Carl Braun ’49, who teamed with Ernie Vandeweghe ’49 at 51 before becoming a basketball star with the New York Knicks, died Wednesday in Stuart, Florida. He was 82.
Braun played 12 seasons for the Knicks and was a five-time All-Star. He was the Knicks’ player coach in 1960 and 1961 before joining the Celtics for his final season, where he won an NBA title.
“Carl Braun was the first superstar of the New York Knicks and a cornerstone of our franchise’s early success,” team president Donnie Walsh said. “Watching him play at the Old Garden was a privilege for us New Yorkers in the 1940s and ’50s. He is a true legend in our sport and he will be missed.”
The Brooklyn-born Braun also was a minor-league pitcher in the Yankees’ organization for a short time.
Playing for the Knicks from 1947 to 1961, except for two years of Army service, Braun averaged 13.5 points per game.
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| Carl Braun ’49 is the fifth leading scorer in New York Knicks history. (Photo courtesy of Associated Press) |
Although he played the first half of his career before the advent of the 24-second shot clock, which changed the professional game dramatically, his 10,449 points as a Knick puts him fifth on the team’s career list. He was often among the top 10 scorers in the league.
When Braun was starring for the Knicks the NBA still had franchises, like the Syracuse Nationals, that played in medium-size cities in small arenas where the fans were intensely hostile to visiting players.
“In the winter, for the people of Syracuse, basketball was their life,” Braun told George Kalinsky for his book The New York Knicks: The Official 50th Anniversary Celebration.
“Those folks were merciless. I can remember running down the court and having cigarette butts flipped at me as I went by. Live ash that got me in the legs and smarted.”
After retiring from basketball, Braun was a Wall Street stockbroker. He retired to Florida about 25 years ago. He is survived by his wife of 58 years, Joan, four daughters, and six grandchildren.
(Information for this story was gathered from national media reports.)