Ken Sears

Kenneth Robert "Ken" Sears (August 17, 1933 – April 23, 2017) was an American professional basketball player. He holds the title of being the first basketball player to be on the cover of Sports Illustrated magazine, appearing on the December 20, 1954 issue.
Sears played eight seasons (1955–1961, 1962–1964) in the National Basketball Association as a member of the New York Knicks and San Francisco Warriors. He averaged 13.9 points per game and 7.8 rebounds per game in his NBA career, appearing as an NBA All-Star in 1958 and 1959. Sears spent the 1961–62 basketball season in the short-lived American Basketball League.
Sears died on April 23, 2017, at his home in Watsonville, California, aged 83.