Darnell Terrell Valentine (born February 3, 1959) 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 who played ten seasons in the

National Basketball Association 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 S ...

(NBA).

Early life

Valentine was born in

Chicago, Illinois (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

and graduated from

Wichita Heights High School Wichita Heights High School, known locally as Heights, is a public secondary school in Wichita, Kansas, United States. It is operated by Wichita USD 259 school district and serves students in grades 9 to 12. The school principal is Eric Filippi. ...

Wichita, Kansas Wichita ( ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kansas and the county seat of Sedgwick County, Kansas, Sedgwick County. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population of the city was 397,532. The Wichita metro area had ...

, in 1977.

College

He played

college basketball In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athleti ...

at the

University of Kansas The University of Kansas (KU) is a public research university with its main campus in Lawrence, Kansas, United States, and several satellite campuses, research and educational centers, medical centers, and classes across the state of Kansas. Tw ...

where he was a three-time Academic All-American and was a member of the

1980 Summer Olympics The 1980 Summer Olympics (russian: Летние Олимпийские игры 1980, Letniye Olimpiyskiye igry 1980), officially known as the Games of the XXII Olympiad (russian: Игры XXII Олимпиады, Igry XXII Olimpiady) and commo ...

men's basketball team. The team was unable to compete due to the 1980 Summer Olympics boycott. He did however receive one of 461

Congressional Gold Medal The Congressional Gold Medal is an award bestowed by the United States Congress. It is Congress's highest expression of national appreciation for distinguished achievements and contributions by individuals or institutions. The congressional pract ...

s created especially for the spurned athletes.

Professional

Selected by the

Portland Trail Blazers The Portland Trail Blazers (colloquially known as the Blazers) are an American professional basketball team based in Portland, Oregon. The Trail Blazers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Con ...

in the first round (16th pick overall) of the 1981 NBA Draft, Valentine spent years with the Trail Blazers. In 300 regular season games with Portland, he averaged 9.8 points, 2.3 rebounds and 5.4 assists a game. Valentine also played for the

Los Angeles Clippers The Los Angeles Clippers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Clippers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division in the league's Western Conference. The Clipper ...

and 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 ...

during his 10-year NBA career. He owns career averages of 8.7 points, 2.1 rebounds and 5.0 assists in 620 NBA games. After winding up his NBA career, Valentine played three seasons in the Italian Basketball League. From 1994 to 2004 Valentine served as a Regional Representative for the National Basketball Players Association. Valentine worked for the Portland Trail Blazers as Director of Player Programs from September 2004 to December 2007. He currently works for Precision Castparts Corp.Darnell Valentine at LinkedIn.com
/ref> in

Portland Portland most commonly refers to: * Portland, Oregon, the largest city in the state of Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States * Portland, Maine, the largest city in the state of Maine, in the New England region of the northeas ...

References

External links

NBA stats
@ basketballreference.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Valentine, Darnell 1959 births Living people African-American basketball players All-American college men's basketball players American expatriate basketball people in Italy American men's basketball players Basketball players from Chicago Basket Rimini Crabs players Cleveland Cavaliers players Congressional Gold Medal recipients Kansas Jayhawks men's basketball players Los Angeles Clippers players McDonald's High School All-Americans Miami Heat expansion draft picks Pallacanestro Reggiana players Parade High School All-Americans (boys' basketball) Point guards Portland Trail Blazers draft picks Portland Trail Blazers players 21st-century African-American people 20th-century African-American sportspeople