Washington Wizards: 30 greatest players in franchise history
Kevin Loughery. 17. player. 142. . G. (1963-71)
6-foot-3 combo guard Kevin Loughery had a productive career with the Baltimore Bullets as both a coach and player. As a player, he appeared in 591 games across nine seasons. As a head coach, he went 57-65 (.467) through three seasons as the Bullets head coach.
Loughery was actually drafted twice. In the 1961 NBA Draft, he was the 92nd overall pick with the New York Knicks. He emerged as a player with the Detroit Pistons as the 11th overall pick in the 1962 NBA Draft.
During his playing days, Loughery emerged as a volume-shooter, averaging 15.6 field goals made during his time with the team. He produced 16.6 points, 4.0 assists and 3.1 rebounds while shooting 41.5 percent from the field through 591 appearances.
During the 1968-69 campaign, he put up 22.6 points (career-high), 4.8 assists and 3.3 rebounds per game. In arguably his best season as a pro, he scored a career-high 43 points on 17-of-31 (54.8 percent) against the San Francisco Warriors back on March 7, 1969.
Loughery finished his career with the Bullets fifth all-time in assists (2,363) and points (9,833) and sixth all-time in field goals made (3,824) in franchise history. In 1971-72, he was traded to the Detroit Pistons along with Fred Carter for Archie Clark and a 1973 second-round pick (Louie Nelson).
After his playing career, he also coached the Bullets from 1985-88. An 8-19 start during the 1987-88 campaign saw his stint come to an early end. He’ll go down as a memorable contributor for the Bullets nonetheless, as shown by his statistics.