Adrian Dantley

Adrian Delano Dantley (born February 28, 1955) is an American former professional basketball player and coach who played 15 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA).

Dantley is a six-time NBA All-Star, a two-time All-NBA selection and a two-time NBA scoring champion.

He was a consensus first-team All-American in 1974–75 and 1975–76.

He ranks second on Notre Dame's 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 1974 upset to end UCLA's record 88-game winning streak.

That UCLA team, coached by John Wooden, featured Bill Walton, Jamaal Wilkes (then known as Keith Wilkes), and Dave Meyers.

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.

Dantley declared for the 1976 NBA draft after his junior season at Notre Dame.

Dantley was selected by the Buffalo Braves sixth overall of the 1976 NBA draft.

He was named a starter at small forward, averaging 20.3 points per game and 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.

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 second‐best scorer during the 1976–77 NBA season.

Dantley was the first NBA Rookie of the Year to be traded following his rookie season.

In the 1977–78 NBA season, he appeared in 23 games and ranked third in the league in scoring with a 26.6 average.

On December 13, 1977, with the Pacers needing a bigger presence at center, he was traded along with undersized center Dave Robisch to the Los Angeles Lakers, in exchange for center James Edwards, shooting guard Earl Tatum and cash considerations.

In the 1977–78 season, he appeared in 56 games at small forward, finishing second in team scoring behind Kareem Abdul-Jabbar with an average of 19.4 points, to go along with 7.2 rebounds and 3.4 assists per contest.

He eventually graduated from Notre Dame with a degree in economics in August 1978.

In the 1978–79 season, he was hampered by injuries, allowing small forward Jamaal Wilkes to showcase his skills.

Dantley still managed to play in 60 games, averaging 17.3 points, 5.7 rebounds and 2.3 assists.

He also displayed an uncanny knack for drawing fouls, leading the league in free throws made with 541 out of 680 attempts.

On September 13, 1979, the team gambled on the talents of the 26-year-old Wilkes, trading the 23-year-old Dantley to the Utah Jazz before the start of the Lakers' championship season, in exchange for the 31-year-old power forward Spencer Haywood.

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 144–136 loss.

The total would also be the highest amount Dantley would score in his six All-Star games.

Dantley's 1980–1984 seasons include two of the top three and four of the top seven spots in true shooting percentage for players averaging at least 30 points per game.

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, during which he achieved his single game scoring record: 57 points in a 131–124 win over the Bulls on December 4, 1982.

Dantley missed 60 games in 1983 after tearing ligaments in his right wrist.

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.

However, the Jazz would go on to lose the series.

That offseason, he was named the NBA Comeback Player of the Year.

In his seven years with the Jazz, Dantley picked up all six of his All-Star appearances and two All-NBA second-team honors.

By 1985, Dantley's relationship with head coach Frank Layden began to deteriorate.

Dantley would be forced to miss the entire first round of the 1986 NBA Playoffs due to muscle spasms in his lower back to Layden's dismay, causing him to look for trade destinations for Dantley.

In his absence, the Jazz would lose in 4 games to the Dallas Mavericks.

He served as an assistant coach for the Denver Nuggets of the NBA from 2003 to 2011.

He played college basketball for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish.

Dantley attended DeMatha Catholic High School in Hyattsville, Maryland, where he played under Hall of Fame coach Morgan Wootten and assistant Terry Truax.

Dantley accepted a basketball scholarship from the University of Notre Dame.

Dantley finished ninth on the all-time NBA scoring list at the time of his retirement and was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2008.