During his years at Tech High in North Omaha, Nebraska, Boone stood 6’2″ and weighed 175 pounds.
After college, at Idaho State University, Boone was selected by the Dallas Chaparrals in the 1968 ABA Draft and by the Phoenix Suns in the 1968 NBA Draft. Boone opted for Dallas and the ABA.
After two seasons with the Dallas Chaparrals (1968–70), Boone played for five seasons with the Utah Stars (1970–75). He was also on the Stars’ championship team in the 1971 ABA Finals. After five seasons with the Stars, Boone played for the Spirits of St. Louis during the 1975-76 season. After the ABA-NBA merger in June 1976 Boone played in the NBA for the Kansas City Kings for two seasons (1976–78) and then for the Los Angeles Lakers for two seasons. Boone then returned to Utah, finishing his professional career with two seasons as a member of the Utah Jazz.
In Terry Pluto’s collection of the oral history of the ABA, Loose Balls, interviewees noted that Boone’s nickname was “The Legend,” because he always showed up each season in shape and always was remarkably consistent. At the time of his retirement, Boone had the distinction of having played the most consecutive games of any player in the history of professional basketball – 1,041 in a row between the ABA and NBA. This record has since been broken by A. C. Green. However, Boone played at least 20 minutes in each game, whereas Green made several “token appearances” during his streak while suffering from various injuries.
American Basketball Association (ABA) accolades
3rd All-Time in Scoring (12,153)
6th All-Time in Assists (2,569)
5th All-Time in Games Played (662)
5th All-Time in Minutes Played (21,586)
2nd All Time in Personal Fouls (2,245)
1st All-Time in Turnovers (2,327)
Selected by the Phoenix Suns
Pro playing career 1968–1981
Career history
1968–1970 Dallas / Texas Chaparrals (ABA)
1970–1975 Utah Stars (ABA)
1975–1976 Spirits of St. Louis (ABA)
1976–1978 Kansas City Kings
1978–1979 Los Angeles Lakers
1979–1981 Utah Jazz
Career highlights and awards
ABA Champion (1971)
4× ABA All-Star (1971, 1974–1976)
ABA All-Rookie First Team (1969)
All-ABA First Team (1974)
All-ABA Second Team (1975)
ABA All-Time Team
Career ABA and NBA statistics
Points 17,437 (16.8 ppg)
Rebounds 4,348 (4.2 rpg)
Steals 823 (1.3 spg)
Smallthoughts:Old School Tuesday salutes the Iron man of the ABA…Ron Boone.
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