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]
 Davis at the 1952 Olympics | ||||||||||||
| Personal information | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Born | January 5, 1931 Beaumont, Texas, U.S. | |||||||||||
| Died | November 17, 2020 (aged 89) Port Arthur, Texas, U.S. | |||||||||||
| Listed height | 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) | |||||||||||
| Listed weight | 205 lb (93 kg) | |||||||||||
| Career information | ||||||||||||
| High school | Nederland (Nederland, Texas) | |||||||||||
| College | Texas A&M (1949–1952) | |||||||||||
| NBA draft | 1952: 2nd round, 13th overall pick | |||||||||||
| Selected by the Philadelphia Warriors | ||||||||||||
| Playing career | 1953–1958 | |||||||||||
| Position | Power forward / center | |||||||||||
| Number | 12 | |||||||||||
| Career history | ||||||||||||
| 1953–1958 | Philadelphia Warriors | |||||||||||
| 1958 | St. Louis Hawks | |||||||||||
| Career highlights and awards | ||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||
| Career statistics | ||||||||||||
| Points | 1,558 (4.8 ppg) | |||||||||||
| Rebounds | 1,397 (4.3 rpg) | |||||||||||
| Assists | 231 (0.7 apg) | |||||||||||
| Stats at NBA.com | ||||||||||||
| Stats at Basketball Reference | ||||||||||||
Medals
| ||||||||||||
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
edit| 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
editSource[2]
Regular season
edit| Year | Team | GP | MPG | FG% | FT% | RPG | APG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1953–54 | Philadelphia | 68 | 23.1 | .367 | .644 | 6.4 | .9 | 5.9 |
| 1954–55 | Philadelphia | 61 | 12.6 | .385 | .729 | 3.4 | .6 | 2.9 |
| 1955–56† | Philadelphia | 70 | 15.7 | .369 | .688 | 3.9 | .8 | 4.6 |
| 1956–57 | Philadelphia | 65 | 19.2 | .407 | .698 | 4.7 | .8 | 6.6 |
| 1957–58 | Philadelphia | 35 | 10.7 | .341 | .667 | 2.5 | .5 | 3.0 |
| 1957–58† | St. Louis | 26 | 11.0 | .357 | .776 | 3.3 | .4 | 4.9 |
| Career | 325 | 16.4 | .377 | .695 | 4.3 | .7 | 4.8 | |
Playoffs
edit| Year | Team | GP | MPG | FG% | FT% | RPG | APG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1956† | Philadelphia | 10* | 6.9 | .455 | .500 | 2.8 | .3 | 2.3 |
| 1957 | Philadelphia | 2 | 18.5 | .308 | 1.000 | 7.0 | .5 | 6.0 |
| 1958† | St. Louis | 9 | 7.3 | .379 | .833 | 3.0 | .3 | 3.6 |
| Career | 21 | 8.2 | .391 | .773 | 3.3 | .3 | 3.2 | |
References
edit
- ^ a b Buddy Davis. sports-reference.com
- ^ a b "Walt Davis NBA stats". Basketball Reference. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved September 25, 2023.
- ^ Buddy Davis Bio from the Texas Sports Hall of Fame
- ^ Murrell, I. C. (November 17, 2020). "Buddy Davis, Olympic & NBA champ from Nederland, dies at 89". The Port Arthur News. Retrieved November 18, 2020.