Robert L. Dandridge Jr. (born November 15, 1947) is an American former professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

player. Nicknamed the "Greyhound", Dandridge was a four-time NBA All-Star and two-time NBA champion, who scored 15,530 points in his career. He was elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2021.

Early years

Born in

Richmond, Virginia (Thus do we reach the stars) , image_map = , mapsize = 250 px , map_caption = Location within Virginia , pushpin_map = Virginia#USA , pushpin_label = Richmond , pushpin_m ...

, he attended Maggie L. Walker High School in Richmond and

Norfolk State University Norfolk State University (NSU) is a public historically black university in Norfolk, Virginia. It is a member of the Thurgood Marshall College Fund and Virginia High-Tech Partnership. History The institution was founded on September 18, 1935 a ...

, teaming up with

Pee Wee Kirkland Richard "Pee Wee" Kirkland (born May 6, 1945) is a former American streetball player and drug kingpin. Career Basketball Born in Manhattan, New York, Kirkland played varsity basketball at Charles Evans Hughes High School in Manhattan, New York, a ...

. His teams had phenomenal years. The Spartans won the CIAA title in 1968 with a 25–2 record; they lost in the second round of the NCAA Division II Men's Tournament. The next year their record was 21–4 and they lost in the first round of the D-II tournament. He was drafted by the

Kentucky Colonels The Kentucky Colonels were a member of the American Basketball Association for all of the league's nine years. The name is derived from the historic Kentucky colonels. The Colonels won the most games and had the highest winning percentage of ...

in the 1969

American Basketball Association The American Basketball Association (ABA) was a major men's professional basketball league from 1967 to 1976. The ABA ceased to exist with the ABA–NBA merger, American Basketball Association–National Basketball Association merger in 1976, ...

draft and by the

Milwaukee Bucks The Milwaukee Bucks are an American professional basketball team based in Milwaukee. The Bucks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division. The team was founded in 1968 ...

in the fourth round of the

1969 NBA draft The 1969 NBA draft was the 23rd annual draft of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The draft was held on April 7 and May 7, 1969, before the 1969–70 season. In this draft, fourteen NBA teams took turns selecting amateur U.S. college bas ...

Basketball career

Dandridge was named to the

NBA All-Rookie Team The NBA All-Rookie Team is an annual National Basketball Association (NBA) honor given since the 1962–63 NBA season to the top rookies during the regular season. Voting is conducted by the NBA head coaches who are not allowed to vote for playe ...

in 1970. In just his second season, Dandridge played an important part on the

team that won the

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United St ...

championship in 1971, averaging 19.2 points, 9.6 rebounds, and 3.4 assists per playoff game, alongside the Hall-of-Fame duo of

Lew Alcindor Lew or LEW may refer to: People * Lew (given name) * Lew (surname) Places * Lew, Oxfordshire, England * River Lew, in Devon, England Transport * LEW Hennigsdorf, a rail vehicle factory in Hennigsdorf, Germany * Lew (locomotive), a British narro ...

(Kareem Abdul-Jabbar) and

Oscar Robertson Oscar Palmer Robertson (born November 24, 1938), nicknamed "the Big O", is an American former professional basketball player who played for the Cincinnati Royals and Milwaukee Bucks in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Robertson played ...

. In Game 3 of that

finals series Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...

, Dandridge led all scorers with 29 points, while also recording 10 rebounds. On January 23, 1976, Dandridge scored a career high 40 points in a 113-97 win over the

Kansas City Kings The Sacramento Kings are an American professional basketball team based in Sacramento, California. The Kings compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Western Conference Pacific Division. The Kings are the oldest ...

. He played a total of 13 seasons in the NBA, nine of them with the Bucks as well as four with the

Washington Bullets The Washington Wizards are an American professional basketball team based in Washington, D.C. The Wizards compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Southeast Division. The team plays ...

