 30, 2025.
- ^ Raley, Dan. "Renaissance, man: Ex- Sonic savors revival as Belltown street minister". SeattlePI.com. Seattle, Washington: Hearst Seattle Media, LLC. Retrieved January 5, 2014.
- ^ "Vester Marshall NBA stats". Basketball Reference. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved February 16, 2025.
External links
[edit]- Career statistics from NBA.com · Basketball Reference
 | This biographical article relating to a United States basketball player, coach, or other figure born in the 1940s is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
- 1948 births
- 2023 deaths
- American expatriate basketball people in Mexico
- American men's basketball players
- Basketball players from Alabama
- Junior college men's basketball coaches in the United States
- Oklahoma Sooners men's basketball players
- Seattle SuperSonics players
- Small forwards
- Undrafted NBA players
- 20th-century American sportsmen
- American basketball biography, 1940s birth stubs