One of the all-time great free throw shooters,[20] he had a set routine of four two-handed dribbles and two spins of the ball before every free throw. Adrian Delano Dantley was born on February 28, 1955, in Washington, DC. Walt Bellamy got as far as the Western Division finals on two occasions earlier in his career. Bottom Line: Adrian Dantley Adrian Dantley was not always the most popular teammate. Dude even dished three dimes a game out of the forward spot and 3.7 in Utah. During his one and a half decades in the League, he posted an average of 24.3 points while shooting 54.0% from the floor, which puts him in 16th place of the most efficient players in NBA history. ", After Dantley's holdout in Utah ended with a big contract, Layden whined that the star player was getting the fans' sympathy: "Hell, don't feel sorry for Dantley. D. in his prime. Dantley led the NBA in scoring (30.7 ppg) in 1980-81 and again in 1983-84 at 30.6 points per game - with Aguirre right behind him at 29.5 points. Dantley wasnt a winner, many critics charged, and he was selfish, neither playing defense nor running the court. He briefly served as the team's head coach during the 200910 NBA season, filling in for George Karl, who was fighting cancer. Dantley, now 35 years old, left the NBA after the season as the ninth-leading scorer in NBA history with 23,177 points. From 1980-81 through 1985-86 he averaged between 26.6 and 30.7 points, including four straight seasons over 30. Lynne asked what I was interested in and presented me with a great selection of Tigers caps and T-shirts. One of the most unstoppable post players in the history of basketball stood a mere 6'5 on a good day in an extra thick pair of high knee socks. He's a crossing guard. Dantleys charges caught the Pistons off guard, primarily because of the timing. He became a free agent after the 1989-90 season and shopped himself around. True, some of the best players need only to look in the mirror to understand why theres no championship bling in their vaults. Dantley didnt stay in the Hoosier State long after 23 games he was sent to the Los Angeles Lakers with Dave Robisch for center James Edwards and Earl Tatum. It was during his time in Utah (1979-86) where Dantley earned six out of his seven career NBA All-Star performances. Born: February 28, 1955 in Washington, District of Columbia us College: Notre Dame High School: DeMatha Catholic in Hyattsville, Maryland Draft: Buffalo Braves, 1st round (6th pick, 6th overall), 1976 NBA Draft I never should have underestimated you, he later said to Dantley. Born Feb. 28, 1956. Adrian Dantley, traded that day to Dallas in a deal that brought Mark Aguirre to Detroit, was talking again about being hurt, and Thomas, one of Aguirres closest friends, was cast again as the bad guy. Charles Barkley's 4.6 win shares were the most that postseason. . With the OPEN sign light I though well came all this way just aswell give it a try and am I glad I did. Then, the 1974-75 and 1975-76 All-American got a unique chance to display his offensive potential on the global level by leading the 1976 U.S. Olympic basketball team to a gold medal at the 1976 Montreal Olympics. Hell eat you alive. Teams: Oklahoma City Thunder, Houston Rockets, Brooklyn Nets. He was canned after the 2010-2011 season for refusing to sit in a row of seats behind the players, as head coach George Karl had asked his aides to do. Dantleys many basketball accomplishments include a gold medal at the 1976 Olympics, the NBA Rookie of the Year Award, and two NBA scoring titles. The qualifiers: Players with ABA titles arent eligible. No doubt Thomas hoped the words would carry to Washington, just as his actions on the court have carried to Detroit. Thats the bottom line.. For the Indiana Pacers, he appeared in 23 games during the 1977-78 season. and the championship ring that Dantley wanted so badly had eluded him for the second time. Remember that image of "Deke" on the floor, ball clutched in his monstrous hands after the Nuggets shocked the Seattle SuperSonics in the 1994 Western Conference playoffs? On September 1, 1977, he was traded to the Indiana Pacers along with forward Mike Bantom, in exchange for shooting guard Billy Knight, who was the league's secondbest scorer during the 197677 NBA season. [2], Dantley