Norman Allen Van Lier III (April 1, 1947 – February 26, 2009) was an American professional basketball player and television broadcaster who spent the majority of his career with the Chicago Bulls.
Early life
Van Lier was born on April 1, 1947, in East Liverpool, Ohio to Helen and Norm Sr. Norm Sr. was the son of a Baptist preacher, and worked in a steel mill for decades (reported as 31 or 40 years). Van Lier was raised, along with three brothers and a sister, in Midland, Pennsylvania. Van Lier had six brothers in all, three of whom died after birth including a son Norm Sr. named Elgin Baylor Van Lier I. Van Lier would look back fondly to his childhood playing tackle football with a taped coffee can for a ball due to their circumstances. He would later credit this upbringing in forming his famed work ethic later in life. and of all time, finishing 28–0 and easily winning the Western Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic League (WPIAL) title. The Leopards won the statewide Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association (PIAA) championship game (90–61). Van Lier won All-State honors that year. During weekends, Van Lier would hitchhike to the playgrounds in Harlem, once even playing with future NBA Hall of Famer Billy Cunningham. Van Lier stated that when an Alabama assistant coach came to visit him at his high school, the coach said "'I heard you are quite a quarterback. ... Boy if I had known you was colored I would never had come.'"
He also played high school baseball, The school retired his number 12 jersey. He was inducted into the Cambria County, Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame in 1981. He was inducted into the Beaver County, Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame in 1984.
Professional career
Cincinnati Royals (1969–1971)
The Chicago Bulls selected Van Lier in the third round of the 1969 NBA draft, but after training camp traded him to the Cincinnati Royals for backup center Walt Wesley.
At Cincinnati, Van Lier flourished under the tutelage of coach Bob Cousy, a Hall of Fame guard who had played for the great Boston Celtics teams (even dating Cousy's daughter for over a year). Cousy focused on the team playing as a unit, instead of as individuals, which fit Van Lier. Van Lier was renowned for his physical and relentless defense, his fearlessness and hard-nosed play. He once got in a brawl with future Chicago Bulls teammate and close friend Jerry Sloan, a similar style player, during and after an exhibition game between the Royals and Bulls.
In game 6 of the 1973 playoffs between the Bulls and defending champion Los Angeles Lakers, in a career highlight, he had 10 steals, and held the Lakers future Hall of Fame guard Gail Goodrich to 4 points.
Nicknamed "Stormin' Norman" for his tenacity and aggression, Van Lier was one of the most popular Bulls players of the 1970s, being "worshipped all over Chicago". Van Lier was waived by the Bulls in October 1978.
On January 19, 1977, Van Lier broke the record for the longest successful field goal in NBA history at 84 feet; the record stood for 24 years until Baron Davis eclipsed it on November 17, 2001, from a distance of 89 feet.
Milwaukee Bucks (1978–1979)
After being waived in October 1978 by the Bulls, the Milwaukee Bucks picked him up. He only lasted two months, as Van Lier could no longer play at that level. However, Van Lier had become addicted to Quaaludes to deal with constant pain over the years, and Bucks coach Don Nelson helped Van Lier get the treatment necessary to overcome that addiction.
Coaching career
On June 2, 1986, Van Lier was announced as the head coach for the Rockford Lightning of the Continental Basketball Association (CBA). On December 30, he was fired by the Lightning after he accumulated a 4–8 record.
In 1989, Van Lier was the assistant coach of the Worcester Counts in the World Basketball League.
Media career
Van Lier served as a color analyst on Bulls radio broadcasts from 1980 to 1982. From 1992 to 2009, he was a television pre-game and post-game analyst for Chicago Bulls games, originally for SportsChannel, and later Fox Sports Chicago and Comcast SportsNet Chicago, winning an Emmy for the 1995–1996 season. In 2002 and 2004, he had supporting roles in the movies Barbershop and Barbershop 2: Back in Business.
Public service
Van Lier was a member of Project Teamwork, a group formed by the Reebok Foundation working to improve racial and human rights sensitivity in school-age children. He had a pacemaker implanted five months earlier.
Career statistics
NBA
Regular season
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"|Cincinnati
| 81 || || 35.7 || .403 || || .741 || 5.0 || 6.2 || || || 9.5
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"|Cincinnati
| style="background:#cfecec;"|82* || || 40.5 || .420 || || .816 || 7.1 || style="background:#cfecec;"|10.1* || || || 16.0
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"|Cincinnati
| 10 || || 27.5 || .311 || || .773 || 5.8 || 5.1 || || || 7.3
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"|Chicago
| 69 || || 31.0 || .456 || || .791 || 4.3 || 7.1 || || || 12.1
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"|Chicago
| 80 || || 36.0 || .445 || || .787 || 5.5 || 7.1 || || || 13.9
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"|Chicago
| 80 || || 35.8 || .406 || || .778 || 4.7 || 6.9 || 2.0 || .1 || 14.3
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"|Chicago
| 70 || || 37.0 || .420 || || .792 || 4.7 || 5.8 || 2.0 || .2 || 15.0
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"|Chicago
| 76 || || 39.8 || .366 || || .737 || 5.4 || 6.6 || 2.0 || .3 || 12.6
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"|Chicago
| style="background:#cfecec;"|82* || || 37.8 || .412 || || .778 || 4.5 || 7.8 || 1.6 || .2 || 10.2
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"|Chicago
| 78 || || 32.4 || .419 || || .751 || 3.6 || 6.8 || 1.8 || .1 || 7.3
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"|Milwaukee
| 38 || || 14.6 || .390 || || .904 || 1.1 || 4.2 || 1.1 || .1 || 2.8
|- class="sortbottom"
| style="text-align:center;" colspan="2"|Career
| 746 || || 35.1 || .414 || || .780 || 4.8 || 7.0 || 1.8 || .2 || 11.8
|- class="sortbottom"
| style="text-align:center;" colspan="2"|All-Star
| 3 || 1 || 12.3 || .286 || || .500 || 1.0 || 1.0 || .7 || .3 || 1.7
Playoffs
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|1972
| style="text-align:left;"|Chicago
| 4 || || 36.0 || .415 || || .857 || 6.3 || 8.3 || || || 14.0
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|1973
| style="text-align:left;"|Chicago
| 7 || || 36.9 || .349 || || .733 || 5.3 || 5.1 || || || 14.4
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|1974
| style="text-align:left;"|Chicago
| 11 || || 42.4 || .424 || || .830 || 4.3 || 6.8 || 1.5 || .3 || 14.6
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|1975
| style="text-align:left;"|Chicago
| 13 || || 42.1 || .409 || || .747 || 5.2 || 4.7 || 1.5 || .4 || 15.1
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|1977
| style="text-align:left;"|Chicago
| 3 || || 44.7 || .158 || || .833 || 5.0 || 9.7 || 3.3 || .3 || 5.3
|- class="sortbottom"
| style="text-align:center;" colspan="2"|Career
| 38 || || 40.8 || .389 || || .784 || 5.0 || 6.2 || 1.7 || .3 || 13.9
References
External links
- Career Stats at basketball-reference.com
- Obituary in the Chicago Tribune
- The Bullfighter – an upcoming documentary film