Daniel LaDrew Vranes (born October 29, 1958) is an American retired 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. Vranes led Skyline High School, in Salt Lake City, to the state basketball championship in his senior year (1977). A 6'7" small forward from the

University of Utah The University of Utah (U of U, UofU, or simply The U) is a public research university in Salt Lake City, Utah. It is the flagship institution of the Utah System of Higher Education. The university was established in 1850 as the University of De ...

, he was selected by the

Seattle SuperSonics The Seattle SuperSonics (commonly known as the Seattle Sonics) were an American professional basketball team based in Seattle. The SuperSonics competed in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member club of the league's Western Confe ...

in the 1st round (5th overall) of the

1981 NBA draft The 1981 NBA draft was the 35th annual draft of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The draft was held on June 9, 1981, before the 1981–82 season. The draft was broadcast in the United States on the USA Network. In this draft, 23 NBA te ...

. Vranes played in 7 NBA seasons with the SuperSonics and

Philadelphia 76ers The Philadelphia 76ers, colloquially known as the Sixers, are an American professional basketball team based in the Philadelphia metropolitan area. The 76ers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eas ...

from 1981 to 1988. In his NBA career, Vranes played in 510 games and scored a total of 2,613 points. Perhaps his best year as a professional came during the 1983–84 season as a member of the SuperSonics, appearing in 80 games and averaging 8.4 points per game. On January 18, 1984, Vranes recorded a career high 6 blocks in a 114-107 win over the

Dallas Mavericks The Dallas Mavericks (often referred to as the Mavs) are an American professional basketball team based in Dallas. The Mavericks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Western Conference (NBA), Western Conferenc ...

. Known for his defense, after the 1984–85 season, he was named to the NBA All-Defensive Second Team. That season, on October 26, he recorded 6 steals, along with scoring a team high 24 points, during a 102-94 win over the

Utah Jazz The Utah Jazz are an American professional basketball team based in Salt Lake City. The Jazz compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference (NBA), Western Conference, Northwest Division (NBA), ...

. His single game total of 18 rebounds recorded on April 22, 1983, during a Game 2 loss to the Trail Blazers, are still tied for fourth most rebounds in Thunder/Sonic franchise history. He played in Europe for

AEK BC AEK Basketball Club ( el, ΚΑΕ ΑΕΚ ; Αθλητική Ένωσις Κωνσταντινουπόλεως ''Athlitikí Énosis Konstantinoupóleos'', "Athletic Union of Constantinople"), also known as AEK B.C. or AEK, and more commonly kno ...

, Teorematour Arese and Breeze Milano. His ancestors emigrated to the United States from Croatia in the early 1900s. Vranes is a member of

the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Christianity, Christian church that considers itself to be the Restorationism, restoration of the ...

. He is a

cousin Most generally, in the lineal kinship system used in the English-speaking world, a cousin is a type of familial relationship in which two relatives are two or more familial generations away from their most recent common ancestor. Commonly, " ...

Jeff Judkins Jeff Reed Judkins (born March 23, 1956) is a retired American professional basketball player and coach. He coached the Brigham Young University (BYU) Cougars women's basketball team from 2001 to 2022, after serving as their assistant coach in 2000 ...

, his teammate at

Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...

.Jares, Joe. "A double Danny dandy," ''Sports Illustrated'', January 29, 1979.
Retrieved December 24, 2020

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Vranes, Danny 1958 births Living people AEK B.C. players All-American college men's basketball players American expatriate basketball people in Greece American expatriate basketball people in Italy American men's basketball players American people of Croatian descent Basketball players at the 1979 Pan American Games Basketball players from Salt Lake City Greek Basket League players Latter Day Saints from Utah McDonald's High School All-Americans Medalists at the 1979 Pan American Games Pallacanestro Varese players Pan American Games gold medalists for the United States Pan American Games medalists in basketball Parade High School All-Americans (boys' basketball) Philadelphia 76ers players Seattle SuperSonics draft picks Seattle SuperSonics players Small forwards Utah Utes men's basketball players