(Budd Bailey and Greg D. Tranter have written a book called "Buffalo Braves From A to Z," published by St. Johann Press. Early in the writing process, they wrote good-sized biographies of all 71 men who played a regular-season game for the Braves during their time in Buffalo from 1970 to 1978. Publishers weren't so enthusiastic about all of that material, so most (59) of the biographies were shortened to about 500 words. However, the authors hated to waste all of that material ... so they are presenting it here. It will appear three times a week. A bibliography is available upon request.)
Howard Komives had a long, successful career in basketball, starting with a memorable time in college and a decade in the pros. But he had little control of the single most dramatic moment of his career, as a trade that involved him led to the first championship in the history of one of the NBA’s most historic franchises.
Howard Kolman “Butch” Komives was born in Toledo, Ohio, on May 9, 1941. Toledo is located in the northwestern corner of Ohio and is bordered to the east by Lake Erie and to the southeast by the Maumee River. With its strategic location, Toledo is a major Midwestern port city with a population of almost 275,000. Komives grew up in Toledo and graduated from Woodward High School in 1960.
Komives led the Polar Bears to a share of the Toledo City League basketball title as a senior. An All-City selection, he was among 20 players selected by the Ohio high school coaches’ association to play in the All-Ohio high school North-South game on June 18, 1960. He scored eight points for the North squad in their 95-90 victory. He was named to the Associated Press AA All-Ohio team as an honorable mention. Komives decided to attend Bowling Green State University, less than 15 miles from his boyhood home.
Komives played with the freshman team his first year on campus and then joined the varsity for the 1961-62 season, and he had an immediate impact. In only his fifth game with the big squad, Komives poured in 27 points as the Falcons defeated Michigan, 77-67. Howie scored 20 points and made the game-winning free throws in the final minute as Bowling Green upset No. 5 ranked Wichita State, 69-68, on December 28.
Komives teamed with 6-11 junior center Thurmond as the Falcons romped through the Mid-American Conference with an 11-1 record. Howie led the team in scoring for the season with a 21.0 average and Thurmond scored 15.7 points and grabbed 15.8 rebounds per game. The two led the Falcons to the MAC championship, finishing with a 21-3 overall record and qualifying for the NCAA tournament. The Falcons lost a heartbreaker in the first round of the tournament with a 56-55 loss to Butler. Coach Harold Anderson had instructed his team to get the ball to Komives for the final shot. However, the pass intended for Howie was batted away. Bowling Green finished as the No. 8 ranked team in the country by the Associated Press, the best in school history. At the conclusion of the season, Komives and Thurmond were both unanimous selections to the first-team All-Conference squad.
The duo was back for the 1962-63 season. The team struggled early as Komives pulled a leg muscle in a win over Western Kentucky and then reinjured it in a loss to St, Joseph’s. Overall he missed four games and was hampered in several others. By the time he returned to the lineup at full strength, the Falcons were sitting with a mediocre 8-6 record. With Komives at 100 percent, the team reeled off 10 consecutive wins to close the regular season. One of the highlights came in a stunning upset of No. 2 ranked Loyola of Illinois. Komives led Bowling Green to the 92-75 win 25 points. The loss ended Loyola’s 21-game winning streak; the Ramblers went on to win the national championship. The Falcons repeated as MAC Conference champions at 9-3, and were 18-6 overall. Komives again led the squad in scoring with a 20.2 per game average. Thurmond contributed 19.9 points and 16.7 rebounds per contest.
Bowling Green defeated Notre Dame in their first round NCAA tournament game (the only NCAA tournament victory in school history). Komives was terrific as he poured in 34 points in leading the Falcons to a 77-72 victory. Bowling Green lost a tough one in the regional semifinals to Illinois, 70-67. Komives did all he could to carry the team in the loss. One reporter wrote, “The load got to be too heavy for amazing Howard Komives, and the Big Ten co-champion Illini nudged the Mid-American conference titlists by a whisker. Komives, the do-everything Bowling Green guard, gunned in 18 points in the first half but added only seven more for a total of 25. But his mates neglected to pick up enough slack.” Bowling Green lost the consolation game to Mississippi State and finished 19-8. Komives was again named to the All-Conference first team by the coaches.
