Walt Bellamy, the four-time All-Star and Hall of Fame center, has passed away at the age of 74, the Atlanta Hawks announced on Monday morning.

Bellamy, who lived in the Atlanta area after retiring from professional basketball, was able to attend the Hawks' season opener at home on Friday, Nov 1. The cause of his death is uncertain.

Born in 1939 in New Bern, North Carolina, Bellamy starred at J.T. Barber High School in his hometown and decided to matriculate at Indiana University after playing with a group of Indiana players as a high school junior. Although he was considered very talented, the racial conditions of his day did not allow him to play in any of the South's premier college basketball teams. Once he got to Bloomington, though, his transition was eased by the fact that the IU campus was slowly becoming integrated.

The 6-feet-11, 225-pound center was picked first overall in the 1962 draft by the Chicago Packers, having played an outstanding amateur career, both at Indiana University and with the United States Olympic basketball team with which he won a gold medal.

In his rookie year, the first in his 14-season NBA career, Bellamy averaged 31.6 points and 19 rebounds a game. His rookie point average is second only to Wilt Chamberlain's 37.6, and his first season in the league is arguably one of the three greatest rookie seasons in NBA history, comparable to those of Wilt Chamberlain and Oscar Robertson.

The agile, sweet-shooting center was also known for his fearless exploits inside the paint; for his first four seasons in the league, he was an All-Star. After being traded to the New York Knicks, he was again traded to the Detroit Pistons and the Atlanta Hawks.

Bellamy never won an NBA title, and was often overshadowed by his contemporaries Chamberlain and Bill Russell. Still, he scored 20,941 points and grabbed 14,241 rebounds, averaging 20.1 points and 13.7 rebounds a game in his professional career.

After his retirement, Bellamy became active with the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, the Young Christian Men's Association, and the Urban League in Atlanta. He was elected to the Naismith Memorial Hall of Fame in 1993, almost two decades after hanging up his sneakers.