Walt Davis
Davis at the 1952 Olympics
Personal information
Born(1931-01-05)January 5, 1931
Beaumont, Texas, U.S.
DiedNovember 17, 2020(2020-11-17) (aged 89)
Port Arthur, Texas, U.S.
Listed height6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)
Listed weight205 lb (93 kg)
Career information
High schoolNederland (Nederland, Texas)
CollegeTexas A&M (1949–1952)
NBA draft1952: 2nd round, 13th overall pick
Selected by the Philadelphia Warriors
Playing career1953–1958
PositionPower forward / center
Number12
Career history
1953–1958Philadelphia Warriors
1958St. Louis Hawks
Career highlights and awards
Career statistics
Points1,558 (4.8 ppg)
Rebounds1,397 (4.3 rpg)
Assists231 (0.7 apg)
Stats  at NBA.com
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com
Medals
Athletics
Representing  United States
Gold medal – first place1952 Helsinki High jump

Walter Francis "Buddy" Davis (January 5, 1931 – November 17, 2020) was an American athlete. After winning a gold medal in the high jump at the 1952 Olympics he became a professional basketball player.[1]

Despite contracting polio at age nine and being unable to walk for three years, Davis had a standout athletic career at Texas A&M University and later won Olympic gold in the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki, Finland, with a leap of 2.04 metres (6 ft 8+1⁄4 in).[1]

The Philadelphia Warriors selected the 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) Davis in the second round of the 1952 NBA draft. He spent five seasons with the Warriors and St. Louis Hawks, averaging 4.8 points and 4.3 rebounds per game.[2]

Davis was Inducted into the Texas Sports Hall of Fame in 1964[3] and to the Texas Track and Field Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 2016.

Davis died on November 17, 2020, in Port Arthur, Texas at age 89.[4]

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
 †  Won an NBA championship *  Led the league

NBA

Source[2]

Regular season

Year Team GP MPG FG% FT% RPG APG PPG
1953–54 Philadelphia 6823.1.367.6446.4.95.9
1954–55 Philadelphia 6112.6.385.7293.4.62.9
1955–56† Philadelphia 7015.7.369.6883.9.84.6
1956–57 Philadelphia 6519.2.407.6984.7.86.6
1957–58 Philadelphia 3510.7.341.6672.5.53.0
1957–58† St. Louis 2611.0.357.7763.3.44.9
Career 32516.4.377.6954.3.74.8

Playoffs

Year Team GP MPG FG% FT% RPG APG PPG
1956† Philadelphia 10*6.9.455.5002.8.32.3
1957 Philadelphia 218.5.3081.0007.0.56.0
1958† St. Louis 97.3.379.8333.0.33.6
Career 218.2.391.7733.3.33.2

References

  1. 1 2 Buddy Davis. sports-reference.com
  2. 1 2 "Walt Davis NBA stats". Basketball Reference. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved September 25, 2023.
  3. ↑ Buddy Davis Bio from the Texas Sports Hall of Fame
  4. ↑ Murrell, I. C. (November 17, 2020). "Buddy Davis, Olympic & NBA champ from Nederland, dies at 89". The Port Arthur News. Retrieved November 18, 2020.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.