Louis Dampier (born November 20, 1944) is an American retired professional basketball player. A 6-foot-tall

guard Guard or guards may refer to: Professional occupations * Bodyguard, who protects an individual from personal assault * Crossing guard, who stops traffic so pedestrians can cross the street * