David Murphy-Kasim Greenwood (born May 27, 1957) is an American retired professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

player whose

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 St ...

(NBA) career spanned 12 years from 1979 to 1991. Greenwood made his NBA debut on October 13, 1979 and was named to the NBA All-Rookie First Team during the 1979–80 season. A forward/center, he played for the

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

San Antonio Spurs The San Antonio Spurs are an American professional basketball team based in San Antonio. The Spurs compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Southwest Division. The team plays its home ...

, Denver Nuggets and

Detroit Pistons The Detroit Pistons are an American professional basketball team based in Detroit. The Pistons compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division and play their home games at L ...

. Greenwood was the second overall pick of the 1979 NBA draft. The Chicago Bulls lost the coin toss to the Los Angeles Lakers, who drafted future Hall of Famer

Earvin "Magic" Johnson Earvin "Magic" Johnson Jr. (born August 14, 1959) is an American former professional basketball player. He is often regarded as the greatest point guard of all-time and has been compared with Stephen Curry. Johnson played 13 seasons in the ...

with their number one pick, acquired in a trade with the New Orleans Jazz. Before the Michael Jordan era in

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

, Greenwood was one of the franchise's marquee players along with

Reggie Theus Reginald Wayne Theus (born October 13, 1957) is an American basketball coach and former player. He played 13 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA), where he was a two-time NBA All-Star. He is currently the head men's basketball he ...

and

Orlando Woolridge Orlando Vernada Woolridge (December 16, 1959 – May 31, 2012) was an American professional basketball player who played in the National Basketball Association (NBA) from 1981 to 1994. He was known for his scoring ability, especially on slam dunks ...

. On October 24, 1985, Greenwood was traded by the Bulls to the

in exchange for future Hall of Famer

George Gervin George Gervin ( ; born April 27, 1952), nicknamed "the Iceman", is an American former professional basketball player who played in both the American Basketball Association (ABA) and National Basketball Association (NBA) for the Virginia Squires, ...

. On January 26, 1989, Greenwood and Spurs teammate,

Darwin Cook Darwin Louis Cook (born August 6, 1958) is an American basketball coach and former player. Playing career Cook played for the University of Portland from 1976 to 1980, and was selected by the Detroit Pistons with 70th overall pick in the 1980 N ...

were traded to the Denver Nuggets for

Calvin Natt Calvin Leon Natt (born January 8, 1957) is an American retired professional basketball player. A 6'6" (1.98 m) forward, Natt played at Northeast Louisiana University under coach Lenny Fant. After college, he played 11 NBA seasons (1979–199 ...

and

Jay Vincent Jay Fletcher Vincent (born June 10, 1959) is an American former professional basketball player. A 6'7" forward, Vincent played at Michigan State University under coach, Jud Heathcote, where he teamed with Magic Johnson and Greg Kelser to win ...

. On October 6, 1989, Greenwood signed as an unrestricted free agent with the

, whom he would assist in a victorious effort in the

1990 NBA Finals The 1990 NBA Finals was the championship round of the 1989–90 National Basketball Association (NBA) season, and the conclusion of the season's playoffs. The series pitted the defending NBA champion and Eastern Conference playoff champion De ...

as a reserve. He would later sign as an unrestricted free agent with the

on August 17, 1990, until his release on May 21, 1991. Greenwood attended the

University of California at Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California ...

. He was inducted into the

National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame The National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame, located in Kansas City, Missouri, is a hall of fame and museum dedicated to men's college basketball. The museum is an integral portion of the College Basketball Experience created by the National ...

as a member of the Class of 2021

References

External links

NBA.com : David Greenwood Info Page
''databaseBasketball.com''

{{DEFAULTSORT:Greenwood, David 1957 births Living people African-American basketball players All-American college men's basketball players American men's basketball players Basketball players from California Centers (basketball) Chicago Bulls draft picks Chicago Bulls players Denver Nuggets players Detroit Pistons players Parade High School All-Americans (boys' basketball) People from Lynwood, California Power forwards (basketball) San Antonio Spurs players Sportspeople from Los Angeles County, California UCLA Bruins men's basketball players Verbum Dei High School alumni 21st-century African-American people 20th-century African-American sportspeople