World B. Free
Sports, Fitness and Recreation

If you were asked to name some of the top scorers in NBA history, would World B. Free come to mind? Close to 3,000 players have put on an NBA uniform since the league’s first season in 1946-47. Amongst the elite, which includes the likes of Michael Jordan, Wilt Chamberlain, Julius “Dr. J” Erving, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and David Robinson, World B. Free ranks 50th all-time on the NBA scoring list.

Selected by the 76ers in the second round (23rd overall) of the 1975 NBA Draft, Free poured-in 17,955 points over his illustrious 13-year career. The prolific scorer from Brooklyn spent four years as a 76ers player (1975-78, 1987), while also making stops in San Diego (1978-80), Golden State (1980-82), Cleveland (1983-86) and Houston (1987). As a member of the 1979-80 San Diego Clippers, Free put together his best season in the NBA. He averaged an astounding 30.2 points over just 68 games, which landed him a spot in the 1980 NBA All-Star Game. He appeared in 886 games over his career, averaging 20.3 points while dishing-out 3.7 assists per contest.

Successful at every level, Free spent three years at Guilford College in North Carolina, where he averaged 23.6 points and 6.5 rebounds per game. He was a member of the 1973 NAIA Championship Team, while being named Most Valuable Player of the 1973 NAIA Tournament.

Today, the 50-year-old Free is scoring big in the communities of Philadelphia and the surrounding Delaware Valley as Ambassador of 76ers Basketball. Entering his 11th season with Sixers, Free travels to schools, recreation centers and playgrounds in the tri-state area teaching the fundamentals of basketball and life.

Anywhere Free goes he is instantly recognized by the youth of the Delaware Valley. Through his constant effort to enlighten and enrich the minds of the youth in the community, World B. Free has become a household name yet again. This comes from his work not on the court but his work off the court. In particular, Free uses the Philadelphia 76ers Summer Hoops Tour to get his message across. Thousands of children each summer gather to be in the presence of Free as he challenges these young people to not only further their basketball skills but their life skills as well.

Free has touched the lives of many children through the 76ers Summer Hoops Tour and Basketball 101, a series of basketball clinics held throughout the year in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware. The clinics are designed to teach kids of all ages basketball fundamentals. Throughout the year, Free also makes countless public appearances delivering motivational messages on issues ranging from education, sportsmanship and saying “no” to drugs. In May 2005, Free was chosen to receive the Philadelphia Sports Congress Community Service Award, presented each year by the Philadelphia Sports Congress to the "individual, business or organization that has done the most to contribute to the quality of life in Philadelphia through sports." Most recently, in November 2006, Free received the Great Friend to Kids Award from the Please Touch Museum for his community service with kids.

Free, who also spent two seasons as the 76ers strength and conditioning coach, was inducted into the New York City Basketball Hall-of-Fame in 1997, joining the likes of former teammate Julius Erving, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Billy Cunningham, Connie Hawkins, Lenny Wilkens and Nate “Tiny” Archibald.