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Adrian Dantley

Dantley in 2017

Personal information

Born

February 28, 1955 (age 70)
Washington, D.C., U.S.

High school

DeMatha Catholic
(Hyattsville, Maryland)

Listed height

6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)

Listed weight

208 lb (94 kg)

Career information

College

Notre Dame (1973–1976)

NBA Draft

1976 / Round: 1 / Pick: 6th overall

Selected by the Buffalo Braves

Pro career

1976–1992

Coaching career

2003–2011

Career history

As player:

1976–1977

1977

1977–1979

1979–1986

1986–1989

1989–1990

1991

1991–1992

Aresium Milano

As coach:

2003–2011

Denver Nuggets (assistant)

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

Points

23,177 (24.3 ppg)

Rebounds

5,455 (5.7 rpg)

Assists

2,830 (3.0 apg)

Medals

Men's basketball

Representing United States
Olympic Games
Gold	1976 Montreal	Team competition

Adrian Delano Dantley (born February 28, 1955) is an American former professional basketball player and coach. He played for 15 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Adrian Dantley was a six-time NBA All-Star and won the NBA Rookie of the Year Award. He was also a two-time NBA scoring champion. Dantley was added to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2008. He also worked as an assistant coach for the Denver Nuggets from 2003 to 2011.

Early Years in Basketball
College Basketball Career
Professional NBA Career
Adrian Dantley's Playing Style
NBA Career Statistics
- Regular Season
- Playoffs
Honors and Achievements
Coaching Career
Personal Life
See Also

Early Years in Basketball

Adrian Dantley went to DeMatha Catholic High School in Hyattsville, Maryland. There, he played basketball for famous coach Morgan Wootten.

College Basketball Career

Dantley earned a basketball scholarship to the University of Notre Dame. He was named an All-American in both 1975 and 1976. He is second on Notre Dame's all-time scoring list with 2,223 points. He also holds the school record for free throws made.

As a freshman, Dantley helped Notre Dame beat UCLA in 1974. This win ended UCLA's amazing 88-game winning streak! That UCLA team was coached by John Wooden and had stars like Bill Walton.

Dantley was the top scorer for Notre Dame in 1975 and 1976. He also led the team in rebounds during those years. In 1976, he was the top scorer for the US Olympic team. This team won the gold medal in Montreal.

After his junior year, Dantley decided to enter the 1976 NBA draft. He later graduated from Notre Dame in 1978 with a degree in economics.

Professional NBA Career

Starting with the Buffalo Braves

The Buffalo Braves picked Adrian Dantley sixth overall in the 1976 NBA draft. He quickly became a starter and averaged 20.3 points per game. He won the NBA Rookie of the Year Award after his first season in 1977.

In 1977, he was traded to the Indiana Pacers. This made him the first NBA Rookie of the Year to be traded right after his rookie season.

Moving to the Indiana Pacers and Los Angeles Lakers

Dantley played 23 games for the Indiana Pacers in the 1977–78 NBA season. He was scoring 26.6 points per game, which was third best in the league. Later that season, he was traded to the Los Angeles Lakers.

With the Los Angeles Lakers, Dantley was the second-highest scorer, right behind Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. He averaged 19.4 points, 7.2 rebounds, and 3.4 assists. In the 1978–79 NBA season, he played 60 games and was very good at drawing fouls. He led the league in free throws made. In 1979, Dantley was traded to the Utah Jazz.

Shining with the Utah Jazz

Adrian Dantley truly became a superstar with the Utah Jazz. He was known as an amazing scorer. He led the NBA in scoring twice, in 1981 and 1984. From 1981 to 1984, he averaged over 30 points per game each season.

On December 4, 1982, Dantley scored his career-high of 57 points in a game against the Bulls. In 1983, he missed many games due to a wrist injury. But he came back strong and was named the NBA Comeback Player of the Year in 1984. That same year, he scored 46 points in a playoff game.

During his seven years with the Jazz, Dantley was selected for all six of his NBA All-Star appearances. He also earned two All-NBA second-team honors. His time with the Jazz showed how great a scorer he was.

Playing for the Detroit Pistons and Dallas Mavericks

In 1986, Dantley was traded to the Detroit Pistons. He was still a strong scorer, but the Pistons had many other players who could score. He helped the Pistons reach the Eastern Conference Finals in 1987.

In 1989, he was traded to the Dallas Mavericks. He played two seasons with the Mavericks before a broken leg ended his time there.

Final Years in the NBA and Overseas

After leaving the Mavericks, Dantley signed with the Milwaukee Bucks in 1991. He played a few games for them.

In 1991, Adrian Dantley went to Italy to play for the team Breeze Arese. He averaged 26.7 points per game there. He retired from playing basketball in 1992.

Adrian Dantley's Playing Style

Even though Adrian Dantley was listed as a small forward, he often played closer to the basket, like a power forward. He was amazing at scoring points. He would shoot from mid-range or get close to the basket for easy shots. He was also very good at getting to the free throw line.

Dantley finished his NBA career averaging 24.3 points per game. He shot 54% from the field, which is one of the best percentages in NBA history. He also shot 81.8% from the free throw line. He led the league in free throws made six times. He even shares a record with Wilt Chamberlain for making 28 free throws in one game!

Adrian Dantley had a special routine for his free throws: four two-handed dribbles and two spins of the ball. He would also quietly say, "Over the front rim, backspin, follow through."

Interestingly, one of Dantley's legs was shorter than the other by almost two inches. He wore special inserts in his shoes to help with this.

NBA Career Statistics

Legend
GP	Games played	GS	Games started	MPG	Minutes per game
FG%	Field goal percentage	3P%	3-point field goal percentage	FT%	Free throw percentage
RPG	Rebounds per game	APG	Assists per game	SPG	Steals per game
BPG	Blocks per game	PPG	Points per game	Bold	Career high

Regular Season

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

Playoffs

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

Honors and Achievements

Adrian Dantley had great success at every level of basketball. The Utah Jazz honored him by retiring his jersey number (#4) on April 11, 2007.

On April 7, 2008, he was chosen to be part of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. This is a huge honor for basketball players!

Coaching Career

After his playing career, Dantley became a coach. He was an assistant basketball coach at Towson State from 1993 to 1996.

Later, he worked for the Denver Nuggets as an assistant coach for eight seasons. He even briefly became the team's head coach during the 2009–10 NBA season. He filled in for George Karl, who was battling cancer at the time.

Even today, Dantley coaches basketball to young players in Silver Spring, Maryland, in his free time.

Personal Life

Adrian Dantley's son, Cameron Dantley, was a quarterback for the Syracuse Orange football team in 2008.

Dantley also works as a referee for high school and local basketball games. In 2013, it was reported that he also worked as a crossing guard at Eastern Middle School in Silver Spring. He said he "got bored sitting around the house" and wanted to help kids safely cross the street.