Obituaries
NBA Champ Dies at Home In Chesterfield
St. Louis Hawks basketball captain takes team to only championship title.
Charlie Share, team captain and 6'11" center of St. Louis Hawks basketball team when they won the national title in 1958, died June 7 at his home in Chesterfield, MO.
He was 85. He was born in Cincinnati, OH on March 14, 1927.
In the 1957-58 season when the St. Louis Hawks won the NBA championship, Share played in all 72 regular season games and 11 playoff games when the Hawks beat the Boston Celtics for the championship.
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It was the only time the team took the NBA title. Share was captain.
Share averaged 8.9 points per game that season.
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Share was the first person ever drafted in the NBA player draft. He came out of Bowling Green College. He was drafted by the Boston Celtics, but traded to the Ft. Wayne Pistons.
Share was then traded to the Milwaukee/St. Louis Hawks in 1953. He ended his career in 1960 playing for the Minneapolis Lakers.
Share died seven months after teammate “Easy” Ed Macauley, who in 1960 at age 32 was the youngest person ever inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame. Macauley was a long time resident of Warson Woods, a St. Louis suburb, and former KTVI sports director.
Three of Share's former starting teammates from the 1957-58 Hawks team are still living:
- Guard Slater Martin, 88 who was inducted into the Basketball Hall of fame in 1982;
- Guard Cliff Hagan, 80 who was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1980 and
- Power forward Bob Pettit, 79, who was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1970.
Share never made it into the Hall of Fame.
A service will be June 19 noon at Schrader Funeral Home in Ballwin, 14960 Manchester Road at Holloway. Visitation: June 19 10am-noon.
He is survived by wife Rose and two daughters.
The following is from the Schraeder website:
"Charles will always be remembered as a dedicated husband, proud father, and active participant in the lives of his grandchildren, captain of the 1957-58 St. Louis Hawks NBA Championship basketball team, and founder of Sharick Packaging, Inc."
In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to Ivy Chapel, 620 N. Woods Mill Road, Chesterfield, MO 63017.