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Detroit Pistons: 25 Best Players To Play For The Pistons

By Phil Watson

Oct 8, 2015; Auburn Hills, MI, USA; A general view of The Palace of Auburn Hills prior to the game between the Detroit Pistons and the Brooklyn Nets. Mandatory Credit: Raj Mehta-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 8, 2015; Auburn Hills, MI, USA; A general view of The Palace of Auburn Hills prior to the game between the Detroit Pistons and the Brooklyn Nets. Mandatory Credit: Raj Mehta-USA TODAY Sports /
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FORT WAYNE, IN - 1956: Center Bill Russell #6 of the Boston Celtics attempts to block the shot of George Yardley #12 of the Ft. Wayne Zollner Pistons during a game in 1956 at the War Memorial Coliseum in Ft. Wayne, Indiana. Also pictured for the Celtics are Tom Heinsohn #15 and Jim Loscutoff #18 and for the Pistons Bob Houbregs #17. (Photo byv Diamond Images/Getty Images)
FORT WAYNE, IN – 1956: Center Bill Russell #6 of the Boston Celtics attempts to block the shot of George Yardley #12 of the Ft. Wayne Zollner Pistons during a game in 1956 at the War Memorial Coliseum in Ft. Wayne, Indiana. Also pictured for the Celtics are Tom Heinsohn #15 and Jim Loscutoff #18 and for the Pistons Bob Houbregs #17. (Photo byv Diamond Images/Getty Images) /

George Yardley. 6. player. 64. <strong>How acquired:</strong> 8th overall pick from Stanford, 1950 NBA Draft.. SF.

George Yardley averaged nearly 17 points a game as a senior at Stanford, attracting the attention of the Fort Wayne Pistons, who selected him eighth overall in the 1950 NBA Draft.

But the Pistons would have to wait awhile to get the smooth-scoring small forward. Yardley played a season of AAU basketball and leading his club to a national AAU title before serving two years in the U.S. Navy.

DET_06_YARDLEY
DET_06_YARDLEY /

Fort Wayne got Yardley’s name on a contract in July 1953 and after a year as a part-time starter, his career blossomed in his second season.

Yardley was named All-NBA in 1956-57 and 1957-58, earning five straight All-Star bids from 1955-59. He was also third in the MVP voting in 1957-58 after finishing fourth in 1956-57.

He was the NBA’s leading scorer in 1957-58 and was fifth in the league in 1956-57, while finishing second in minutes per game in 1957-58 and fourth the previous season.

In the 1955 NBA Finals, Yardley averaged 15.7 points, 8.6 rebounds and 4.3 assists in 41.3 minutes per game, shooting 40.9 percent from the floor and 77.3 percent from the foul line in a seven-game loss to the Syracuse Nationals.

The following year, he put up 24.8 points, 15.2 rebounds and 2.2 assists on 41 percent shooting from the field while hitting 84 percent at the free-throw line, but the Pistons fell to the Philadelphia Warriors in five games.

Yardley was with the team for its move from Fort Wayne to Detroit in 1957 before being dealt in February 1959 to the Nationals in exchange for Ed Conlin.

In parts of six seasons in Fort Wayne and Detroit, Yardley averaged 19.1 points and 9.2 rebounds in 33.7 minutes per game while shooting 41.4 percent from the floor and 77.8 percent from the stripe.

He earned another All-Star berth for Syracuse in 1960 before retiring in March of that year.

Inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1996, Yardley was the first player to score 2,000 points in a single season. He died from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis–Lou Gehrig’s disease–on Aug. 13, 2004, at the age of 75.

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