Jerome Whitehead (September 30, 1956 – December 20, 2012) 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. He was selected by the

San Diego Clippers The Los Angeles Clippers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Clippers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division in the league's Western Conference. The Clipper ...

in the second round (41st overall) of the 1978 NBA draft. A 6'10" center-forward from

Marquette University Marquette University () is a Private university, private Society of Jesus, Jesuit research university in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Established by the Society of Jesus as Marquette College on August 28, 1881, it was founded by John Henni, John Martin ...

, Whitehead played in 11

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) seasons from 1978 to 1989. He played for the Clippers,

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), ...

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 ...

Cleveland Cavaliers The Cleveland Cavaliers (often referred to as the Cavs) are an American professional basketball team based in Cleveland. The Cavaliers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference (NBA), Ea ...

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 ...

and

San Antonio Spurs The San Antonio Spurs are an American professional basketball team based in San Antonio. The Spurs compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference (NBA), Western Conference Southwest Division ( ...

. In his NBA career, Whitehead played in 679 games and scored a total of 4,423 points. In his junior season at Marquette University, Whitehead helped lead his Warriors to the 1977 national championship. In the semi-final game of the Final Four that season, Whitehead made a game-winning basket at the buzzer in the 1977 national semifinal victory over

UNC-Charlotte The University of North Carolina at Charlotte (UNC Charlotte or simply Charlotte) is a public research university in Charlotte, North Carolina. UNC Charlotte offers 24 doctoral, 66 master's, and 79 bachelor's degree programs through nine colle ...

on a length-of-the-court pass from

Butch Lee Alfred "Butch" Lee Jr. (born December 5, 1956) is a Puerto Rican retired professional basketball player. Lee was the first Puerto Ricans, Puerto Rican and first Latin American-born athlete to play in the National Basketball Association (NBA), acc ...

. Previous to that, UNC-Charlotte's

Cedric Maxwell Cedric Bryan Maxwell (born November 21, 1955) is an American retired professional basketball player now in radio broadcasting. Nicknamed "Cornbread", he played 11 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA), and played a key role in two c ...

had tied the game with only 3 seconds remaining. The game appeared to be headed for overtime when Whitehead's bucket won the game for the Warriors. On December 20, 2012, Whitehead was found dead; an autopsy performed on December 21 found Whitehead died as a result of gastrointestinal hemorrhaging.

References

External links

Basketballreference.com page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Whitehead, Jerome 1956 births 2012 deaths African-American basketball players All-American college men's basketball players American men's basketball players Basketball players from Illinois Buffalo Braves draft picks Cleveland Cavaliers players Dallas Mavericks expansion draft picks Dallas Mavericks players Golden State Warriors players Marquette Golden Eagles men's basketball players Riverside City Tigers men's basketball players San Antonio Spurs players San Diego Clippers players Sportspeople from Waukegan, Illinois Utah Jazz players Centers (basketball) Power forwards (basketball) 20th-century African-American sportspeople 21st-century African-American people Deaths from gastrointestinal hemorrhage