Bob Rule

American basketball player (1944–2019)

Bobby Frank Rule (June 29, 1944 – September 5, 2019) was an American professional basketball player. He played at center in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for the Seattle SuperSonics, Philadelphia 76ers, Cleveland Cavaliers, and the Milwaukee Bucks.

Rule played high school basketball at Riverside Polytechnic High School. Early in his college career, Rule played under the legendary Jerry Tarkanian, then head coach at Riverside Community College. It was under Tarkanian that Rule honed his defensive and footwork skills. In 1964, Rule was named the Most Valuable Player of the California Junior College State Championships after leading the Riverside City College Tigers to a 35–0 record and the school's first state championship team. Rule then transferred to and starred at Colorado State for two seasons. Rule played in the Amateur Athletic Association for the Denver Capitol Federal during the 1966 67 season and was named an All American.

A second round pick in the 1967 NBA draft, Rule quickly became one of the stars of Seattle's expansion franchise. Named to the 1967–68 NBA All Rookie Team, Rule's 18.1 points per game average stood as the SuperSonics rookie record for forty seasons, until broken by Kevin Durant in 2008. His rebounding average of 9.5 is the second best ever by a SuperSonics rookie, behind only Pete Cross's 12.0 in the 1970–71 season. Also during his rookie season, Rule scored 47 points in a game against the Los Angeles Lakers — still a SuperSonics rookie record. Rule's game grew stronger during the next two seasons. In the 1968–69 season, he averaged 24.0 points per game and 11.5 rebounds per game. In the 1969–70 season, he averaged 24.6 points per game and 10.3 rebounds per game, scored 40 or more points on five separate occasions (including a then SuperSonics record of 49 points in a game against the Philadelphia 76ers), and played in the 1970 NBA All Star Game. In the fourth game, after scoring 21 points and pulling down five rebounds in the first half, Rule had a season ending torn achilles tendon, ending his season at 29.8 points per game and 11.5 rebounds per game

Rule was inducted into the Riverside City College Athletics Hall of Fame in 2011.

YearTeamGPMPGFG%FT%RPGAPGSTLBLKPPG1967–68Seattle8229.6.489.6589.51.2––18.11968–69Seattle8237.9.469.68211.51.7––24.01969–70Seattle8037.0.463.71410.31.8––24.61970–71Seattle435.5.480.83311.51.8––29.81971–72Seattle1615.2.363.5353.40.4––7.11971–72Philadelphia6033.1.445.6958.01.8––17.31972–73Philadelphia34.0.000–0.70.3––0.01972–73Cleveland499.0.382.6452.20.8––2.91973–74Cleveland2620.8.396.7394.01.8.5.47.21974–75Milwaukee111.0.000–0.02.00.00.00.0Career40329.4.461.6868.31.50.40.417.4All Star113.0.3331.0004.00.0––5.0