Al Bianchi | An Appreciation

On October 28, 2019, Al Bianchi passed away in Phoenix, Arizona, at the age of 87. Bianchi spent over half a century in professional basketball as a player, coach, scout and executive. With the 76ers squaring off with the Suns - two of Bianchi's former teams - on November 3rd, we felt this retrospective would be timely. 

Al Bianchi is one of the more important players in our franchise’s history. Although his career averages of 8.1 points, 2.5 rebounds, and 2.2 assists per game certainly don’t lead you to that immediate conclusion, context is critical. He produced those numbers while being the indispensable glue that kept the backcourts of the Syracuse Nationals and Philadelphia 76ers together for a solid decade. 

Undoubtedly, the Nats and Sixers always seemed to have guards of great noteriety. We’re talking about some great players in Hal Greer, Larry Costello, Dick Barnett, and Wali Jones, who typically started ahead of Bianchi.

But All-Stars and starters need rest too. The person responsible for holding down the fort when Greer or Costello needed breathers? That was Bianchi.

Bianchi checked in and kept the ship afloat, particularly with his tough-nosed defensive presence. That aggression helped propel the franchise to the East Finals five times (1957, 1959, 1961, 1965 and 1966) during his 10 years.

Bianchi’s decade with the club, like so much in basketball, was more good fortune than planned design. 

After superb collegiate play at Bowling Green State University, Bianchi was drafted by the Minneapolis Lakers… and the United States Army. Uncle Sam obviously took precedence over the NBA, and Bianchi was off to the military for two years. Finishing his service in 1956, Bianchi now seemed an afterthought to the Lakers.

Minneapolis sold his rights to the Nationals, which were in desperate need of backcourt help at the time. Syracuse took a flyer on the 24-year-old Bianchi just days before the regular season began. Despite having little time to prove himself, Bianchi quickly made an impression and was named to the regular season roster.

Jack Andrews, the go-to source for Syracuse basketball reporting in this era, talked with Nats coach Al Cervi about the 1956 training camp. Andrews relayed Cervi’s estimation of Bianchi as “a promising ball handler, who moves well, is deceptively fast and [has] a good outside shot.” 

Having barely made his way onto an NBA roster, Bianchi made the most of his opportunity. Averaging 8.3 points, the bench player was fittingly the sixth leading scorer on the team his first season.

The highlight of Bianchi’s rookie year came on January 27, 1957, as he scored 13 points and nailed a go-ahead basket to defeat Minneapolis, 94-93. The shot provided a little taste of revenge against the club that had parted ways with him just days before the regular season.

Over the years, Bianchi’s role as the franchise’s third guard would routinely pay steady dividends. But there was also the occasional windfall payday.

One such jackpot performance was a clutch display in March 1958, when Bianchi sizzled for 12 of his 17 points in the fourth quarter of a clash with new York. The deluge helped the Nats thwart a Knicks rally and ultimately pull off a 102-91 victory.

When the Nationals moved to Philadelphia in 1963, Bianchi became one of the original 76ers. And although in a new city, his role remained the same.

Indeed, the performance that best captured his essence as a steadying force off the bench came during the Sixers’ 1965 playoff series versus the Cincinnati Royals. 

In the playoffs, of course, the margin for error often becomes razor thin, and the Royals had posted a better regular season record than the Sixers. On top of that, Cincinnati boasted the incomparable Oscar Robertson, who was the league’s MVP in 1964.

Their other backcourt star was the sharp-shooting Adrian Smith, the league’s All-Star Game MVP in 1966. The Sixers’ hands would be full trying to corral the Royals’ backcourt.

Making matters even more complicated, Costello was hampered by injury all series and missed Game 1 entirely.

Enter Bianchi, who subsequently rose to the occasion in the series opener on the road. He notched 12 points on 6-for-12 shooting, while harassing the Big O into 21 points on a miserable 6-for-24 shooting. Still, the heated contest went into overtime.

With 11 seconds left in the extra period, Bianchi fired off a tough jumper as the shot clock expired. The shot was good and gave the Sixers a 117-115 lead over the Royals. The game officially ended 119-117 after Wilt Chamberlain added two free throws and Cincy dropped in a meaningless basket at the final buzzer, but Bianchi’s shot had put the contest away for good.

The Sixers ultimately won the series, 3-1, and Bianchi’s pestering play was no small part of the winning equation. Robertson’s scoring dropped modestly from 30.4 points in the regular season to 28.0 in the series. More importantly, his field goal percentage sagged from 48.0% during the season to just 42.7% versus the Sixers thanks to Bianchi’s defense.

On the offensive end, Bianchi fired away when prudent. He finished the series as the team’s fourth-leading scorer at 13.3 points on 53.2% shooting. 

That series was Bianchi’s finest hour with the franchise, as he demonstrated his best offensive and defensive work. It would also mark one of his final memorable moments with the Sixers as well.

After one more season with the club (1965-66), the 33-year-old Bianchi was left unprotected in the expansion draft when the Chicago Bulls entered the NBA in 1966. Chicago selected Bianchi, thus ending his time with our franchise.

The Bulls, however, were far more interested in Bianchi’s budding coaching abilities than having him as a player. Their hunch proved more than correct.

After 687 games with the Nats and Sixers (which ranks seventh on our all-time list), Bianchi’s playing career was over, but he was just getting started in the big scheme of things.

From 1966 to 2009, Bianchi held the following positions in the NBA and ABA: 

Bianchi was a true basketball lifer whose love of the game will be missed.