First NBA Player To Make 3 Point Basket Dies

NEW YORK, NY (AP) – Chris Ford, a member of the Boston Celtics 1981 championship team, a longtime NBA coach and the player credited with scoring the league’s first 3-point basket, has died, his family announced in a statement.

He was 74.

The family revealed the death through the Celtics.

No official cause was given, but the statement said Ford passed away on Tuesday.

The Press of Atlantic City reported he died in Philadelphia having suffered a heart attack earlier in the month.

Ford was voted the team’s MVP in his first season with Boston.

He retired following the 1981-82 season and was an assistant coach for the Celtics for seven seasons from 1983 to 1990, helping coach former teammates Larry Bird, Kevin McHale and Robert Parish to two titles in 1984 and 1986.