Charlie Paulk

This article is about the basketball player. For the politician, see Charles Paulk.

Charles Paulk (June 14, 1946 – October 1, 2014) was an American basketball player who spent four seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA).

Charlie Paulk

Personal information
Born	(1946-06-14)June 14, 1946 Fitzgerald, Georgia, U.S.
Died	October 1, 2014(2014-10-01) (aged 68) San Diego, California, U.S.
Listed height	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)
Listed weight	219 lb (99 kg)
Career information
High school	Lester (Memphis, Tennessee)
College	Tulsa (1965–1966) Northeastern State (1966–1968)
NBA draft	1968: 1st round, 7th overall pick
Drafted by	Milwaukee Bucks
Playing career	1968–1972
Position	Power forward
Number	17, 18, 42, 16
Career history
1968–1969	Milwaukee Bucks
1970–1971	Cincinnati Royals
1971	Chicago Bulls
1971–1972	New York Knicks
Career statistics
Points	741 (6.2 ppg)
Rebounds	462 (3.9 rpg)
Assists	41 (0.3 apg)
Stats at NBA.com
Stats at Basketball Reference

High school career

Paulk played basketball for Lester High School in Memphis, Tennessee. Along with him, the 1964 team also featured Rich Jones and Claude Humphrey.

College career

Due to the University of Memphis not admitting African-American players at the time, he went to the University of Tulsa. After one year, he transferred to Northeastern State, an NAIA school at the time.

NBA career

Paulk was drafted by the Milwaukee Bucks in the first round of the 1968 NBA draft. That same year, he was drafted by the Army. In his first season, he played just 17 games, scoring three points per game and garnering 4.6 rebounds per game. He sat out the 1969–70 season due to military service, serving a tour of duty in Vietnam.^[1]

In 1970, the Bucks traded him along with Flynn Robinson to the Cincinnati Royals for Oscar Robertson.^[2] The following year, he was traded to the Chicago Bulls for Matt Guokas and a future draft pick. Later that year, he was again traded, this time to the New York Knicks for a second-round draft pick.^[3]

NBA career statistics

Legend

GP	Games played	GS	Games started	MPG	Minutes per game
FG%	Field goal percentage	3P%	3-point field goal percentage	FT%	Free throw percentage
RPG	Rebounds per game	APG	Assists per game	SPG	Steals per game
BPG	Blocks per game	PPG	Points per game	Bold	Career high

Regular season

Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
1968–69	Milwaukee	17	-	12.8	.226	-	.565	4.6	0.2	-	-	3.0
1970–71	Cincinnati	68	-	17.8	.430	-	.603	4.7	0.4	-	-	9.2
1971–72	Chicago	7	-	8.6	.286	-	.778	2.1	0.6	-	-	3.3
1971–72	New York	28	-	5.4	.267	-	.667	1.8	0.3	-	-	1.4
Career		120	-	13.7	.392	-	.611	3.9	0.3	-	-	6.2

Playoffs

Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
1971–72	New York	7	-	1.9	.300	-	.000	0.7	0.0	-	-	0.9
Career		7	-	1.9	.300	-	.000	0.7	0.0	-	-	0.9

Personal life and death

After his career, he became a road promotions manager for bands in the New Orleans area. Paulk had six siblings, five sisters, and one brother. He had two children, Derrek Paulk and Zonna Whitlow. He married Jacqueline Newby in 1990. Together he and Jacqueline (also an educator) co-founded Lincoln High School Boys Basketball Foundation, dedicated to teaching kids life skills using basketball. The foundation now known as Ground-Up is run by Shaun Manning, Jacqueline's son and Charles' stepson.^[4] On October 1, 2014, Paulk died of a heart attack at 68.