David Booth (born May 28, 1970) is an American

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 ...

executive and former professional player. A native of Peoria, Illinois, Booth played for Manual High School, where he reached the Class AA Tournaments in three consecutive seasons; he would later be inducted in the Greater Peoria Sports Hall of Fame. He then played 4 years of

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 ...

with DePaul, and graduated as the second best scorer in program history with 1,933 total points. After going undrafted in the

1992 NBA draft The 1992 NBA draft took place on June 24, 1992, at Memorial Coliseum in Portland, Oregon. The draft is considered to be one of the deepest in NBA history. The top three picks (Shaquille O'Neal, Alonzo Mourning, Christian Laettner) were conside ...

, Booth started his career in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

and over a 13-year span he also played in

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

, Japan, the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

and

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...

. In 2009, Booth was inducted in DePaul's Hall of Fame.

High school career

Booth was born in Peoria, Illinois and he attended Manual High School there. Listed at and , he mainly played as a

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 ...

, though he was sometimes used at the forward position. Booth gave significant contribution to the team since his sophomore season in 1986, reaching the Class AA tournament; in his junior season in 1987 he averaged 17.2 points and 7.2 rebounds per game, while his team had a 26–0 record before losing in overtime to Quincy, 59–61 during the Class AA tournament; that year, Booth was an Honorable Mention All-State selection. In his senior season, Booth helped his team reach the Class AA tournament for the third consecutive year, losing in the semifinal game to Lincoln High School, which was led by future NBA players

LaPhonso Ellis LaPhonso Darnell Ellis (born May 5, 1970) is an American retired basketball player. He was selected by the National Basketball Association's Denver Nuggets as the fifth overall pick in the 1992 NBA draft. Early career He was an outstanding high ...

and

Cuonzo Martin Cuonzo LaMar Martin (born September 23, 1971) is an American basketball coach and former player who is the former head coach of the Missouri Tigers men's basketball team. High school Playing alongside LaPhonso Ellis as a sophomore and junior, Ma ...

: Booth had 20 points and 12 rebounds in that game.

College career

Booth had attracted the interest of several

NCAA Division I NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest level of intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major collegiate athletic ...

programs, including

Bradley Bradley is an English surname derived from a place name meaning "broad wood" or "broad meadow" in Old English. Like many English surnames Bradley can also be used as a given name and as such has become popular. It is also an Anglicisation of t ...

, DePaul,

Iowa Iowa () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wisconsin to the northeast, Illinois to th ...

, Marquette,

Michigan Michigan () is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the List of U.S. states and ...

and Purdue: he verbally committed to DePaul in November 1987, and later signed officially to play for them. In his first season with DePaul, Booth started 10 out of 33 games, and averaged 9.9 points, 4.4 rebounds, 1.5 assist and 1.1 steals in 21.8 minutes per game. Booth received increased playing time in his sophomore season in 1989–90, playing 1,140 total minutes (32.6 per game) and he improved his averages to 16.9 points, 6.1 rebounds, 1.9 assists, 1.4 steals and 1.3 blocks per game. On January 27, 1990, Booth scored a season-high and then career-high 37 points in a 66 62 win against

Louisville Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border. ...

. This performance earned him the ''National Player of the Week'' award by ''

Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellence twi ...

''.''DePaul Basketball 2010-11 Media Guide'', 2010, p. 174. Booth started the 1990–91 season as one of the main players in DePaul's rotation and he played 29 games, averaging a career-best 18.7 points along with 6.8 rebounds, 1.7 assists, 1.4 steals and 1 block per game; On December 15, 1990, he scored his career high with DePaul with 40 points against

UCLA 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 ...

.''DePaul Basketball 2010-11 Media Guide'', 2010, p. 163. In his senior season he was named team captain;''DePaul Basketball 2010-11 Media Guide'', 2010, p. 118. on December 21, 1991, he scored 30 points against Baylor. He was the top scorer of DePaul's first conference home game on January 11, 1992, against

Memphis Memphis most commonly refers to: * Memphis, Egypt, a former capital of ancient Egypt * Memphis, Tennessee, a major American city Memphis may also refer to: Places United States * Memphis, Alabama * Memphis, Florida * Memphis, Indiana * Memp ...

(25 points)''DePaul Basketball 2010-11 Media Guide'', 2010, p. 180. and he scored a season-high 35 points against Loyola Marymount on January 15. Booth was a

Great Midwest Conference The Great Midwest Conference was an NCAA Division I athletics conference that existed from 1991 to 1995. History It was formed in 1990 with six members: Cincinnati and Memphis State (now Memphis) from the Metro Conference, UAB from the Sun Bel ...

