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Game state source: whynba · Retrieved Oct 9, 7:43 pm EDTNBA legend. Inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. Biography, honors and career statistics below.
Adrian Dantley
Career at a glance
Adrian Dantley played 15 NBA regular seasons between 1976 and 1991, appearing in 955 games and averaging 24.3 points, 5.7 rebounds and 3.0 assists per game. He played for 7 teams: Buffalo (1976–77, 77 games), Indiana (1977–78, 23 games), L.A. Lakers (1977–79, 116 games), Utah (1979–86, 461 games), Detroit (1986–89, 192 games), Dallas (1988–90, 76 games), Milwaukee (1990–91, 10 games). His best scoring season was 1980–81 with Utah: 30.7 points per game over 80 games.
He rebounded best in 1977–78 at 9.4 per game. The season table marks him as the league leader in scoring twice. In the playoffs he appeared in 7 postseason runs (73 games, 21.3 points per game).
Multiplying each season’s games by its scoring average gives roughly 23,200 regular-season points (an estimate from per-game figures, not an official total). Among the 404 players with at least 200 NBA games profiled on whynba, Dantley ranks No. 22 in points per game.
whynba analysis of the season-by-season statistics below (Wikipedia revision, CC BY-SA 4.0). Totals are estimates from per-game averages.
About Adrian Dantley
Adrian Delano Dantley (born February 26, 1955) nicknamed A.D. 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, holds two-time All-NBA honours, and is a two-time NBA scoring champion. 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. 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. For over 42 years, he shared the NBA single-game record for free throws made.
- Born
- February 26, 1955 (age 71) Washington, D.C., U.S.
- Listed height
- 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)
- Listed weight
- 208 lb (94 kg)
- Position
- Small forward
- High school
- DeMatha Catholic (Hyattsville, Maryland)
- College
- Notre Dame (1973–1976)
- NBA draft
- 1976: 1st round, 6th overall pick
- Playing career
- 1976–1992
Career highlights and awards
- 6× NBA All-Star (1980–1982, 1984–1986)
- 2× All-NBA Second Team (1981, 1984)
- NBA Comeback Player of the Year (1984)
- NBA Rookie of the Year (1977)
- NBA All-Rookie Team (1977)
- 2× NBA scoring champion (1981, 1984)
- No. 4 retired by Utah Jazz
- Oscar Robertson Trophy (1976)
- 2× Consensus first-team All-American (1975, 1976)
- Mr. Basketball USA (1973)
- First-team Parade All-American (1973)
Career statistics
| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1976–77 | Buffalo | 77 | – | 36.6 | .520 | – | .818 | 7.6 | 1.9 | 1.2 | 0.2 | 20.3 |
| 1977–78 | Indiana | 23 | – | 41.2 | .499 | – | .787 | 9.4 | 2.8 | 2.1 | 0.7 | 26.5 |
| 1977–78 | L.A. Lakers | 56 | – | 35.4 | .520 | – | .801 | 7.2 | 3.4 | 1.3 | 0.1 | 19.4 |
| 1978–79 | L.A. Lakers | 60 | – | 29.6 | .510 | – | .854 | 5.7 | 2.3 | 1.1 | 0.2 | 17.3 |
| 1979–80 | Utah | 68 | – | 39.3 | .576 | .000 | .842 | 7.6 | 2.8 | 1.4 | 0.2 | 28.0 |
