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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.
Paul Westphal
Career at a glance
Paul Westphal played 12 NBA regular seasons between 1972 and 1984, appearing in 823 games and averaging 15.6 points, 1.9 rebounds and 4.4 assists per game. He played for 4 teams: Boston (1972–75, 224 games), Phoenix (6 seasons between 1975 and 1984, 465 games), Seattle (1980–81, 36 games), New York (1981–83, 98 games). His best scoring season was 1977–78 with Phoenix: 25.2 points per game over 80 games.
Championship season: 1973–74 (Boston). Multiplying each season’s games by its scoring average gives roughly 12,800 regular-season points (an estimate from per-game figures, not an official total).
whynba analysis of the season-by-season statistics below (Wikipedia revision, CC BY-SA 4.0). Totals are estimates from per-game averages.
About Paul Westphal
Paul Douglas Westphal (November 30, 1950 – January 2, 2021) was an American basketball player and coach.
Westphal played in the National Basketball Association (NBA) from 1972 to 1984. Playing the guard position, he won an NBA championship with the Boston Celtics in 1974. Westphal played in the NBA Finals again in 1976 as a member of the Phoenix Suns, in a loss to the Celtics. His NBA career also included stints with the Seattle SuperSonics and the New York Knicks. In addition to being a five-time All-Star selection, Westphal earned three All-NBA First Team selections and one Second Team honor.
After his playing career ended, Westphal coached for Southwestern Baptist Bible College (now Arizona Christian University), Grand Canyon University, and Pepperdine University, and served also as head coach of the Phoenix Suns, Seattle SuperSonics, and Sacramento Kings in the NBA. Westphal coached the Suns to the NBA Finals in 1993.
- Born
- November 30, 1950 Torrance, California, U.S.
- Listed height
- 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)
- Listed weight
- 195 lb (88 kg)
- Position
- Shooting guard / point guard
- High school
- Aviation (Redondo Beach, California)
- College
- 159–98 (.619)
- NBA draft
- 1972: 1st round, 10th overall pick
- Playing career
- 1972–1984
Career highlights and awards
- NBA champion (1974)
- 5× NBA All-Star (1977–1981)
- 3× All-NBA First Team (1977, 1979, 1980)
- All-NBA Second Team (1978)
- NBA Comeback Player of the Year (1983)
- No. 44 retired by Phoenix Suns
- Second-team All-American – AP (1971)
- Second-team All-American – NABC (1972)
- Third-team All-American – NABC (1971)
- 2× Third-team All-American – UPI (1971, 1972)
- 2× First-team All-Pac-8 (1970, 1971)
- Second-team All-Pac-8 (1972)
- No. 25 retired by USC Trojans
- National high school player of the year[which?] (1968)
- California Mr. Basketball (1968)
- 2× NBA All-Star Game head coach (1993, 1995)
- NAIA champion (1988)
- WCC regular season champion (2002)
Career statistics
| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1972–73 | Boston | 60 | — | 8.0 | .420 | — | .779 | 1.1 | 1.2 | — | — | 4.1 |
| 1973–74† | Boston | 82 | — | 14.2 | .501 | — | .732 | 1.7 | 2.1 | .5 | .4 | 7.2 |
| 1974–75 | Boston | 82 | — | 19.3 | .510 | — | .763 | 2.0 | 2.9 | 1.0 | .4 | 9.8 |
| 1975–76 | Phoenix | 82 | — | 36.1 | .494 | — | .830 | 3.2 | 5.4 | 2.6 | .5 | 20.5 |
| 1976–77 | Phoenix | 81 | — | 32.1 | .518 | — | .825 | 2.3 | 5.7 | 1.7 | .3 | 21.3 |
| 1977–78 | Phoenix | 80 | — | 31.0 | .516 | — | .813 | 2.1 | 5.5 | 1.7 | .4 | 25.2 |
| 1978–79 | Phoenix | 81 | — | 32.6 | .535 | — | .837 | 2.0 | 6.5 | 1.4 | .3 | 24.0 |
| 1979–80 | Phoenix | 82 | 82 | 32.5 | .525 | .280 | .862 | 2.3 | 5.1 | 1.5 | .4 | 21.9 |
| 1980–81 | Seattle | 36 | — | 29.9 | .442 | .240 | .832 | 1.9 | 4.1 | 1.3 | .4 | 16.7 |
| 1981–82 | New York | 18 | 12 | 25.1 | .443 | .250 | .766 | 1.2 | 5.6 | 1.1 | .4 | 11.7 |
| 1982–83 | New York | 80 | 59 | 24.7 | .459 | .292 | .804 | 1.4 | 5.5 | 1.1 | .2 | 10.0 |
| 1983–84 | Phoenix | 59 | 2 | 14.7 | .460 | .269 | .824 | .7 | 2.5 | .7 | .1 | 7.0 |
| Career | 823 | 155 | 25.5 | .504 | .275 | .820 | 1.9 | 4.4 | 1.3 | .3 | 15.6 | |
| All-Star | 5 | 4 | 25.6 | .632 | .000 | .688 | 1.4 | 4.8 | 1.2 | 1.0 | 19.4 |
Per-game averages. † won an NBA championship · * led the league · ‡ NBA record (as marked).
Profile observation date unavailable.
- Height
- 6′ 4″
- Weight
- 195 lb
- Position
- Shooting guard / point guard
- Jersey
- Not listed
- Country
- USA
- School / last affiliation
- Not listed
- Draft year
- 1972
- Draft pick
- Round 1 · Pick 10
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.
View the official NBA player profile ↗