later worked for the Denver Nuggets as an assistant coach for eight seasons. Thank you so much, I can't wait to wear my jersey to a Wings game! Day after day, Adrian Dantley hangs out on a street corner in his hometown, like some clich of a pitiful ex-ballplayer years after his athletic prime. During his time with the Pistons, the 6-time All-Star was a 2-time champion and was named Finals MVP in 1989, to go along with 5 All-Defense and 3 All-NBA . Dave McKenna is a writer in Washington D.C. Sports News Without Fear, Favor or Compromise. There were some bumps on the way to the bank. Friends of Dantley are amused that he's taken a position that pays him less than 1/350th of the average annual income of an NBA player. Although his present occupation is rather surprising since being fired following the 2010-2011 season after serving eight years as an assistant coach of the Denver Nuggets where he briefly was the acting head coach in 2010, Adrian Dantley has had more than one major surprise of his own. Age: 29 32. Teams: Atlanta Hawks, Los Angeles Clippers, Boston Celtics, San Antonio Spurs, Orlando Magic. The litigants settled the case just before trial, and while the details of the deal were to remain confidential, rumor around D.C. has always been that Falk's side gave Dantley's people every penny they'd asked for to avoid having the agent's business methods aired in public. The trade resolved a problem that had been . The small forward matchup was pivotal in the 108-105 clincher James Worthy went off for an epic 36/16/10 triple-double, while Dantley had 16 points and five rebounds. The more versatile Jazz won in five games, then lost in the next round to the Phoenix Suns. As i pulled in I quickly understood this was a warehouse & office thinking this is a internet retailer. I wouldn't call Dantley as "underrated" but rather just someone who is typically forgotten about, but shouldn't be, for he was one of the best scorers of early 1980s. Teams: New Orleans-Oklahoma City Hornets, Los Angeles Clippers, Houston Rockets, Oklahoma City Thunder, Phoenix Suns. In 1984, Dantley recorded his postseason career high in single game scoring, 46 points in a Western Conference Semifinals Game 5 win over the Suns. He spoke with conviction and honesty, sometimes at the expense of diplomacy. It was as if the gods wanted me to know Dantley's not on anybody's dole. He also left the league ranked fifth on the NBAs all-time list for free throws made (6,832) and his career scoring average (24.3 ppg) ranks among the best ever. Legends profile: Adrian Dantley. He practiced obsessively, even on Christmas Day, when he would pick up the gym key from coach Wootens house. Sure enough, his best postseason moment came in a loss against the New York Knicks in the 1971 Eastern Division semis, when he played ex-teammate Willis Reed to a virtual draw. [15], By starting the season with the 198889 Pistons, he is considered to be part of one of the top 10 teams in NBA history. Too many times the inability to win the big one comes down to a bad bounce, a bad call, a bad matchup, bad health or just plain bad luck. Derrick Coleman and Kenny Anderson faded as fast as they rose to NBA prominence. Adrian Dantley was a talented scorer who led the NBA in scoring in both 1980-81 (30.7 points per game) and 1983-84 (30.6 points per game). Oh, and K.C. Dominique Wilkins did leave us with one of the memorable Game 7 performances in playoff history, though, a 47-point staredown with Larry Bird and the Boston Celtics in the 1988 Eastern Conference semis. [20], Dantley was an assistant basketball coach at then-Towson State from August 1993 to 1996. Teams: Denver Nuggets, Seattle SuperSonics. Meanwhile, he watched as his former team, the Lakers, rode a rookie named Magic Johnson to the 1980 NBA championship. But his Suns went down in six games. Career Average of 24.3 ppg - good for 18th all time in NBA history (likely will be 16th after current players get old and regress) - Dantley is the only player in the top 25 for ppg to not be named to the NBA's top 75 list. Dismiss, Copyright 2022 Vintage Detroit Collection, Spinnaker Center, 44692 Helm St, Plymouth. Others, especially Dantley, felt that point guard Isiah Thomas had a major role in engineering the trade under the theory that he wanted his childhood friend Mark Aguirre to have an opportunity to capture a championship ring, an accusation that Thomas and McCloskey have denied. (He paused). After a heated argument at . [citation needed] On February 15, 1989, midway through the season he was traded to the Dallas Mavericks along with a 1991 first round draft pick (#19-LaBradford Smith), in exchange for Mark Aguirre, due to what Dantley maintained were conflicts with Thomas, but also reflected Dantley's clashes with head coach Chuck Daly and general manager Jack McCloskey over his demand for a focal point role on offense and more minutes than Dennis Rodman.