Adrian Dantley

No. 44, 4, 45, 7
Forward / Guard
Personal information
Born	(1956-02-28) February 28, 1956 (age 56) Washington, D.C., USA
High school	DeMatha Catholic (Hyattsville, Maryland)
Listed height	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)
Listed weight	208 lb (94 kg)
Career information
College	Notre Dame (1973–1976)
NBA Draft	1976 / Round: 1 / Pick: 6th overall
Selected by the Buffalo Braves
Pro career	1976–1991
Career history
1976–1977	Buffalo Braves
1977	Indiana Pacers
1977–1979	Los Angeles Lakers
1979–1986	Utah Jazz
1986–1989	Detroit Pistons
1989–1990	Dallas Mavericks
1990–1991	Milwaukee Bucks
Career highlights and awards
6× NBA All-Star (1980–1982, 1984–1986) NBA Rookie of the Year (1977) 2× All-NBA Second Team (1981, 1984) 2× Consensus NCAA All-American First Team (1975–1976) Oscar Robertson Trophy (1976) 2× NBA scoring champion (1981, 1984) #4 Retired by the Utah Jazz
Career statistics
Points	23,177 (24.3 ppg)
Rebounds	5,455 (5.7 rpg)
Assists	2,830 (3.0 apg)
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com
Basketball Hall of Fame as player
Medals Men's basketball Competitor for the  United States Olympic Games Gold 1976 Montreal Team competition

Adrian Delano Dantley (born February 28, 1956 in Washington, D.C.) is a retired American basketball player who played 15 seasons in the NBA, including seven as a member of the Utah Jazz. A forward/guard and six-time NBA All-Star, he was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2008. In 2010, he was appointed acting head coach of the Denver Nuggets in the absence of stricken head coach George Karl.

Playing career[link]

College[link]

Dantley attended basketball powerhouse DeMatha Catholic High School in Hyattsville, Maryland where he played under legendary basketball coach Morgan Wootten.

Dantley was a forward at Notre Dame from 1973-76. He was a consensus first team All-American in 1974-75 and 1975–76 and was named 1976 National Player of the Year. He ranks second on the Notre Dame career scoring list with 2,223 points and holds the school record for free throws made (615) and free throws attempted (769).

Dantley had a stellar collegiate career for the Fighting Irish. As a freshman, he played an important role in one of the biggest games in college basketball history, Notre Dame's stunning 1974 upset to end UCLA's record 88-game winning streak. That UCLA team, coached by the legendary John Wooden, featured Bill Walton, Jamaal Wilkes (then known as Keith Wilkes), and Dave Meyer.

Dantley led Notre Dame in scoring in 1974-75 (30.4 points per game) and 1975–76 (28.6 points per game), while also leading the team in rebounding those two seasons with marks of 10.2 and 10.1 rebounds per game, respectively. He was also the leading scorer on the 1976 US Olympic team that captured the gold medal in Montreal.

NBA[link]

In the 1976 NBA draft Dantley was drafted sixth overall by the Buffalo Braves. He became the third Buffalo player in five years to receive the NBA Rookie of the Year Award when he won it after the 1977 season. Dantley bounced around the league after his rookie campaign. Buffalo traded Dantley to the Indiana Pacers before the 1977-78 NBA season season, making him the first Rookie of the Year in any professional sport to be traded following his rookie season.^{[citation needed]} Indiana traded him after 23 games to the Los Angeles Lakers. He stayed with the Lakers through the following season before being traded again, this time to the Utah Jazz. It was the third time in two years that he had been traded; the Jazz were his fourth team in as many years in the league.

In Utah, Dantley reached his peak establishing his reputation as a prolific scorer, twice leading the league in scoring (in 1981 and 1984). He averaged over 30 points per game each season between 1981 and 1984, though he missed 60 games in 1983 after tearing ligaments in his right wrist. In his seven years with the Jazz, Dantley picked up all six of his All-Star appearances and two All-NBA second-team honors.

Utah traded Dantley to the Detroit Pistons after the 1986 season. Dantley was still an effective scorer but did not get as many shots with Isiah Thomas, Joe Dumars, Vinnie Johnson and Bill Laimbeer all averaging at least 10 points per game. Midway through the 1989 season Detroit traded Dantley to the Dallas Mavericks for Mark Aguirre. Dantley played two more seasons in the NBA before retiring after a 10-game stint with the Milwaukee Bucks in 1991.

Dantley finished his career with an average of 24.3 points per game. He scored his points with a mix of flat-footed mid-range jump shots, high-percentage opportunities close to the basket, and frequent trips to the free throw line. For his career, he shot .540 from the floor — 16th in NBA history — and .818 from the free throw line. He led the league in free throws six times and ranks sixth all-time in that category. He shares the record with Wilt Chamberlain for most free throws made in a regular-season NBA game with 28.

Utah retired Dantley's uniform number (#4) on April 11, 2007.

Dantley enjoyed outstanding success at every level of basketball, including high school, college, Olympics, NBA, and on April 7, 2008, he was elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame, 16 years after he retired.

Coaching[link]

Dantley later worked for the Denver Nuggets as an assistant coach for eight seasons. He briefly served as the team's head coach during the 2009-10 season, filling in for George Karl, who was fighting cancer.^[1]

Personal[link]

His son Cameron Dantley was the starting quarterback for the Syracuse Orange during the 2008 season.

See also[link]

Biography portal

• List of National Basketball Association career scoring leaders
• List of National Basketball Association career turnovers leaders
• List of National Basketball Association career free throw scoring leaders
• List of individual National Basketball Association scoring leaders by season

References[link]

External links[link]

• NBA.com bio
• nba.com historical playerfile
• Basketball-Reference.com: Adrian Dantley
• 1976 Oscar Robertson Trophy USBWA College Player of the Year
• UltimateNBA.com Playerfile: Adrian Dantley

v t e 1976 Olympic Champions Men's Basketball team - United States Ford Sheppard Dantley Davis Buckner Grunfeld Carr May Armstrong LaGarde Hubbard Kupchak Coach: Smith