NBA Hall-of-Famer Wes Unseld, one of only two players to win MVP honours in his rookie season, died Tuesday, his family said. He was 74.

Unseld, selected by the Baltimore Bullets with the second pick in the 1968 draft, had been dealing with long-running health issues including a recent bout of pneumonia.



“He was the rock of our family — an extremely devoted patriarch who reveled in being with his wife, children, friends and teammates,” the family said in a statement.

“He was our hero and loved playing and working around the game of basketball for the cities of Baltimore and Washington D.C., cities he proudly wore on his chest for so many years.”

Unseld spent the entirety of his career with the Bullets, who later moved to Washington and were subsequently renamed the Wizards.