Donald Maurice Washington Jr. (born April 22, 1952) is an American former 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. He played for the

Denver Nuggets The Denver Nuggets are an American professional basketball team based in Denver. The Nuggets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Northwest Division. The team was founded as the D ...

and

Utah Stars The Utah Stars were an American Basketball Association (ABA) team based in Salt Lake City, Utah. Under head coach Bill Sharman the Stars were the first major professional basketball team to use a pre-game shootaround. History prior to moving to ...

in the

American Basketball Association The American Basketball Association (ABA) was a major men's professional basketball league from 1967 to 1976. The ABA ceased to exist with the ABA–NBA merger, American Basketball Association–National Basketball Association merger in 1976, ...

before embarking on an international professional career that lasted until 1989. He played college basketball for the

North Carolina Tar Heels The North Carolina Tar Heels are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The name Tar Heel is a nickname used to refer to individuals from the state of North Carolina, the ''Tar Heel ...

. As a

sophomore In the United States, a sophomore ( or ) is a person in the second year at an educational institution; usually at a secondary school or at the college and university level, but also in other forms of post-secondary educational institutions. In ...

in 1972–73, the first year he was eligible to play for the varsity squad, he averaged over 12 points per game. He broke his foot during the season, and coupled with academic under-performance, Washington decided to pursue his professional career instead of returning to North Carolina for his

junior Junior or Juniors may refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * ''Junior'' (Junior Mance album), 1959 * ''Junior'' (Röyksopp album), 2009 * ''Junior'' (Kaki King album), 2010 * ''Junior'' (LaFontaines album), 2019 Films * ''Junior'' (1994 ...

year. He played a season in Switzerland before returning to the United States to play in the ABA for the Denver Nuggets and Utah Stars.

References

1952 births Living people American expatriate basketball people in France American expatriate basketball people in the Netherlands American expatriate basketball people in Switzerland Basketball players from Washington, D.C. Denver Nuggets players New York Knicks draft picks North Carolina Tar Heels men's basketball players Parade High School All-Americans (boys' basketball) Small forwards Utah Stars players American men's basketball players {{1950s-US-basketball-bio-stub BV RZ players Dutch Basketball League players