First team selection after averaging 17.4 points, 5.3 rebounds, 1.3 assists and 1.5 steals per game over 27 appearances (all starts), playing an average of 29.6 minutes per game; he also improved his shooting, and shot career-highs in field goal percentage (51.1%), three-point field goal percentage (41.2%) and free throw percentage (77.3%). He graduated as the first player in DePaul's history to record 1,500 points, 500 rebounds, 200 assists and 100 blocks.

Professional career

After graduating from DePaul, Booth was automatically eligible for the

: in a June 24, 1992 article ''

The Philadelphia Inquirer ''The Philadelphia Inquirer'' is a daily newspaper headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The newspaper's circulation is the largest in both the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the Delaware Valley metropolitan region of Southeastern Pennsy ...

'' indicated him as one of the best

small forward The small forward (SF), also known as the three or swingman, is one of the five positions in a regulation basketball game. Small forwards are typically shorter, quicker, and leaner than power forwards and centers but taller, larger, and stronger ...

s available in the draft. He had participated in pre-draft workouts with some NBA teams, including the

New Jersey Nets New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator ...

, and took part in the Orlando All-Star Classic, a game for college seniors attended by NBA scouts, where he scored 16 points and had 6 rebounds. Despite interest from NBA teams, Booth went undrafted. He was drafted in the 3rd round (41st overall) of the Continental Basketball Association (CBA) draft by the

Rapid City Thrillers The Rapid City Thrillers were a semi-professional basketball team in Rapid City, South Dakota, that competed in the Continental Basketball Association beginning in the 1987 season. They were reincarnated in 1998 as an International Basketball As ...

. Booth decided not to sign with the Thrillers and moved instead to

, starting his professional career with

Évreux Évreux () is a commune in and the capital of the department of Eure, in the French region of Normandy. Geography The city is on the Iton river. Climate History In late Antiquity, the town, attested in the fourth century CE, was named ...

in the

LNB Pro B The LNB Pro B, commonly known as Pro B, is the 2nd-tier level men's professional basketball league in France. It is the second division of the Ligue Nationale de Basket (LNB), which has organized the league since the year 1987. The regular season ...

, the second tier of French basketball. In his rookie season, he averaged 26.7 points, 6.9 rebounds and 2.9 assists per game while also shooting 43.3% from three over 22 games (38.6 minutes per game). After playing in France, Booth moved back to the United States; in December 1993 the Rapid City Thrillers traded him to the

Tri-City Chinook The Tri-City Chinook were a professional basketball team based in Kennewick, Washington. They played 4 seasons in the Continental Basketball Association (CBA), the defunct development league for the National Basketball Association (NBA). The te ...

in exchange for the rights to Anthony Cook and a 1994 draft pick; Booth played 23 games with the Chinook, averaging 8.7 points, 2.8 rebounds and 0.7 assists per game; he then finished the season with another CBA team, the

Yakima Sun Kings The Yakima SunKings are a basketball team located in Yakima, Washington, covering the central Washington sports market of Yakima, Tri-Cities, and Ellensburg and plays at the Yakima SunDome. The team competed in the Continental Basketball Associat ...

, for which he played 10 games averaging 8.4 points, 2.7 rebounds and 0.7 assists per game. In 1994 Booth was part of the

Trotamundos de Carabobo Trotamundos B.B.C. (), also known as Trotamundos de Carabobo, is a professional basketball team based in Valencia, located in the Venezuelan Carabobo State. The team currently plays in the Venezuelan SuperLiga. The team has won the Venezuelan champ ...

squad that won the 1994

Liga Profesional de Baloncesto The Superliga Profesional de Baloncesto, commonly known as the SPB, is the Venezuelan first division national professional basketball league. Founded in 1974 as the Liga Especial de Baloncesto, it adopted the name Liga Profesional de Baloncesto i ...

championship in

. Booth later moved to

where he played for

Pallacanestro Pavia Pallacanestro Pavia was an Italian professional basketball club based in Pavia, Lombardy. For past club sponsorship names, see the list below. History The club was established in 1943 as Onda Pavia by industrialist Luigi Cazzani. In 1955–56, ...

in the Serie A2, the second tier of basketball in Italy: during the season he scored 56 points in a game against Turboair Fabriano, establishing one of the best single-game scoring performances of all time in Italy. In 15 league games Booth averaged 38.8 points, 11.1 rebounds, 0.9 assists and 3.7 steals in 36.4 minutes per game. In 1995 Booth went back to France and joined the Toulouse Spacer's, another Pro B team, and averaged 31.3 points, 8.7 rebounds, 3 assists and 1.4 steals in 38 minutes per game, receiving the LNB Pro B MVP award for the 1995–96 season as the best foreign player in the league. Booth then played for the Los Angeles Lakers during the Summer Pro League in

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second most populous urban a ...

and he signed a contract with the team in September; he was waived on October 21, 1996, a few days before the start of the 1996–97 NBA season. Booth then signed for

JDA Dijon Jeanne d'Arc Dijon Basket, commonly known as JDA Dijon Basket or simply Dijon, is a professional basketball club from the city of Dijon, France. The club currently plays in the LNB Pro A, the French first tier division. The club has won the Frenc ...

