Kevin Porter (born April 17, 1950) is a retired 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 played eleven seasons 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) and led the league in assists four times in his pro career.

Amateur career

Born and raised in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, Porter graduated from

DuSable High School Jean Baptiste Point DuSable High School is a public four-year high school campus located in the Bronzeville neighborhood on the South Side of Chicago, Illinois, United States. DuSable is owned by the Chicago Public Schools district. The school ...

, earning a starting

point guard The point guard (PG), also called the one or the point, is one of the five Basketball positions, positions in a regulation basketball game. A point guard has perhaps the most specialized role of any position. Point guards are expected to run t ...

spot as a sophomore, averaging 15 ppg and 7 apg. Steady improvement in his junior (to 20.7 ppg, 9 apg) and senior seasons (22.9 ppg, 13 apg), earned him All-City and All-Area honors in 1968. Porter led DuSable to the last

Chicago Daily News The ''Chicago Daily News'' was an afternoon daily newspaper in the midwestern United States, published between 1875 and 1978 in Chicago, Illinois. History The ''Daily News'' was founded by Melville E. Stone, Percy Meggy, and William Dougherty ...

Christmas Holiday Tournament Championship. Porter then played collegiately at

Saint Francis University Saint Francis University (SFU) is a private Catholic university in Loretto, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1847 and conducted under the tradition of the Franciscan Friars of the Third Order Regular. The university is situated on in the fore ...

Loretto, Pennsylvania Loretto is a borough in Cambria County, Pennsylvania, Cambria County, Pennsylvania. As of the 2010 United States census, 2010 census it had a population of 1,302. Like the rest of Cambria County, it is part of the Johnstown, Pennsylvania Metropoli ...

. Porter thrived at Saint Francis, scoring 1,766 points in his career, averaging 22.9 over four years, including 24.7 ppg as a senior.

Professional career

Over an 11-year NBA career, Porter averaged 11.6 ppg, 8.1 apg, while winning four assist titles. Basketball historian Bijan Bayne said, “What always stood out about Kevin Porter is that he was pass-first, in an era of

Pistol A pistol is a handgun, more specifically one with the chamber integral to its gun barrel, though in common usage the two terms are often used interchangeably. The English word was introduced in , when early handguns were produced in Europe, an ...

Clyde Clyde may refer to: People * Clyde (given name) * Clyde (surname) Places For townships see also Clyde Township Australia * Clyde, New South Wales * Clyde, Victoria * Clyde River, New South Wales Canada * Clyde, Alberta * Clyde, Ontario, a tow ...

Pearl A pearl is a hard, glistening object produced within the soft tissue (specifically the mantle) of a living shelled mollusk or another animal, such as fossil conulariids. Just like the shell of a mollusk, a pearl is composed of calcium carb ...

, Tiny,

Westphal Westphal or Westphall may refer to the following people: *Ari Westphal (born 1994), Brazilian fashion model * Bernd Westphal (born 1960), German politician * Brigitta Westphal (born 1944), German painter *Carlo Westphal (born 1985), German professi ...

and

Jo Jo Jojo, JoJo or Jo Jo is a given name, surname, nickname or stage name used by several people and fictional characters, including: People with the given name, nickname or stage name Musicians * JoJo (singer) (born 1990), American R&B singer, songwr ...

. That watered down his star quality. But he had this signature high yo-yo dribble that was under supreme control, as he surveyed with his head up—unusual before

Magic Magic or Magick most commonly refers to: * Magic (supernatural), beliefs and actions employed to influence supernatural beings and forces * Ceremonial magic, encompasses a wide variety of rituals of magic * Magical thinking, the belief that unrela ...

. He should be remembered as someone with quickness and vision who orchestrated NBA games against history’s premier guards.” Porter himself added, "That's what I did. I got the ball to scorers. That's what kept me in the league that long."

Baltimore / Capital / Washington Bullets (1972–1975)

In the 1972 NBA draft, Porter was the 39th overall pick, selected by the Baltimore Bullets in the third round. In his second year, he led the league in personal fouls with 319. While he received 320 the next year, he won a starting role and won the first of four NBA assist titles (8.0 per game) in

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. ...

. The Bullets reached the

NBA Finals 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 ...

, but were swept by the underdog

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 ...