Thurmond graduated, and long-time coach Anderson retired as head coach at the conclusion of the 1962-63 season. Komives was named captain of the squad for his senior year. The burden of winning a third consecutive MAC crown fell squarely on his shoulders. By now he had picked up the nickname “Butch.” Komives had an incredible senior season, leading the country in scoring with a 36.7 per game average. He scored 50 points in one game for his career high. But his heroics throughout the season could not carry the Falcons to another title. They finished in third place in the conference and ended the season with an overall 14-9 record.
Komives had a great game in a loss to Notre Dame. “Notre Dame survived one of the most spectacular performances ever witnessed in its archaic fieldhouse. Howard Komives, a 6-foot-1 guard with the build of a football player, was a do-it-yourself star for the visiting Falcons. Komives scored 41 points and started out by hitting his first seven field goal attempts from well out on the court,” Joe Doyle reported for the South Bend Tribune. Komives had his career high of 50 against Niagara on February 15, 1964.
Komives was named to the All-Conference team for the third consecutive season. He also was selected to the AP and UPI All-American third teams. He broke 24 school records including most career points (1,834), highest career scoring average (25.8) and most career field goals attempted (1506). He broke many single season school records also, including most points, highest scoring average, and most made field goals and free throws. He also broke an NCAA record by making 50 consecutive free throws.
“In my 13 years of coaching, Howard Komives is the greatest basketball player ever to play against one of my teams. He can play great offense. He can play great defense. And he can play them both great for 40 minutes,” said Notre Dame head coach Johnny Jordan. “Komives is the greatest all-around ball player we’ve ever had here,” said Anderson at the conclusion of Howard’s Bowling Green career.
On May 4 Komives was selected by the New York Knickerbockers in the NBA Draft. He was picked in the second round with the 15th overall selection. He joined a Knicks squad coming off a 22-58 record but with a rookie class that included Willis Reed, Jim “Bad News” Barnes and Emmette Bryant. Butch had a solid rookie season, playing in all 80 games while averaging 29.7 minutes and 12.2 points per game.
Komives scored 19 points in his NBA debut on October 17 in a 103-99 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers. He had his season high of 29 points in a one point loss to Cincinnati and 26 points in a win over Philadelphia. His best all-around game was his 25-point, 10-assist output in a 106-102 win over Baltimore. He was named to the 1965 NBA All-Rookie team, joining teammates Reed and Barnes on the squad. The Knicks finished with a 31-49 record and fourth place in the Eastern Division.
In the offseason the New York acquired Dick Barnett and moved Komives from shooting guard to point guard. Butch played in all 80 games and his minutes increased to 32.7 per game while his scoring average also increased to 13.9. He averaged 5.3 assists per game, sixth best in the league despite playing out of position. He was much more comfortable at shooting guard. Komives had a season-high 37 points in a 121-119 win over Detroit. The Knicks were still less than mediocre at 30-50.
The left-handed guard put together the best season of his NBA career in 1966-67. His minutes, scoring and assists averages were career highs at 35.1, 15.6 and 6.2 respectively. His assist average ranked fifth in the NBA. The Knicks, under head coach Dick McGuire, improved to 36-45 and the team qualified for the playoffs. It was Komives’ first postseason exposure. Boston won the series, 3-1, while Komives averaged 10.5 points and 3.8 assists.
The Knicks drafted guard Walt Frazier, small forward Bill Bradley and forward Phil Jackson in the 1967 NBA Draft. The acquisition of Frazier severely cut into Butch’s playing time. His minutes reduced to 22.2 per game and his scoring average shrunk to 7.7 per contest. Also, midway through the season McGuire was fired and Red Holzman was hired as the Knicks’ new head coach. New York immediately improved once Holzman took over. The Knicks were 28-16 in their last 44 games. The team was eliminated in the first round of the playoffs by Philadelphia, 4-2. Komives averaged 5.7 points and 3.8 assists in the six playoff games.
Butch began the 1967-68 season with the Knicks, but only had layed in 32 games when he was traded to the Detroit Pistons on December 19. Komives was packaged with Walt Bellamy in exchange for forward Dave DeBusschere. The trade was prompted in part by a feud that was simmering between Butch and Cazzie Russell. Komives was working on behalf of the Hubert Humphrey presidential campaign and Russell was a passionate supporter of Richard Nixon. The squabble was beginning to disrupt the locker room, so Holzman made the swap. Komives - since losing his starting job to Frazier - had been disappointed in his role with New York.