, with whom he won an NBA championship in 1978 during his first season with the team, while forming the frontcourt with another future Hall-of-Fame duo:

Elvin Hayes Elvin Ernest Hayes (born November 17, 1945), nicknamed "the Big E", is an American former professional basketball player and radio analyst for his alma-mater Houston Cougars. He is a member of the NBA's 50th and 75th anniversary teams, and a ...

and

Wes Unseld Westley Sissel Unseld Sr. (March 14, 1946June 2, 2020) was an American professional basketball player, coach and executive. He spent his entire National Basketball Association (NBA) career with the Baltimore/Capital/Washington Bullets. Unseld ...

. In Game 2 of the

1978 NBA Finals The 1978 NBA World Championship Series was the championship round of the National Basketball Association (NBA)'s 1977–78 season, and the culmination of the season's playoffs. The series featured the Western Conference champion Seattle SuperS ...

, Dandridge led all scorers with 34 points en route to a Bullets win. His dunk in Game 7 of the 1978 Finals sealed the Bullets championship victory. Dandridge returned to the Bucks for 11 games in 1981, before retiring. In his career, he averaged 18.5 points per game over 839 regular season games and 20 points per game in 98 playoff games and was a four-time NBA all star. Dandridge is usually mentioned as one of the NBA's best forwards in the 1970s. Dandridge scored more points in the NBA Finals in the 1970s than any other player, including Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. He scored a total of 450 points in four

NBA Finals The NBA Finals is the annual championship series of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The Eastern and Western Conference champions play a best-of-seven game series to determine the league champion. The team that wins the series is awa ...

played, playing a total of 23 games, garnering an average of over 19 points a game, most notably scoring 109 points in the

1979 NBA Finals The 1979 NBA World Championship Series was the championship series played at the conclusion of the National Basketball Association (NBA)'s 1978–79 season. The Western Conference champion Seattle SuperSonics played the Eastern Conference champ ...

, which was the most on his Washington Bullets team. In 1992, Dandridge was inducted into the

Virginia Sports Hall of Fame The Virginia Sports Hall of Fame honors athletes, coaches, administrators, journalists and other contributors to athletics. Many of the more than 350 inductees since 1972 were born in Virginia or enjoyed success in college, professional, amateur or ...

. In 2021 Dandridge was elected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.

Retirement

After retiring as a player, Dandridge served as an assistant coach at

Hampton University Hampton University is a private, historically black, research university in Hampton, Virginia. Founded in 1868 as Hampton Agricultural and Industrial School, it was established by Black and White leaders of the American Missionary Association af ...

from 1987 to 1992. Today, he lives in

Norfolk, Virginia Norfolk ( ) is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. Incorporated in 1705, it had a population of 238,005 at the 2020 census, making it the third-most populous city in Virginia after neighboring Virginia Be ...

and conducts basketball clinics.

NBA career statistics

Regular season

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Milwaukee Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at the 2020 census, Milwaukee is ...

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, 79 , , – , , 36.2 , , .509 , , – , , .702 , , 8.0 , , 3.5 , , – , , – , , 18.4 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 80 , , – , , 37.0 , , .498 , , – , , .739 , , 7.7 , , 3.1 , , – , , – , , 18.4 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 73 , , – , , 39.1 , , .472 , , – , , .789 , , 8.2 , , 2.8 , , – , , – , , 20.2 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 71 , , – , , 35.5 , , .503 , , – , , .818 , , 6.7 , , 2.8 , , 1.6 , , 0.6 , , 18.9 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 80 , , – , , 37.9 , , .473 , , – , , .805 , , 6.9 , , 3.0 , , 1.5 , , 0.6 , , 19.9 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 73 , , – , , 37.5 , , .502 , , – , , .824 , , 7.4 , , 2.8 , , 1.5 , , 0.5 , , 21.5 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 70 , , – , , 35.7 , , .467 , , – , , .771 , , 6.3 , , 3.8 , , 1.4 , , 0.4 , , 20.8 , - , style="text-align:left;background:#afe6ba;", † , style="text-align:left;",

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered on ...

