Derrek Dickey (March 20, 1951 – June 25, 2002) 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 Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

player and sportscaster. Dickey was born in

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...

, the son of John and Ola Dickey. A 6'7"

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, Dickey starred at Purcell High School (now

Purcell Marian High School Purcell Marian High School is a parochial high school in the East Walnut Hills neighborhood of Cincinnati, Ohio, United States, based in the Marianist tradition. It is located in the DeSales Corner business district, along Madison Road. Purcell ...

) in Cincinnati, where he led the city in scoring in 1968–69. He earned first-team All-Ohio honors. He played basketball at the

University of Cincinnati The University of Cincinnati (UC or Cincinnati) is a public research university in Cincinnati, Ohio. Founded in 1819 as Cincinnati College, it is the oldest institution of higher education in Cincinnati and has an annual enrollment of over 44,00 ...

for three varsity seasons (1970–71 through 1972–73; freshmen were not eligible in 1969–70). For his college career, he averaged 17.0 points and 11.0 rebounds per game. He led the team in rebounding all three seasons with averages of 12.1, 10.9 and 10.0, and he led once in scoring with 17.9 points per game, as a sophomore. He was a team captain both his junior and senior years. The Bearcats had a record of 48–30 during his three seasons. Dickey was selected by the

Golden State Warriors The Golden State Warriors are an American professional basketball team based in San Francisco. The Warriors compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA), as a member of the league's Western Conference Pacific Division. Founded in 194 ...

in the second round of the

1973 NBA Draft The 1973 NBA draft was the 27th annual draft of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The draft was held on April 24 and May 5, 1973, before the 1973–74 season. In this draft, 17 NBA teams took turns selecting amateur U.S. college baske ...

. Dickey played five seasons in the

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 ...

with the Warriors and 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 1 ...

, averaging 6.1

points per game Points per game, often abbreviated PPG, is the average number of points scored by a player per game played in a sport, over the course of a series of games, a whole season, or a career. It is calculated by dividing the total number of points by nu ...

and 4.9

rebounds per game 'Rebound' is a term used in sports to describe the ball (or puck or other object of play) becoming available for possession by either opponent after an attempt to put the ball or puck into the goal has been unsuccessful. Rebounds are generally ...

. He was a key contributor on the 1975 Warriors team that won the

NBA Championship The NBA Finals is the annual championship series of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The Eastern and Western Conference champions play a best-of-seven game series to determine the league champion. The team that wins the series is awa ...

during which Dickey set personal bests of 23.2 minutes per game, 7.7 points, 6.9 rebounds, and 1.6 assists. His field goal percentage was .482. After his playing career ended, Dickey served as a

color commentator A color commentator or expert commentator is a sports commentator who assists the main (play-by-play) commentator, typically by filling in when play is not in progress. The phrase "colour commentator" is primarily used in Canadian English and t ...

on telecasts of University of Cincinnati basketball games. He also held stints as an analyst for the

Sacramento Kings The Sacramento Kings are an American professional basketball team based in Sacramento, California. The Kings compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Western Conference Pacific Division. The Kings are the oldest ...

and the Chicago Bulls as well as

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...

. In 1988, he was inducted into the University of Cincinnati Athletic Hall of Fame. Dickey suffered a

stroke A stroke is a medical condition in which poor blood flow to the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and hemorrhagic, due to bleeding. Both cause parts of the brain to stop functionin ...

in 1997 and lost the use of his left arm and leg. Through rehabilitation, he regained his ability to walk and resumed his broadcasting duties. He also became a volunteer for the

American Heart Association The American Heart Association (AHA) is a nonprofit organization in the United States that funds cardiovascular medical research, educates consumers on healthy living and fosters appropriate cardiac care in an effort to reduce disability and death ...

. In 2002, Dickey died of heart failure at his home in Sacramento. He was survived by his wife, Sally (Simonds), whom he married in 1998; two sons, Derrek Jr. and David; a daughter, Dana; his father, John; a sister, Debbie Dickey-Gilbert; and three grandchildren.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dickey, Derrek 1951 births 2002 deaths African-American basketball players American men's basketball players Basketball players from Cincinnati Chicago Bulls players Chicago Bulls announcers Cincinnati Bearcats men's basketball players College basketball announcers in the United States Golden State Warriors draft picks Golden State Warriors players National Basketball Association broadcasters Sacramento Kings announcers Small forwards 20th-century African-American sportspeople 21st-century African-American people