“We traded the bad seeds,” Frazier said later. “Walt Bellamy – very talented player but a bad example for me as a rookie. He was lazy, didn’t like to work on his game. Howard Komives was another – very moody guy. He hated Cazzie, and they would not pass to each other.”
As it turned out, DeBusschere was the missing piece for the Knicks. Willis Reed moved over to center, and DeBusschere was a great fit at small forward. The following season New York was the NBA champion, and the franchise won a second title three years later. Komives on the other hand went to an underperforming Pistons team. He played for Detroit for the remainder of the 1968-69 season and three more years with the club. They never made the playoffs and only finished above .500 in one of those seasons.
Komives did well after the trade to Detroit as he played 32.6 minutes per game while averaging 12.9 points and 5.0 assists per game. Those were his season highs as a Piston. The following year he played in all 82 games, but his points per game average fell to 11.2. His next two seasons were disappointing as his scoring average fell below nine points per game while his playing time reduced to about 25 minutes. While in Detroit, 13-year NBA player Steve Mix said about working out with Komives, “I was never a great shooter. I spent the summer (before my rookie year) working on my shooting with Howard Komives. He was a great shooter and was from Toledo. We worked out together in the Toledo gym. Used to shoot from various spots on the floor. You’d have to make 7 of 10 from each spot before you could leave. He’d make em, be gone and I’d still be out there working. Sometimes it would take me two hours before I’d get finished.”
During his final season in Detroit, Komives caused quite a stir when he charged that coach Earl Lloyd, an African American, had benched the white members of the team in favor of black teammates. Komives later apologized for that, but a move probably was necessary. The Buffalo Braves had a young backcourt entering the 1972-73 season, so they swung a preseason deal with Detroit to bring in the veteran Komives for a second-round draft pick in the 1973 NBA Draft. Komives joined a backcourt with Randy Smith, Dick Garrett, Freddie Hilton and Dave Wohl.
Butch played in 67 games for Buffalo as a reserve guard, usually the second playmaker off the bench. He averaged 6.1 points and 3.6 assist in 21.9 minutes of action. He had a season-high 21 points in a loss to Atlanta and then on January 18 Butch had his highlight of the season as he sank the two game-winning free throws after time expired in the Braves’ 127-125 victory over the Hawks.
After the season head coach Jack Ramsey knew he needed more dynamic play from his backcourt and drafted Ernie DiGregorio from Providence College with the Braves’ top draft choice and Ken Charles from Fordham in the third round. These moves made Komives expendable, and he was released on October 8, 1973.
Komives signed with the Kansas City/Omaha Kings a week later. In his last NBA season he played 44 games for the Bob Cousy-coached Kings. He played behind Tiny Archibald and Matt Goukas. Butch averaged 18.9 minutes and 4.3 points per game, both career lows. It was clear that he had lost a step and was released on July 9, 1974. He signed with the Denver Nuggets in September, but lasted only 10 days before being released, ending his ten-year NBA career. He played in 742 NBA games in his career with a 10.2 career scoring average. Komives was an extremely reliable player as in five of his ten seasons he played in all his team’s games and in two others he missed only two and three games respectively.
After retiring Komives ran a hamburger franchise in Boulder, Colorado, for a while. Then it was back to Toledo for the rest of his life. He tried his hand at coaching. He was the head coach of the Ohio Mixers of the Continental Basketball Association for the 1983-84 season.
In the franchise swap when the Braves were moved to San Diego, Komives’ deferred contract payments actually were paid by the Boston Celtics. There is little known about his work activities over the last 25 years of his life.
Komives was married twice, first to Gloria (Rehkopf) Ann Komives. They had three children together, David, Christopher and Shane. The couple divorced on October 12, 1982. He married Marcia E. Kretzinger on April 2, 1987, and they were together until his death.
Komives, who had battled health issues for a decade, died on March 22, 2009, at age 67. He was found unconscious at his home by his wife Marcia and died three days later at the University of Toledo Medical Center. Komives was survived by Marcia and his sons David, Christopher and Shane. His son Shane was a basketball letterman from 1993-1996 at Bowling Green.
Butch was inducted into the Bowling Green State Athletics Hall of Fame in 1970 and into the Ohio Basketball Hall of Fame in 2007.
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