David A. Stallworth (December 20, 1941 – March 15, 2017) was an American 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. He played 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 St ...

(NBA) for eight seasons and was a member of the New York Knicks' 1969–70 championship-winning team.

College career

A 6'7" forward/

center Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentrici ...

from Dallas'

Madison High School Madison High School may refer to: * Madison County High School (Alabama), Gurley, Alabama * Madison High School (Idaho), Rexburg, Idaho * Madison Consolidated High School, Madison, Indiana * Madison High School (Kansas), Madison, Kansas * Kentuc ...

, Stallworth graduated in 1961 and attended

Wichita State University Wichita State University (WSU) is a public research university in Wichita, Kansas, United States. It is governed by the Kansas Board of Regents. The university offers more than 60 undergraduate degree programs in more than 200 areas of study in ...

. In his three seasons with the Shockers, he set 18 school records, including the highest career point per game average (24.2). Stallworth helped the team reach the 1964 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament, the school's first appearance in the NCAA Tournament, and was named to the All-American team twice. He earned the nickname "Dave the Rave" while playing at Wichita State.

NBA career

In the

1965 NBA draft The 1965 NBA draft was the 19th annual draft of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The draft was held on May 6, 1965, before the 1965–66 season. In this draft, nine NBA teams took turns selecting amateur U.S. college basketball players ...

, Stallworth was selected in the first round by the New York Knicks, with the third overall pick. Stallworth played eight seasons (1965–1967; 1969–1975) in the NBA as a member of the Knicks and Baltimore/Capital Bullets. He averaged 9.3 points per game in his career and won a league championship with New York in 1970. Stallworth's play for the Knicks in the 1969–70 season came after he had suffered a heart attack in March 1967, during his second season in the NBA; he had posted a scoring average of 12.6 points per game the previous season. Following a period as a coach for a Wichita-based amateur team, Stallworth was told by his doctor that he could return to playing. A back-up on the 1969–70 Knicks, Stallworth was forced into action in Game 5 of the

1970 NBA Finals The 1970 NBA World Championship Series was the championship series of the 1970 NBA Playoffs, which concluded the 1969–70 National Basketball Association (NBA) season. The Eastern Division champion New York Knicks defeated the Western Div ...

after

Willis Reed Willis Reed Jr. (born June 25, 1942) is an American retired basketball player, coach and general manager. He spent his entire professional playing career (1964–1974) with the New York Knicks. In 1982, Reed was inducted into the Naismith Me ...

was injured early. He was assigned to cover Los Angeles Lakers star

Wilt Chamberlain Wilton Norman Chamberlain (; August 21, 1936 – October 12, 1999) was an American professional basketball player who played as a center. Standing at tall, he played in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for 14 years and is widely reg ...

, and aided in holding him in check when on defense. In a game that the Knicks won after trailing by 16, Stallworth made a reverse layup after driving to the basket on Chamberlain in the final minutes; Wayne Coffey, a '' New York Daily News'' journalist and writer called it "one of the single most dramatic moments of the season." Stallworth was traded along with Mike Riordan and an undisclosed amount of cash to the Baltimore Bullets for

Earl Monroe Vernon Earl Monroe (born November 21, 1944) is an American former professional basketball player. He played for two teams, the Baltimore Bullets and the New York Knicks, during his career in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Both teams ...

on November 11, 1971. He averaged 11.4 points per game and 6.2 rebounds per game in his 64 appearances for the Bullets in 1971–72, but his statistics declined over the next two seasons and the Bullets traded him to the Phoenix Suns in 1974. Stallworth was released by the Suns without playing for the team, and he returned to the Knicks for the 1974–75 season, playing in seven games.

NBA career statistics

Regular season

, - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;", New York , style="background:#cfecec;", 80* , , – , , 23.7 , , .455 , , – , , .686 , , 6.2 , , 2.3 , , – , , – , , 12.8 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;", New York , 76 , , – , , 24.9 , , .466 , , – , , .716 , , 6.2 , , 1.9 , , – , , – , , 13.0 , - , style="text-align:left; background:#afe6ba;", † , style="text-align:left;", New York , style="background:#cfecec;", 82* , , – , , 16.8 , , .429 , , – , , .716 , , 3.9 , , 1.7 , , – , , – , , 7.8 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;", New York , 81 , , – , , 19.3 , , .431 , , – , , .735 , , 4.3 , , 1.3 , , – , , – , , 9.4 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;", New York , 14 , , – , , 16.1 , , .375 , , – , , .829 , , 2.5 , , 1.8 , , – , , – , , 6.8 , - , style="text-align:left;", 1971–72 , style="text-align:left;",

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

, 64 , , – , , 28.4 , , .439 , , – , , .804 , , 6.2 , , 2.1 , , – , , – , , 11.4 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 73 , , – , , 16.7 , , .414 , , – , , .772 , , 3.2 , , 1.5 , , – , , – , , 6.0 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;", Capital , 45 , , – , , 10.2 , , .401 , , – , , .855 , , 2.8 , , .6 , , .6 , , .1 , , 4.4 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;", New York , 7 , , – , , 8.1 , , .278 , , – , , – , , 2.9 , , .3 , , .4 , , .4 , , 1.4 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 522 , , – , , 20.1 , , .438 , , – , , .732 , , 4.7 , , 1.7 , , .6 , , .1 , , 9.3

Playoffs

, - , style="text-align:left; background:#afe6ba;",

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 of X (''Extreme''). Between 10,000 and ...

† , style="text-align:left;", New York , 19 , , – , , 14.5 , , .459 , , – , , .938 , , 4.1 , , 1.1 , , – , , – , , 7.2 , - , style="text-align:left;", 1971 , style="text-align:left;", New York , 12 , , – , , 15.4 , , .265 , , – , , .718 , , 3.5 , , .8 , , – , , – , , 5.3 , - , 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 mean solar tim ...

, style="text-align:left;",

, 6 , , – , , 17.5 , , .429 , , – , , .692 , , 2.5 , , .8 , , – , , – , , 5.5 , - , style="text-align:left;",

1973 Events January * January 1 - The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Denmark 1973 enlargement of the European Communities, enter the European Economic Community, which later becomes the European Union. * January 15 – Vietnam War: ...

, style="text-align:left;",

, 3 , , – , , 4.7 , , 1.000 , , – , , – , , 1.0 , , .3 , , – , , – , , .7 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 40 , , – , , 14.5 , , .400 , , – , , .765 , , 3.4 , , .9 , , – , , – , , 5.9

Personal

After his playing career ended, Stallworth was employed in

Wichita, Kansas Wichita ( ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kansas and the county seat of Sedgwick County. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 397,532. The Wichita metro area had a population of 647,610 in 2020. It is located in ...

Boeing The Boeing Company () is an American multinational corporation that designs, manufactures, and sells airplanes, rotorcraft, rockets, satellites, telecommunications equipment, and missiles worldwide. The company also provides leasing and p ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Stallworth, Dave 1941 births 2017 deaths All-American college men's basketball players Amateur Athletic Union men's basketball players American men's basketball players Baltimore Bullets (1963–1973) players Basketball players from Dallas Boeing people Capital Bullets players New York Knicks draft picks New York Knicks players Power forwards (basketball) Small forwards Wichita State Shockers men's basketball players