, moving up to the Pro A, the top league in France. In 18 games with the new team, Booth averaged 22.6 points, 6 rebounds, 2.2 assists and 0.9 steals per game, and was the league's top scorer. In 1997 Booth spent the preseason with the

Vancouver Grizzlies The Vancouver Grizzlies were a Canadian professional basketball team based in Vancouver. They were part of the Midwest Division of the Western Conference of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The team was established in 1995, along w ...

of the NBA before being released in late October; later on the

La Crosse Bobcats The La Crosse Bobcats were a Continental Basketball Association basketball team located in La Crosse, Wisconsin, from 1996 to the league's bankruptcy in February 2001. The Bobcats were the second CBA team located in La Crosse; previously, the La C ...

, a CBA team, signed Booth: he appeared in 46 games in the 1997–98 CBA season, starting 42 and averaging 18.5 points, 5.8 rebounds, 1.4 assists, 1 steal and 1.4 blocks per game (35.4 minutes of average playing time). The Bobcats qualified for the playoffs and Booth appeared in 3 games, averaging 16.7 points, 6.3 rebounds and 3.7 assists in a career-high 45.7 minutes per game. He was selected to the All-CBA First Team in 1998. Booth then moved to the

and played for the

Pop Cola 800s Pop or POP may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * Pop music, a musical genre Artists * POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade * Pop!, a UK pop group * Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band Albums * ''Pop'' (G ...

during the 1998 PBA Governors' Cup. He went back to Italy for the 1998–99

Lega Basket Serie A The Lega Basket Serie A (LBA) is a professional men's club basketball league that has been organised in Italy since 1920. Serie A is organised by Lega Basket, which is regulated by the Italian Basketball Federation (FIP). It is the highest-tier ...

season, signing for Müller Verona. In 20 games he averaged 21.3 points, 6.3 rebounds and 0.9 assists per game, shooting a career-high 45.2% from three. Booth returned to the United States for the 1999–2000 season, signing for the

Idaho Stampede Idaho ( ) is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. To the north, it shares a small portion of the Canada–United States border with the province of British Columbia. It borders the states of Montana and Wyomi ...

of the CBA: he played 12 games with the team (10 starts) and averaged 12.9 points, 5.4 rebounds and 1.5 assists per game. He then played for

Aris Aris or ARIS may refer to: People * Aris (surname) Given name * Aris Alexandrou, Greek writer * Aris Brimanis, ice hockey player * Aris Christofellis, Greek male soprano * Aris Gavelas, Greek sprinter * Aris Howard, Former President of the Jama ...

, and later on he moved to Japan, signing with the Matsushita Electric Panasonic Super Kangaroos. He was the top scorer of the 2000–01 JBL Super League season, averaging 32.3 points per game, and also led the league in rebounding at 13.9 a game. He repeated as the league's top scorer in the 2002–03 season, with an average of 31.4 points per game; he was then the top rebounder in the league in the 2003–04 season at 14 per game. He stopped playing after the 2004–05 season spent with the Super Kangaroos.

Post-playing career

After his retirement from professional basketball, Booth served as a scout for the

Memphis Grizzlies The Memphis Grizzlies (referred to locally as the Grizz) are an American professional basketball team based in Memphis, Tennessee. The Grizzlies compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference ...

and the New Orleans Pelicans; from 2014 to 2019 he was Director of Player Personnel for the Pelicans. On June 22, 2020, Booth was appointed NBA Vice President of Basketball Operations.

References

External links

Career stats at ProBallers.comProfile at RealGM.comItalian league stats
{{DEFAULTSORT:Booth, David 1970 births Living people ALM Évreux Basket players American expatriate basketball people in France American expatriate basketball people in Greece American expatriate basketball people in Italy American expatriate basketball people in Japan American expatriate basketball people in the Philippines American expatriate basketball people in Venezuela American men's basketball players Aris B.C. players Basketball players from Illinois Centers (basketball) JDA Dijon Basket players Idaho Stampede (CBA) players La Crosse Bobcats players National Basketball Association league office executives Pallacanestro Pavia players Philippine Basketball Association imports Pop Cola Panthers players Power forwards (basketball) Scaligera Basket Verona players Sportspeople from Peoria, Illinois Tri-City Chinook players Trotamundos B.B.C. players Yakima Sun Kings players Wakayama Trians players