Detroit Pistons (1975–1977)

In late August 1975, Porter was traded to the

Detroit Pistons The Detroit Pistons are an American professional basketball team based in Detroit. The Pistons compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division and play their home games at Li ...

for

Dave Bing David Bing (born November 24, 1943) is an American former professional basketball player, businessman, and politician who served as the 74th mayor of Detroit, Michigan from 2009 to 2013. He is a member of the Democratic Party. After starring a ...

and a first round draft pick used to select

Tree Rollins Wayne Monte "Tree" Rollins (born June 16, 1955) is an American former professional basketball player who played 18 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for the Atlanta Hawks, Cleveland Cavaliers, Detroit Pistons, Houston Rockets, ...

. Porter suffered a knee injury in the first season with Detroit and appeared in only nineteen games. Returning to the court for the 1976-77 Detroit Pistons season, Porter clashed with coach

Herb Brown Herbert Brown (born March 14, 1936) is an American basketball coach and the brother of Hall of Fame coach Larry Brown. He is the former head coach of the Detroit Pistons (1976–78). Career Brown succeeded Ray Scott when he was promoted from a ...

, telling a

Detroit Free Press The ''Detroit Free Press'' is the largest daily newspaper in Detroit, Michigan, US. The Sunday edition is titled the ''Sunday Free Press''. It is sometimes referred to as the Freep (reflected in the paper's web address, www.freep.com). It primari ...

reporter, "Write this - I want out. He is not man enough to say that the problem is him and me — well, I am. Nothing is going to get solved here." Sports Illustrated covered the tension but the Pistons made the post-season (44-38, .537) despite challenges between Brown and Porter, as well as those with Marvin "Bad News" Barnes in a season PistonsPowered would describe as "absolutely insane, probably the craziest in Pistons history. They won a lot of games, but were completely dysfunctional." John Papanek of

Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellence twic ...

(SI) would state, "if the Pistons were a TV mini-series, they would make

Roots A root is the part of a plant, generally underground, that anchors the plant body, and absorbs and stores water and nutrients. Root or roots may also refer to: Art, entertainment, and media * ''The Root'' (magazine), an online magazine focusing ...

seem like Ding Dong School."

New Jersey Nets (1977–1978)

In the early start of his third season with the Pistons, the tensions with Brown came to a head as Porter was traded with Howard Porter and cash to the

New Jersey Nets New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, ...

for

Al Skinner Albert Lee Skinner Jr. (born June 16, 1952) is an American men's college basketball head coach and a former collegiate and professional basketball player. He was formerly the head coach of the Boston College Eagles men's basketball team and was t ...

, a 1978 2nd round draft pick (used to select

Terry Tyler Terry Christopher Tyler (born October 30, 1956) is a retired American basketball player. Amateur career A 6'7" forward from Northwestern High School, Tyler signed to play for Dick Vitale at the University of Detroit. Long established himself ...

) and a 1979 2nd round draft pick (used to select Tony Price). Herb Brown was fired as well. With New Jersey, on February 24, 1978, Porter had 29 assists in a game against the Rockets while with the Nets. He also had 14 points and 5 rebounds in a season that led to his 2nd assist title (10.2 apg). The per-game assist record would stand until

Scott Skiles Scott Allen Skiles Sr. (born March 5, 1964) is an American former basketball coach and player. He coached the Phoenix Suns, Chicago Bulls, Milwaukee Bucks and Orlando Magic. A first-round draft pick out of Michigan State University, Skiles played ...

tallied 30 assists on December 30, 1990. Porter also averaged a career high 16.2 ppg for the Nets in 1977-78.

Return to Detroit (1978–1979)

After the season, Porter was traded back to the Pistons, now led by coach

Dick Vitale Richard John Vitale (; born June 9, 1939), also known as "Dickie V", is an American basketball sportscaster. A former head coach in the college and professional ranks, he is well known for his 41-year tenure as a college basketball broadcaster fo ...

, in exchange for

Eric Money Eric Money (born February 6, 1955) is a retired American professional basketball player. Amateur career A 6'0" guard out of Kettering High School in Detroit, Michigan, Money played alongside fellow future NBA players Lindsay Hairston and Coniel ...

. In that

season A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and pol ...

