Adrian Dantley
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Adrian Delano Dantley (born February 28, 1956 in Washington, D.C.) is a former basketball small forward who played 15 seasons in the NBA, many of which were played as a member of the Utah Jazz where he amassed the bulk of his legendary numbers.
Playing career
Dantley attended basketball powerhouse DeMatha Catholic High School in Hyattsville, MD where he played under legendary basketball coach Morgan Wootten.Dantley was a forward at Notre Dame from 1973-76. He was a consensus first team All-American in ‘74-75 and '75-76 and was named 1976 National Player of the Year. He ranks second on the Notre Dame career scoring list with 2,223 points and holds the school record for free throws made (615) and free throws attempted (769).
Future Hall-of-Famer 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 stunning 1973 upset to end UCLA's incredible eighty-eight game win streak. That UCLA team, coached by the legendary John Wooden, featured Bill Walton, Jamaal (then Keith) Wilkes, and Dave Meyer.
Dantley led Notre Dame in scoring in '74-75 (30.4 ppg) and '75-76 (28.6 ppg), while also leading the team in rebounding those two seasons with marks of 10.2 and 10.1 rpg, respectively. He was also a member of the 1976 US Olympic team that captured the gold medal in Montreal and was drafted sixth overall, by Buffalo, in the 1976 NBA draft. He became the 3rd Buffalo Brave to recieve the NBA Rookie of the Year Award during the 1976-77 season.
In the NBA, he built a reputation as a precise scorer, averaging 24.3 points per game through his career while shooting .540 from the floor and .818 from the free throw line. He led the league in scoring twice (in 1981 and 1984) and was selected to 6 All-Star Games.
Perhaps even more impressively, most of his points were scored in the paint, although Dantley stood only 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m), and did not have tremendous speed, overpowering physical strength, nor leaping ability. However, he did possess great marksmanship and tenacity. Dantley is considered the greatest 3-point shooter from 3 feet away from the basket, in that he would purposely wait for the defender to foul him while he made tough inside shots and then steadfastly complete the free throw.
Hall of Fame controversy
Despite all his achievements, Dantley has yet to be elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame. Some analysts cite five factors in an attempt to explain his failure to be elected:- Dantley never won an NBA title. The Detroit Pistons traded him to the Dallas Mavericks for Mark Aguirre, five months before the Pistons won the title in June 1989.
- Dantley was resented by Isiah Thomas because Dantley became the leading scorer for the Pistons as soon as he arrived. Thomas wasn't used to sharing the scoring limelight and took it out on Dantley while they were making their championship run. Thomas, who was close with the owner of the Pistons, factored into the Pistons' trading away of Dantley traded in return for Mark Aguirre, a long time friend of Thomas'.
- Dantley played for a total of seven NBA franchises and could not be easily identified with one team in particular (which may be unfair since he played for 6 years with the Utah Jazz).
- Dantley was a scoring forward in an era (the 1980s) where this kind of player was abundant (ex. James Worthy, Dominique Wilkins, Bernard King, Alex English)
Retiring no. 4?
For years, many supporters of the Jazz have asked owner Larry Miller to retire the number 4 that Dantley wore in Utah, as he is generally considered as the first all-star of the franchise. So far, Miller has yet to formally retire Dantley's number. The Jazz, however, unofficially retired Dantley's number, as they did not allow Carlos Boozer to wear the jersey, which Boozer wore while playing for Duke University and his former NBA team, the Cleveland Cavaliers.See also
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