24.3 PPG, 5.7 RPG, 3.0 APG, 54 FG%, 82 FT%
“Anyone wanting to get a line on Adrian Dantley the basketball star need only look at his career statistics: 23,177 points, ninth on the NBA career scoring list at time of retirement; a .540 field-goal percentage, one of the highest ever recorded by an NBA noncenter; and 30-plus points per game for four straight seasons. He was a smart, fundamentally sound player who relied on both strength and finesse.
Anyone wanting to understand Adrian Dantley the man should hear an often-told story from his youth that was recounted in the Dallas Morning News. While in ninth grade, Dantley got a 99 on a history test; no other student scored above 80. His teacher, Morgan Wooten, who was also Dantley’s basketball coach, suspected that young Adrian had cheated. So he stood Dantley up and made him answer questions in front of the class. Dantley got them all right, stunning Wooten. “I never should have underestimated you,” he later said to Dantley.
For all that was known of Dantley the deadeye shooter and high-intensity competitor, Dantley the man confused and often confounded coaches, players, and fans during a stellar, if highly unusual, NBA career. His motives were often misunderstood and his intentions misread.
On the court, the athletic Dantley was as smooth an outside shooter as could be, a force on the inside with an explosive first step, and a master of psychology. Sometimes he intentionally allowed his first shot of the game to be blocked, and then, for the rest of the night, he used his patented head fake to burn his defender. Dantley also lured opponents into unsuccessful steal attempts by dribbling the ball very high. Off the court, Dantley chose his words carefully. He spoke with conviction and honesty, sometimes at the expense of diplomacy.
Dantley’s many basketball accomplishments include a gold medal at the 1976 Olympics, the NBA Rookie of the Year Award, and two NBA scoring titles. He played for seven different teams during his 15-year playing career, with his longest stint spent in a Utah Jazz uniform. Regrettably, his teams never won an NBA Championship.” [Read]
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[Sources: NBA.com, YouTube, Basketball-Reference.com]
August 30th, 2008 at 4:35 pm
One of the best small forwards of all-time, I’m desagree whith his no-mention for the all-time 50 best in 1997.