NBA Wordle #44
Tuesday, August 18, 2026 · already played
The answer
Spoiler for the puzzle of Tuesday, August 18, 2026. Today's puzzle is not revealed anywhere on this page.
BEARD
Butch Beard
G · 1969–1979
Butch Beard's career
Butch Beard played 10 seasons between 1969 and 1979, across 5 franchises — Hawks, Cavaliers, Thunder, Warriors and Knicks. Over 605 regular-season games he averaged 9.3 points, 3.4 rebounds and 3.6 assists, finishing with 5,622 career points. He was 1× All-Star and 1× champion.
He entered the league in the 1969 draft, taken 10th overall in the lottery. That makes him a product of the 1960s, and his career totals should be read against the pace and rules of that period.
Across a solid career of 10 seasons he was a rotation piece at 9.3 points per game.
- Games
- 605
- PPG
- 9.3
- RPG
- 3.4
- APG
- 3.6
- Points
- 5,622
- Rebounds
- 2,042
- Assists
- 2,189
- 3PM
- 0
Teams
- Hawks · 1970
- Cavaliers · 1972
- Thunder · 1973
- Warriors · 1974–1975
- Cavaliers · 1976
- Knicks · 1976–1979
Honours
1× All-Star · 1× NBA champion
About the answer
The answer was BEARD — 5 letters, made up of 5 distinct letters and beginning with B.
The optional hint offered that day read: “9.3 career PPG · 1× All-Star”.
Why this was a fair answer
Answers are never obscure by design: the pool is every NBA All-Star who debuted in the 1969-70 season or later, plus current players carrying a real scoring role. Butch Beard qualifies on the first route, with 1 All-Star selection — a one-time selection.
With 5 franchises on his record, the shared-team clue was unusually generous here — a wide range of guesses would have lit it up green and pointed the wrong way as often as the right one. The debut arrow was the fastest way in: anyone opening with a modern player would have been sent back decades immediately. The 1 championship ring were another strong signal — most of the pool has none.
Play it yourself
This puzzle is still replayable — open NBA Wordle #44 in the archive to play the round exactly as it was, or start today's puzzle. Archive rounds never affect your daily streak.
Recent NBA Wordle answers
See the full NBA Wordle archive for every puzzle played so far.