, he won his third assist title - 13.4 apg, including a remarkable 30 point-25 assist game, on March 9, 1979. Additionally he was the first player to record over 1,000 assists in a single season. It would be five years before another player would record over 1,000 assists. Porter appeared as a member of the Detroit team in the cult classic basketball film

The Fish That Saved Pittsburgh ''The Fish That Saved Pittsburgh'' is a 1979 American sports/fantasy comedy film directed by Gilbert Moses and coproduced by David Dashev and Gary Stromberg. It was produced by Lorimar and distributed by United Artists. The film was shot on loc ...

in 1979 alongside Pistons teammates

Bob Lanier Robert Jerry Lanier Jr. (September 10, 1948 – May 10, 2022) was an American professional basketball player who was a center for the Detroit Pistons and the Milwaukee Bucks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Lanier was inducted int ...

John Shumate John Henry Shumate (born April 6, 1952) is an American former professional basketball player and coach. Shumate grew up in Elizabeth, New Jersey, and played high school basketball at Thomas Jefferson High School. A 6'9" forward/center from the ...

Chris Ford Christopher Joseph Ford (born January 11, 1949) is an American former professional basketball player and head coach. He is known for making the first counted NBA three-point shot on October 12, 1979. Amateur career A 6-foot-5 (1.96 m) guard from ...

, and

Leon Douglas Leon Douglas (born August 26, 1954) is an American basketball coach and former professional player. He played seven seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA) before transitioning to an extensive professional career overseas in Europe. ...

Return to the Bullets (1979–1983)

After that season, Porter signed as a veteran free agent with the Washington Bullets for 1979-80. The Detroit Pistons received a first round draft pick in

1980 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning System time epoch begins at 00:00 UTC. * January 9 – ...

(which ended up with Golden State, who selected

Rickey Brown Rickey Darnell Brown (born August 29, 1958) is an American former professional basketball player. At a height of 2.08 m (6'10") tall, he played at the power forward and center positions. High school Brown attended and played high school basketb ...

with that pick) and a

1982 Events January * January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00). * January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street bridges, 14th Street Bridge in ...

first round pick (Used to select John Bagley) as compensation for his departure. Porter appeared in two playoff games that year and garnered nine assists as the Bullets fell in the first round. The following year, he had 9.1 assists per game, which was enough to win his final assist title. However, during training camp before the 1981 season, he snapped his

Achilles tendon The Achilles tendon or heel cord, also known as the calcaneal tendon, is a tendon at the back of the lower leg, and is the thickest in the human body. It serves to attach the plantaris, gastrocnemius (calf) and soleus muscles to the calcaneus (h ...

, missing all of that season. He only played 11 games of the next season, having only 4.2 assists per game. On January 18, 1983, he was waived by the Bullets. When he retired in 1983, he had accumulated 5,314 career assists (good for 49th all time) and 7,645 career points, while also being 14th all time in career assists per game and 13th in assist percentage at 37.5. Notably, of the top 50 in career assist leaders, he played the fewest games (659). Despite leading the league in assists per game four times, he was never selected to an All Star Game. Only five players have won more assists titles than Porter, and all five of them are in the Hall of Fame ( Stockton, Cousy,

Robertson Robertson may refer to: People * Robertson (surname) (includes a list of people with this name) * Robertson (given name) * Clan Robertson, a Scottish clan * Robertson, stage name of Belgian magician Étienne-Gaspard Robert (1763–1837) Places ...

, Nash and

Kidd Kidd may refer to: Places * Kidd (railway point), British Columbia, a former Canadian settlement * Kidd's Beach, a coastal town in the Eastern Cape, South Africa * Kidd Islands, Antarctic island grouping * Mount Kidd, a peak in the Canadian R ...

Toyota Super Corollas (1983)

1983 The year 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to Internet protocol suite, TCP/IP is officially completed (this is consid ...

, Porter played in the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

for the fabled

Toyota Super Corollas The Toyota Super Corollas were a multi-titled basketball team in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) from 1975 PBA season, 1975 to 1983 PBA season, 1983. Founded in 1973 by businessman and sportsman Dante Silverio, the team - formally na ...

team in the

Philippine Basketball Association The Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) is a men's professional basketball league in the Philippines composed of twelve company-branded franchised teams. Founded in 1975, it is the first professional basketball league in Asia and is the se ...

as an import during the 1983 PBA Reinforced Filipino Conference tournament. He scored 50 points in his debut on May 17, 1983 in a 135-141 loss to Tanduay Rhum, but was let go after eight games.

