- McGinnis played high school, college and professional basketball at Indiana
- Pacers announced his death on Thursday after he reportedly suffered cardiac arrest
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George McGinnis, the former NBA and ABA All-Star who was later inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame, has died at age 73 after reportedly suffering cardiac arrest.
The 73-year-old's medical emergency was first announced Tuesday by the Indianapolis Record newspaper and longtime NBA reporter Peter Vescey, who reported that McGinnis had been on life support for three days.
“The greatest Indiana Pacer of all time is fighting for his life after suffering cardiac arrest,” reads a Facebook post on the newspaper’s account. “Please light a candle for George McGinnis.”
On Thursday, the Pacers announced that McGinnis had died.
“From his All-State high school days to his time as an IU All-American and of course to his legendary ABA championship runs with the Pacers, George McGinnis shaped so many of the greatest basketball memories for generations of Hoosiers,” read a statement from the Pacers and the Simon Family, which owns the team.
George McGinnis, the former NBA and ABA All-Star who was later inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame, is fighting for his life after reportedly suffering cardiac arrest
1969 Indiana State semifinals. George McGinnis scores 27 points and grabs the game-winning rebound as Indianapolis defeats Washington Marion 61-60.
McGinnis would score 35 points in the championship game, a 79-76 victory over Gary Tolleston. The Continentals took a 31-0 lead. pic.twitter.com/BagsKYLcF0— Jake Query (@jakequery) December 12, 2023
“He was the epitome of an Indiana basketball legend, champion and Hall of Fame athlete,” the statement continued. But he was more than that. George was family. A passionate supporter of his ABA colleagues and a present, smiling face throughout the franchise, George is as synonymous with our Pacers franchise as anyone. He will be greatly missed and all of us at Pacers Sports & Entertainment will keep George and his family in our prayers.”
McGinnis is a basketball royalty in the Hoosier State, where he was recently inducted into the Indiana University Athletics Hall of Fame. In addition to being an Indianapolis native, he played at IU in 1970 and 1971 before joining the Pacers of the ABA from 1971-75. During this time, he won two ABA titles and was named ABA MVP in 1975 before moving to the NBA the following season.
In Philadelphia, McGinnis became a household name, playing alongside Julius Erving, Darryl Dawkins, Mike Dunleavy, World B. Free, Caldwell Jones and Doug Collins on a team that was famously defeated by Maurice Lucas, Bill Walton and the Portland Trail Blazers 1977 NBA Finals.
“McGinnis' Sixers' teams were among the NBA's best and never won a title,” WFAN's Joey Wahler wrote on X.
A 76ers fan followed: “Every kid in Philly of a certain age grew up trying to imitate his one-handed jumper.” Then we realized that if you didn't have hands the size of George, it would be impossible. God bless Big Mac.'
McGinnis was a star at Washington High School in Indianapolis, where he and future IU teammate Steve Downing led the school to a 31-0 record and state title in 1969.
The two had similar success under coach Lou Watson at Indiana, a season before the school hired Bob Knight, the Hoosier legend who died earlier this year.
George McGinnis has fun with the Indiana Pacers mascot in Indianapolis in April 2004
But McGinnis' stay in Bloomington was short-lived and he soon left for the up-and-coming ABA, where he was named to the 1972 All-Rookie team.
The Pacers were dominant in his first two seasons, winning two ABA titles under coach Slick Leonard, who died in 2021. He was at his best in the 1974–75 season, averaging 29.8 points and 10.3 rebounds per game, although the Pacers would fall in the ABA Finals that season to Artis Gilmore, Dan Issel and the Kentucky Colonels.
After the ABA-NBA merger in 1976, McGinnis returned to the Pacers in 1980 after a two-year stint with the Denver Nuggets. He finally retired in 1982.
He was inducted into the Naismith Hall of Fame in 2017 along with Tracy McGrady, Bill Self and Rebecca Lobo.
Naismith Hall of Fame member George McGinnis dies at 73 'after cardiac arrest': Retired NBA and ABA All-Star considered 'the definition of an Indiana basketball legend'