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Game state source: whynba · Retrieved Oct 9, 5:36 pm EDTNBA legend. Inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. Biography, honors and career statistics below.
Mel Daniels
Career at a glance
Mel Daniels played 9 professional regular seasons (8 in the ABA, 1 in the NBA) between 1967 and 1977, appearing in 639 games and averaging 18.4 points, 14.9 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game. He played for 4 teams: Minnesota (ABA) (1967–68, 78 games), Indiana (ABA) (1968–74, 479 games), Memphis (ABA) (1974–75, 71 games), New York (1976–77, 11 games). His best scoring season was 1968–69 with Indiana (ABA): 24.0 points per game over 76 games.
He rebounded best in 1970–71 at 18.0 per game. The season table marks him as the league leader in rebounding 3 times. Championship seasons: 1969–70 (Indiana (ABA)), 1971–72 (Indiana (ABA)), 1972–73 (Indiana (ABA)).
In the playoffs he appeared in 8 postseason runs (109 games, 17.4 points per game). Multiplying each season’s games by its scoring average gives roughly 11,800 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, Daniels ranks No. 6 in rebounds 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 Mel Daniels
Melvin Joe Daniels (July 20, 1944 – October 30, 2015) was an American professional basketball player. He played in the American Basketball Association (ABA) for the Minnesota Muskies, Indiana Pacers, and Memphis Sounds, and in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for the New York Nets. One of the greatest players in ABA history, Daniels was a two-time ABA Most Valuable Player, three-time ABA Champion and a seven-time ABA All-Star. Daniels was the All-time ABA rebounding leader, and in 1997, he was named a unanimous selection to the ABA All-Time Team. Daniels was enshrined into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2012.
- Born
- July 20, 1944 Detroit, Michigan, U.S.
- Listed height
- 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)
- Listed weight
- 220 lb (100 kg)
- Position
- Center
- High school
- John J. Pershing (Detroit, Michigan)
- College
- Southeastern CC (1963–1964) New Mexico (1964–1967)
- NBA draft
- 1967: 1st round, 9th overall pick
- Playing career
- 1967–1976
Career highlights and awards
- 3× ABA champion (1970, 1972, 1973)
- 2× ABA MVP (1969, 1971)
- 7× ABA All-Star (1968–1974)
- ABA All-Star Game MVP (1969)
- 4× All-ABA First Team (1968–1971)
- All-ABA Second Team (1973)
- ABA Rookie of the Year (1968)
- ABA All-Rookie First Team (1968)
- 3× ABA rebounding champion (1968, 1969, 1971)
- ABA All-Time Team
- No. 34 retired by Indiana Pacers
- Consensus second-team All-American (1967)
- 2× First-team All-WAC (1966, 1967)
Career statistics
| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1967–68 | Minnesota (ABA) | 78 | – | 37.7 | .408 | .200 | .575 | 15.6* | 1.4 | – | – | 22.2 |
| 1968–69 | Indiana (ABA) | 76 | – | 38.6 | .476 | .000 | .604 | 16.5* | 1.5 | – | – | 24.0 |
| 1969–70† | Indiana (ABA) | 83 | – | 36.6 | .473 | .000 | .675 | 17.6 | 1.6 | – | – | 18.7 |
| 1970–71 | Indiana (ABA) | 82 | – | 38.7 | .514 | .077 | .679 | 18.0* | 2.2 | – | – | 21.0 |
| 1971–72† | Indiana (ABA) | 79 | – | 37.6 | .505 | .000 | .703 | 16.4 | 2.2 | – | – | 19.2 |
| 1972–73† | Indiana (ABA) | 81 | – | 38.3 | .482 | .250 | .722 | 15.4 | 2.2 | – | 1.9 | 18.5 |
| 1973–74 | Indiana (ABA) | 78 | – | 32.6 | .440 | – | .756 | 11.6 | 1.6 | 0.7 | 1.2 | 15.4 |
| 1974–75 | Memphis (ABA) | 71 | – | 23.2 | .450 | – | .634 | 9.0 | 1.8 | 0.6 | 1.4 | 9.8 |
| 1976–77 | New York | 11 | – | 11.5 | .371 | – | .565 | 3.1 | 0.5 | 0.3 | 1.0 | 3.5 |
| Career | 639 | – | 35.2 | .468 | .088 | .657 | 14.9 | 1.8 | 0.6 | 1.5 | 18.4 |
| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1968 | Minnesota (ABA) | 10 | – | 40.9 | .434 | – | .606 | 16.1 | 1.9 | – | – | 25.3 |
| 1969 | Indiana (ABA) | 17 | – | 33.5 | .422 | .000 | .608 | 13.9 | 1.3 | – | – | 19.6 |
| 1970† | Indiana (ABA) | 15 | – | 35.5 | .444 | .000 | .667 | 17.7 | 1.0 | – | – | 19.3 |
| 1971 | Indiana (ABA) | 11 | – | 41.5 | .485 | – | .746 | 19.2 | 1.5 | – | – | 21.4 |
| 1972† | Indiana (ABA) | 20 | – | 37.2 | .480 | .000 | .753 | 15.1 | 1.4 | – | – | 15.3 |
| 1973† | Indiana (ABA) | 18 | – | 35.3 | .471 | – | .765 | 13.8 | 2.2 | – | – | 15.9 |
| 1974 | Indiana (ABA) | 14 | – | 35.6 | .401 | – | .767 | 11.4 | 1.9 | 0.8 | 1.0 | 12.2 |
| 1975 | Memphis (ABA) | 4 | – | 13.5 | .500 | – | .556 | 6.0 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 1.5 | 6.8 |
| Career | 109 | – | 35.8 | .449 | .000 | .683 | 14.8 | 1.5 | 0.7 | 1.1 | 17.4 |
| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1964–65 | New Mexico | 27 | – | – | .486 | – | .610 | 11.2 | – | – | – | 17.3 |
| 1965–66 | New Mexico | 23 | – | – | .485 | – | .738 | 10.3 | – | – | – | 21.3 |
| 1966–67 | New Mexico | 27 | – | – | .481 | – | .686 | 11.6 | – | – | – | 21.5 |
Per-game averages. † won an ABA or NBA championship · * led the league · ‡ league record (as marked).
Profile observation date unavailable.
- Height
- 6′ 9″
- Weight
- 220 lb
- Position
- Center
- Jersey
- Not listed
- Country
- USA
- School / last affiliation
- Not listed
- Draft year
- 1967
- Draft pick
- Round 1 · Pick 9
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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