Chadwick Oliver Kinch ( – ) was an American professional basketball player. He was a 6'4" (1.93 m) 190 lb (86 kg)

shooting guard The shooting guard (SG), also known as the two, two guard or off guard,Shooting guards are 6'3"–6'7"BBC Sports academy URL last accessed 2006-09-09. is one of the five traditional positions in a regulation basketball game. A shooting guard's m ...

and played collegiately at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte after starring at Perth Amboy High School in Perth Amboy, New Jersey,Staff
Chad Kinch, 35, Ex-Basketball Star
'' The New York Times'', April 8, 1994. Accessed February 28, 2011. "CARTERET, N.J., April 7— Chad Kinch, a former basketball star at Perth Amboy High School in New Jersey and the Cleveland Cavaliers' No. 1 draft choice in 1980, died at home on Sunday. He was 35." his place of birth. He was selected with the 22nd pick in the first round of the

1980 NBA draft The 1980 NBA draft was the 34th annual draft of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The draft was held on June 10, 1980, at the Sheraton Centre Hotel & Towers, before the 1980–81 season. In this draft, 23 NBA teams took turns selectin ...

by the

Cleveland Cavaliers The Cleveland Cavaliers (often referred to as the Cavs) are an American professional basketball team based in Cleveland. The Cavaliers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference (NBA), Ea ...

. ; retrieved June 26, 2007 He spent his only

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 ...

season ( 1980–81) split between the Cavaliers and the

Dallas Mavericks The Dallas Mavericks (often referred to as the Mavs) are an American professional basketball team based in Dallas. The Mavericks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Western Conference (NBA), Western Conferenc ...

. The Cavs traded Kinch, along with a 1985 first-round draft choice, to the Mavericks in exchange for Geoff Huston and a 1983 third-round draft choice on February 7, 1981. Kinch averaged 2.9 points per game in his only season in the NBA. The tragic loss of his brother, Raymond, in a house fire reportedly had a profound effect on Kinch and impacted his NBA career. After leaving the NBA and starting a family, he descended further into a fierce drug habit, eventually contracting HIV.Araton, Harvey (1994). "Glory Days Died Too Soon; Then Kinch Did(.) Life Never Lived Up to that Moment in the Sun" ''New York Times'' 18 April 1994.
Retrieved July 11, 2021. Kinch died of

AIDS Human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is a spectrum of conditions caused by infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a retrovirus. Following initial infection an individual m ...

-related complications in 1994,Still stunning the world 10 years later
''ESPN The Magazine'' aged 35, at his home in Carteret, New Jersey.

Notes

External links

NBA stats
@ basketballreference.com
Chad Kinch profile
@ thedraftreview.com season in the NB 1958 births 1994 deaths AIDS-related deaths in New Jersey American men's basketball players Basketball players from New Jersey Charlotte 49ers men's basketball players Cleveland Cavaliers draft picks Cleveland Cavaliers players Dallas Mavericks players People from Carteret, New Jersey Perth Amboy High School alumni Shooting guards Sportspeople from Perth Amboy, New Jersey {{1950s-US-basketball-bio-stub