The Basketball Hall of Fame. Artis Gilmore Enshrined 2011Chipley, FLSeptember 21, 1949 Biography Artis Gilmore was basketball’s greatest gentle giant. Standing seven feet two inches, the A-Train was a force of nature but his low-key disposition offset his impressive physical stature. His professional career lasted 17 seasons starting in the ABA where the quietly dominant center managed one championship, four All-Defensive team honors, and three Most Valuable Player awards – one regular season, one playoff, and one All Star.
Career Highlights. Remember the ABA: Artis Gilmore. Artis Gilmore Reference. A-Train's Official Website. Artis Gilmore. Gilmore followed 5 All-Star seasons with the Kentucky Colonels of the ABA by becoming the 1st overall pick of the 1976 NBA dispersal draft, which was held after the ABA was disbanded, as four teams transferred to the NBA. In Gilmore's complete pro basketball career, he was an eleven-time All-Star, the ABA Rookie of the Year, and an ABA MVP, and he remains the NBA career leader for field goal percentage. Nicknamed "The A-Train", the 7' 2" (2.18 m) Gilmore once played in 670 consecutive games. Early years[edit] Gilmore was born in Chipley, Florida, and reared there and in Dothan, Alabama, a larger community 35 miles to the north.
He graduated from Dothan's Carver High School in 1967. Gilmore played college basketball at the Gardner-Webb Junior College for two years and at Jacksonville University for two years, leading the Jacksonville Dolphins team to the NCAA title game in 1970, where they lost 80-69 to UCLA. Professional career[edit] ABA[edit] NBA career[edit] Number 1 NBA draft pick[edit]