| 1980–81 | Utah | 80 | – | 42.7* | .559 | .286 | .806 | 6.4 | 4.0 | 1.4 | 0.2 | 30.7* |
| 1981–82 | Utah | 81 | 81 | 39.8 | .570 | .333 | .792 | 6.3 | 4.0 | 1.2 | 0.2 | 30.3 |
| 1982–83 | Utah | 22 | 22 | 40.3 | .580 | – | .847 | 6.4 | 4.8 | 0.9 | 0.0 | 30.7 |
| 1983–84 | Utah | 79 | 79 | 37.8 | .558 | .250 | .859 | 5.7 | 3.9 | 0.8 | 0.1 | 30.6* |
| 1984–85 | Utah | 55 | 46 | 35.8 | .531 | – | .804 | 5.9 | 3.4 | 1.0 | 0.1 | 26.6 |
| 1985–86 | Utah | 76 | 75 | 36.1 | .563 | .091 | .791 | 5.2 | 3.5 | 0.8 | 0.1 | 29.8 |
| 1986–87 | Detroit | 81 | 81 | 33.8 | .534 | .167 | .812 | 4.1 | 2.0 | 0.8 | 0.1 | 21.5 |
| 1987–88 | Detroit | 69 | 50 | 31.1 | .514 | .000 | .860 | 3.3 | 2.5 | 0.6 | 0.1 | 20.0 |
| 1988–89 | Detroit | 42 | 42 | 31.9 | .521 | – | .839 | 3.9 | 2.2 | 0.5 | 0.1 | 18.4 |
| 1988–89 | Dallas | 31 | 25 | 34.9 | .462 | .000 | .776 | 4.9 | 2.5 | 0.6 | 0.2 | 20.3 |
| 1989–90 | Dallas | 45 | 45 | 28.9 | .477 | .000 | .787 | 3.8 | 1.8 | 0.4 | 0.2 | 14.7 |
| 1990–91 | Milwaukee | 10 | 0 | 12.6 | .380 | .333 | .692 | 1.3 | 0.9 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 5.7 |
| Career | 955 | 546 | 35.8 | .540 | .171 | .818 | 5.7 | 3.0 | 1.0 | 0.2 | 24.3 | |
| All-Star | 6 | 5 | 21.7 | .426 | – | .895 | 3.8 | 1.2 | 1.0 | 0.0 | 10.5 |
| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1978 | L.A. Lakers | 3 | – | 34.7 | .571 | – | .647 | 8.3 | 3.7 | 1.7 | 1.0 | 17.0 |
| 1979 | L.A. Lakers | 8 | – | 29.5 | .562 | – | .788 | 4.1 | 1.4 | 0.8 | 0.1 | 17.6 |
| 1984 | Utah | 11 | – | 41.3 | .504 | – | .863 | 7.5 | 4.2 | 0.9 | 0.1 | 32.2 |
| 1985 | Utah | 10 | 10 | 39.8 | .523 | .000 | .779 | 7.5 | 2.0 | 1.6 | 0.0 | 25.3 |
| 1987 | Detroit | 15 | 15 | 33.3 | .539 | – | .775 | 4.5 | 2.3 | 0.9 | 0.0 | 20.5 |
| 1988 | Detroit | 23 | 23 | 35.0 | .524 | .000 | .787 | 4.7 | 2.0 | 0.8 | 0.0 | 19.4 |
| 1991 | Milwaukee | 3 | 0 | 6.3 | .143 | – | .750 | 1.3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1.7 |
| Career | 73 | 48 | 34.5 | .525 | .000 | .796 | 5.4 | 2.3 | 0.9 | 0.1 | 21.3 |
Per-game averages. † won an NBA championship · * led the league · ‡ NBA record (as marked).
Profile observation date unavailable.
- Height
- 6′ 5″
- Weight
- 208 lb
- Position
- Small forward
- Jersey
- Not listed
- Country
- USA
- School / last affiliation
- Not listed
- Draft year
- 1976
- Draft pick
- Round 1 · Pick 6
Height, Weight, Position, Country, Draft year, Draft pick: blank in the NBA.com profile, filled from the Wikipedia infobox credited in the About section above.
Roster observations
These dates show when our saved NBA directory observations listed this player with a team. They are not signing, trade or contract dates, and this is not a complete career history.
No roster observations are stored for this player. Historical profile details above do not establish a current team assignment.
Profile source
Biographical fields reflect the saved official profile at the check time shown above. Team assignments use the dated directory evidence in Roster observations. Offseason rosters and jersey numbers can change.
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