[16]. Stopped by Wed morning 7/6 and had the pleasure of dealing directly with Lynne. He played for Morgan Wootten at DeMatha Catholic High School. The Pistons went on to win the 1989 and 1990 NBA Championship titles. 15-year playing career, with his longest stint spent in a Utah Jazz . Turns out that NBA veterans aren't provided health insurance by the league, not even all-timers like Dantley. Dantley led Notre Dame in scoring in 197475 (30.4 points per game) and 197576 (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. His hopes for settling in with Buffalo were dashed, however, when the Braves traded him with Mike Bantom to the Indiana Pacers after the season for Billy Knight. Excited to work with Vintage Detroit on future orders. If memory serves me right, he was traded for Mark Aguire midway through the season so he felt he earned the ring. He is the son of Virginia Dantley. It seemed that as one of that legendary teams stars, Adrian Dantley would get another shot at a title in 1989. After seeing what a skilled but undersized forward can do in players such as Norm Nixon and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in a total of 116 games, even the Lakers decided not to put a hold on Dantleys journey. The eventual league champs won in five games each time. Rivers made both free throws, cutting the Lakers deficit to 113-110 and giving them a chance to send the game into overtime with a three-point basket. As the NBA celebrates it's 75th Anniversary Season, get to know dozens of star players who helped make the NBA what it is today. The Pistons went on to win the 1989 and 1990 NBA Championship titles. A few weeks after the trade, Dantley and the Mavericks came to the Palace to face the Pistons. Some of the greatest basketball players fell short of the ultimate goal. That UCLA team, coached by John Wooden, featured Bill Walton, Jamaal Wilkes (then known as Keith Wilkes), and Dave Meyers. Dantley was selected to play in 6 All-Star Games and was elected to the Hall of Fame in 2008. Dantley's first contract, for five years, totaled $650,000; Dantley's second contract, also for five years, totaled $2 million. "I said it better be fine because I'm not going to spend much, sacrifice for later down the road. Dantley attended DeMatha Catholic High School in Hyattsville, Maryland, where he played under Hall of Fame coach Morgan Wootten and assistant Terry Truax.[2]. Had Dantley actually been invited to that Biblical meal, chances are good he would have brown-bagged it: According to a Washington Post profile written after he retired, Dantley kept food per diems in his pocket. 5,455 rebounds, totaling 5.7 per contest. He was able to amass 26.6 points on average. Reply In James Harden's one trip to the title round, the Thunder lost to the Heat in five games, and the one-time league MVP averaged 12.4 points on 37.5 percent in the field off the bench. In 1977, he was traded to the Indiana Pacers. He had a 36-game winning streak and a 57-2 overall record during his high school . That was as close as George Gervin would get to the NBA Finals in his Hall of Fame career. Then it all went pfft against the Los Angeles Lakers, who won the next four games. They lost both series closely - by 3-4. That year, in his first of six trips to the NBA All-Star Game, Dantley led the West squad with 23 points. MARK AGUIRRE. While Dantley always thrived in traffic, he wasn't any good at playing well with others. did adrian dantley get a championship ring. The biggest surprise was that it took so many years for Dantley to finally be elected to the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame. David Thompson got as far as the 1978 Western Conference finals, where the SuperSonics eliminated the Nuggets in six games. He also has the highest TS% ever of 61.7%. This past Friday, Deadspin first reported that former Piston and NBA Hall of Famer Adrian Dantley now works as a $14,000 a year crossing guard at a middle school near his home in Silver Springs, Maryland. For each season between 1981 and 1984, he averaged more than 30 points a game. About Us He was my mentor. He eventually graduated from Notre Dame with a degree in economics in August 1978.