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, 78 , , – , , 33.7 , , .499 , , – , , .825 , , 5.7 , , 4.7 , , 0.9 , , 0.7 , , 20.4 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 45 , , – , , 32.4 , , .451 , , .182 , , .809 , , 5.5 , , 4.0 , , 0.6 , , 0.8 , , 17.4 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 23 , , – , , 23.7 , , .426 , , .000 , , .718 , , 3.6 , , 2.6 , , 0.7 , , 0.4 , , 10.0 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 11 , , 0 , , 15.8 , , .382 , , – , , .588 , , 1.5 , , 1.2 , , 0.5 , , 0.2 , , 4.7 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 839 , , – , , 35.2 , , .484 , , .167 , , .780 , , 6.8 , , 3.4 , , 1.3 , , 0.6 , , 18.5 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", All-Star , 4 , , 1 , , 18.5 , , .480 , , – , , .667 , , 3.5 , , 0.5 , , 1.3 , , 0.0 , , 6.5

Playoffs

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1970 Events January * January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC. * January 5 – The 7.1 Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity scale, Mercalli intensity of X (''Extrem ...

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, 10, , –, , 39.9, , .507, , –, , .655, , 8.7, , 5.7, , –, , –, , 16.3 , - , style="text-align:left;background:#afe6ba;",

1971 * The year 1971 had three partial solar eclipses ( February 25, July 22 and August 20) and two total lunar eclipses (February 10, and August 6). The world population increased by 2.1% this year, the highest increase in history. Events Ja ...

† , style="text-align:left;”,

, 14, , –, , 38.2, , .463, , –, , .782, , 9.6, , 3.4, , –, , –, , 19.2 , - , style="text-align:left;",

1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using Solar time, me ...

, style="text-align:left;”,

, 11, , –, , 40.1, , .495, , –, , .740, , 8.8, , 1.9, , –, , –, , 21.5 , - , style="text-align:left;",

1973 Events January * January 1 - The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Denmark enter the European Economic Community, which later becomes the European Union. * January 15 – Vietnam War: Citing progress in peace negotiations, U.S. ...

, style="text-align:left;”,

, 6, , –, , 34.0, , .421, , –, , .704, , 4.7, , 1.2, , –, , –, , 13.8 , - , style="text-align:left;",

1974 Major events in 1974 include the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis and the resignation of United States President Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal. In the Middle East, the aftermath of the 1973 Yom Kippur War determined politics; f ...

, style="text-align:left;”,

, 16, , –, , 40.5, , .493, , –, , .766, , 7.6, , 2.8, , 1.4, , 0.6, , 19.3 , - , style="text-align:left;",

1976 Events January * January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 11 – The 1976 Phila ...

, style="text-align:left;”,

, 3, , –, , 40.7, , .490, , –, , .900, , 7.7, , 2.7, , 1.0, , 0.0, , 22.0 , - , style="text-align:left;background:#afe6ba;",

1978 Events January * January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213. * January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of Republican People's Party, CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd go ...

† , style="text-align:left;”,

, 19, , –, , 39.3, , .479, , –, , .690, , 6.5, , 3.9, , 1.6, , 0.7, , 21.2 , - , style="text-align:left;",

1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the ''International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the ''Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the song ...

, style="text-align:left;”,

, 19, , –, , 41.4, , .473, , –, , .827, , 7.4, , 5.5, , 0.7, , 0.8, , 23.1 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 98 , , – , , 39.6 , , .480 , , – , , .761 , , 7.7 , , 3.7 , , 1.2 , , 0.7 , , 20.1

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Dandridge, Bob 1947 births Living people 20th-century African-American sportspeople 21st-century African-American people African-American basketball players American men's basketball coaches American men's basketball players Basketball coaches from Virginia Basketball players from Richmond, Virginia Hampton Pirates men's basketball coaches Kentucky Colonels draft picks Maggie L. Walker Governor's School for Government and International Studies alumni Milwaukee Bucks draft picks Milwaukee Bucks players National Basketball Association All-Stars National Basketball Association players with retired numbers Norfolk State Spartans men's basketball players Shooting guards Small forwards Washington Bullets players