to the Milwaukee Hawks before ending his career as a member of the Ft. Wayne Pistons. After that, he spent a year playing for the Harlem Magicians, before injuring his back in a car crash and leaving basketball. During his NBA career, Cooper played a total of 409 games, scored 2,725 points for an average of 6.66 points per game, had 2,431 rebounds for an average of 5.9 per game, and had 733 assists for an average of 1.79 per game. As some statistics were not kept during that time, it is not known how many blocked shots, steals, or turnovers he had during his career. After the NBA After his NBA career, Cooper graduated with a Master of Social Work from the University of Minnesota in 1960. He was married twice; first in 1951, and then in 1957 to Irva Lee (with whom he had four children). He worked to improve his hometown of Pittsburgh, serving on the Pittsburgh school board, and was appointed the director of parks and recreation for the city, becoming the first Black department head. He also helped the Pittsburgh National Bank's affirmative action program as an urban affairs officer until he died in Pittsburgh at the age of 57 on February 5, 1984, of liver cancer at Forbes Hospice. NBA career statistics Regular season Playoffs See also Basketball in the United States Race and ethnicity in the NBA References External links Chuck Cooper's career NBA Stats from databasketball.com Biography at answers.com Phil Axelrod, "Duquesne honors legacy of Chuck Cooper", Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, December 6, 2009. 1926 births 1984 deaths African-American basketball players All-American college men's basketball players American men's basketball players Basketball players from Pittsburgh Boston Celtics draft picks Boston Celtics players Burials at Homewood Cemetery Duquesne Dukes men's basketball players Fort Wayne Pistons players Harlem Globetrotters players Milwaukee Hawks players Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame inductees Shooting guards Small forwards St. Louis Hawks players West Virginia State Yellow Jackets men's basketball players United States Navy personnel of World War II 20th-century African-American sportspeople University of Minnesota alumni Deaths from liver cancer Deaths from cancer in Pennsylvania