Donald Frederick Otten (April 18, 1921 – September 18, 1985) was an American professional basketball player.

Don Otten
Otten in his senior season at Bowling Green
Personal information
Born(1921-04-18)April 18, 1921
Bellefontaine, Ohio, U.S.
DiedSeptember 18, 1985(1985-09-18) (aged 64)
Listed height6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)
Listed weight240 lb (109 kg)
Career information
High schoolBellefontaine (Bellefontaine, Ohio)
CollegeBowling Green (1942–1946)
Playing career1946–1953
PositionCenter
Number15, 13, 17, 14
Career history
1946–1950Tri-Cities Blackhawks
1950Washington Capitols
1950Baltimore Bullets
19501951Fort Wayne Pistons
19511953Milwaukee Hawks
Career highlights and awards
Career NBA statistics
Points2,294 (10.5 ppg)
Rebounds928 (6.0 rpg)
Assists297 (1.4 apg)
Stats at NBA.com Edit this at Wikidata
Stats at Basketball Reference Edit this at Wikidata

A 6'10" center from Bellefontaine High School (Ohio) and Bowling Green State University, Otten began his professional career in 1946 with the Tri-Cities Blackhawks of the National Basketball League. During the 1948–49 NBL season, Otten averaged 14.0 points per game and earned league MVP honors.[1] The Blackhawks joined the National Basketball Association (NBA) in 1949, and Otten continued playing until 1953, competing for Tri-Cities as well as the Washington Capitols, Baltimore Bullets, Fort Wayne Pistons, and Milwaukee Hawks. He averaged 10.5 points per game in his NBA career.[2] Don's brother Mac Otten also played in the NBA. In 1949, Don and Mac became the first ever pair of brothers to play for the same team in the NBA.

Otten is tied with Lew Hitch at first for the NBA record[3] for most personal fouls in a game, with eight. He set the record in a November 24, 1949 game between Tri-Cities and the Sheboygan Red Skins. NBA Rule 3, Section I permits a player to remain in the game after fouling out if no other players are available on the bench.[4]

NBA career statistics

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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

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Year Team GP MPG FG% FT% RPG APG PPG
1949–50 Tri-Cities 46 .366 .717 1.6 12.1
1949–50 Washington 18 .391 .777 1.0 14.9
1950–51 Washington 16 .291 .796 6.6 1.4 9.3
1950–51 Baltimore 2 .200 .556 1.5 1.5 5.5
1950–51 Fort Wayne 49 .362 .811 6.0 0.8 8.4
1951–52 Fort Wayne 7 9.0 .250 .875 2.9 0.7 3.4
1951–52 Milwaukee 57 30.3 .352 .769 7.3 2.1 13.0
1952–53 Milwaukee 24 16.0 .391 .703 3.7 0.9 5.5
Career 219 24.7 .357 .761 6.0 1.4 10.5

Playoffs

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Year Team GP MPG FG% FT% RPG APG PPG
1950 Washington 2 .400 .808 3.0 20.5
1951 Fort Wayne 3 .308 .813 6.3 2.7 9.7
Career 5 .353 .810 6.3 2.8 14.0

References

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  1. ^ "Steve Dmitry's NBL Website". Archived from the original on August 18, 2005. Retrieved October 25, 2009.. Retrieved 29 August 2007.
  2. ^ NBA statistics. Retrieved 29 August 2007.
  3. ^ "Most Fouls In A Game". StatMuse. Retrieved May 8, 2022.
  4. ^ "Regular Season Records: Personal Fouls". NBA.com. Archived from the original on March 16, 2017. Retrieved September 14, 2007.