Post playing career

While Porter was playing in the

, the head coaching job at

became available and

Georgetown University Georgetown University is a private university, private research university in the Georgetown (Washington, D.C.), Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789 as Georg ...

coach John Thompson recommended Porter for the job.Link text
/ref> Porter took over as the St. Francis head coach on July 11, 1983. During his four seasons as the St. Franics coach, Porter's record was 42-68 (.382). Porter then coached at

Central State University Central State University (CSU) is a public, historically black land-grant university in Wilberforce, Ohio. It is a member-school of the Thurgood Marshall College Fund. Established by the state legislature in 1887 as a two-year program for te ...

, a historically black college in

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

, and then returned to his hometown Chicago, fulfilling a dream to become an elementary

physical education Physical education, often abbreviated to Phys Ed. or P.E., is a subject taught in schools around the world. It is usually taught during primary and secondary education, and encourages psychomotor learning by using a play and movement explorati ...

teacher, helping at-risk children with after school programs. "I've been blessed. All I wanted was to be a fifth-grade teacher. That was my life. I wanted to be a teacher." Porter was inducted into the Illinois Basketball Coaches Hall of Fame in 1976, the Cambria County Sports Hall of Fame in 1984 and the Saint Francis Athletics Hall of Fame in 2003. Porter is retired and lives in Chicago. In January 2022,

Washington Wizards The Washington Wizards are an American professional basketball team based in Washington, D.C. The Wizards compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference (NBA), Eastern Conference Southeast D ...

announcer

Glenn Consor Glenn Consor is a National Basketball Association (NBA) and NCAA basketball analyst and studio host who played collegiate and pro basketball. He was also an NBA scout, which led to his broadcasting career. He played professional basketball for Mac ...

apologized to current

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 ...

guard Kevin Porter Jr. when he commented that Porter "like his dad, pulled the trigger right at the right time", after Porter made a key shot, under the mistaken belief that Porter Jr. was the son of Kevin Porter, the former Washington point guard. The father of Kevin Porter Jr., Bryan Kevin Porter Sr., plead guilty to first-degree manslaughter in a shooting death of a 14-year-old girl in 1993 and was sentenced to 4 1/2 years in prison. Porter Sr. died in 2004 after being shot in a South

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

bar. The Rockets star was 4 years old when his father was killed.

NBA player statistics

Regular season

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Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...

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New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

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, 11 , , 0 , , 19.1 , , .525 , , – , , .833 , , 0.5 , , 4.2 , , 0.9 , , 0.0 , , 4.3 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 659 , , – , , 29.0 , , .483 , , .188 , , .737 , , 1.8 , , 8.1 , , 1.4 , , 0.1 , , 11.6

Playoffs

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, 3 , , – , , 20.3 , , .357 , , – , , .667 , , 2.0 , , 5.7 , , 0.3 , , 0.0 , , 5.3 , - , style="text-align:left;",

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, 2 , , – , , 24.5 , , .438 , , .000 , , .400 , , 1.0 , , 4.5 , , 1.5 , , 0.0 , , 8.0 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 33 , , – , , 29.4 , , .463 , , .000 , , .649 , , 2.1 , , 5.8 , , 1.1 , , 0.0 , , 11.0

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Porter, Kevin 1950 births Living people 20th-century African-American sportspeople 21st-century African-American people African-American basketball players American expatriate basketball people in the Philippines American men's basketball coaches American men's basketball players Basketball players from Chicago Baltimore Bullets (1963–1973) draft picks Baltimore Bullets (1963–1973) players Capital Bullets players College men's basketball head coaches in the United States Detroit Pistons players New Jersey Nets players Philippine Basketball Association imports Point guards Saint Francis Red Flash men's basketball coaches Saint Francis Red Flash men's basketball players Toyota Super Corollas players Washington Bullets players

Amateur career

Professional career

Baltimore / Capital / Washington Bullets (1972–1975)

Detroit Pistons (1975–1977)

New Jersey Nets (1977–1978)

Return to Detroit (1978–1979)

Return to the Bullets (1979–1983)

Toyota Super Corollas (1983)

Post playing career

NBA player statistics

Regular season

Playoffs

See also

References

External links