Dick Gibbs (born December 20, 1948) is an American retired professional basketball player. A

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 t ...

, 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 S ...

(NBA) for five teams from 1971 to 1976, posting career averages of 5.2 points per game and 1.9 rebounds per game. Born in

Ames, Iowa Ames () is a city in Story County, Iowa, United States, located approximately north of Des Moines in central Iowa. It is best known as the home of Iowa State University (ISU), with leading agriculture, design, engineering, and veterinary medici ...

, Gibbs attended

Ames High School Ames High School is the sole public high school in Ames, Iowa, United States. It is in the Ames Community School District. Academics This school is the only public high school in the city of Ames. In August 2019, Ames High School was named t ...

and played on their basketball team in 1967, helping them reach the state championship game. Following a period at Burlington Junior College, he played college basketball for the University of Texas at El Paso Miners from 1969 to 1971. Gibbs scored 10.5 points per game in the 1969–70 season, when the Miners won the

Western Athletic Conference The Western Athletic Conference (WAC) is an NCAA Division I conference. The WAC covers a broad expanse of the western United States with member institutions located in Arizona, California, New Mexico, Utah, Washington (state), Washington, and Texa ...

championship in their first season in the league. In the last game of the regular season, Gibbs sustained an injury and was unable to play in the NCAA Tournament; the Miners lost in the first round. Their coach,

Don Haskins Donald Lee Haskins (March 14, 1930 – September 7, 2008), nicknamed "The Bear", was an American basketball player and coach. He played college basketball for three years under coach Henry Iba at Oklahoma A&M (now Oklahoma State University). He w ...

, later said, "Without him, we had no chance to go very far in the tournament." Gibbs improved his scoring average to 17.4 points per game in 1970–71, and his 10.6 rebounds per game were up from the 8.5 he had averaged the previous season. Both totals were team highs. At the end of the season, he was named to the All-

team. As of 2012, he was fourth in Miners history with 9.7 rebounds per game for his career. In the third round of the 1971 NBA draft, Gibbs was selected by the Chicago Bulls with the 49th overall pick. He was traded to the

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

in June 1971, the first of five trades he was involved in during his career. After playing the 1971–72 season with the Rockets, Gibbs was on four other teams over the next four seasons—the

Kansas City–Omaha 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 ...

, Seattle SuperSonics, Washington Bullets, and Buffalo Braves. With the SuperSonics in 1973–74, he posted a career-high of 10.8 points per game. He was dealt along with a

1975 It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe. Events January * January 1 - Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...

third-round selection from the SuperSonics to the Bullets for Archie Clark on August 19, 1974. The next season, he was a member of the Bullets team that reached the

1975 NBA Finals The 1975 NBA World Championship Series was the championship round of the 1974–75 NBA season of the National Basketball Association. The Western Conference champion Golden State Warriors (48–34) played against the Eastern Conference champio ...

. Following his playing career, Gibbs ran a drug treatment facility in

Newport Beach, California Newport Beach is a coastal city in South Orange County, California. Newport Beach is known for swimming and sandy beaches. Newport Harbor once supported maritime industries however today, it is used mostly for recreation. Balboa Island, Newport ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gibbs, Dick 1948 births American men's basketball players Ames High School alumni Basketball players from Iowa Buffalo Braves players Chicago Bulls draft picks Houston Rockets players Junior college men's basketball players in the United States Kansas City Kings players Living people Seattle SuperSonics players Small forwards Sportspeople from Ames, Iowa UTEP Miners men's basketball players Washington Bullets players