[3]. I put the location into google maps off I went. Does Adrian Dantley have a ring? Dantley put the Pistons over the top and they beat the 88' Lakers except for the bad call in Game 7. But I did.. And then Thomas defended himself for the umpteenth time. Based on career achievements, statistics and metrics, these are the 25 greatest NBA players without a league championship on their resumes. How does Dantley get away with that stuff? I always joke with guys whove doubted me. And I was happy they won those championships.. But with the retired Jordan out of the way, at least for a while, Patrick Ewing got within one win of an elusive league title against the Houston Rockets in the 1994 championship round. Isaiah Thomas DID trade Adrian Dantley in favor of his childhood friend Mark Aguirre who was one HUGE head case!!! He was bounced out of Utah after the 1985-1986 season following an awful negotiation with Jazz brass. If The Teacher was hacked on a play, either on the wing or in the paint, he was a sure bet to knock down both shots from the charity stripe. After 12 years of banging bodies and twisting to the basket and spinning the ball methodically as he stands at the foul line, this final chase to glory has become a hornet in Dantley's stomach. From witches to pirates, predators to gods, the House of Mouse likes to make issues as arduous as []. But there's still no reason to feel sorry for him. Adrian Dantley tried to campaign for a ring after the Pistons traded him to the Mavs for Mark Aguirre - he was THE man on that team, got traded in February, Pistons go on to win the title. Their point guard, with the biblical name and angelic face, suddenly was being fitted for a championship ring and a villains outfit at the same time. Magic Johnson amazed basketball fans with his court vision and swagger, all while leading the Lakers to new heights. However, he did manage eight All-Star selections and was part of one of t . The former Notre Dame star was traded by . But Dantley's neither a . Already as a promising freshman at the University of Notre Dame, the 65 tall Dantley took part in one of the biggest games in all of NCAA basketball history. Chris Mullin played 12 minutes against the Los Angeles Lakers in the six-game series. His teacher, Morgan Wooten, who was also Dantleys basketball coach, suspected that young Adrian had cheated. In Dantley's second year, the Pistons lost to the Lakers in a heartbreaking Game 7 defeat in the Finals. Adrian Dantley (Buffalo Braves 1976-77, Pacers 1977, Lakers 1977-79, Jazz 1979-86, Pistons 1986-89, Mavericks 1989-90, Bucks 1990-91) Accolades: 1976-77 Rookie of the Year, 6X All-Star, 2X All-NBA, 2X scoring champ. To this day, Dantley remains one of the most unique and underrated . C onsidered one of the best small forwards in NBA history, Dantley played parts of two seasons in Los Angeles, treating fans to the skills that would eventually make him a six-time All-Star and a future basketball Hall of Fame inductee. Dantley was knocked unconscious while diving for a loose ball in Game 7 of the 1987 Eastern Conference Finals. By averaging 20.3 points, he became a small forward starter. There had to be something wrong for them (the Pistons) to trade him. ADRIAN DANTLEY. A scholastic All-America player at DeMatha Catholic High School (Md. 0 Comments. Your Account; Logout; Login; Create Account; Join us for a March Madness Webinar on Tuesday, March 7 at 8pm ET. During the 1980 NBA All-Star Game, Dantley was the first Utah Jazz player (since the team moved from New Orleans) to play in an All-Star game, and led the West in scoring with 23 points during a 144136 loss. The average score per game in that 1985 series was 120.4-112.7 in favor of Boston. 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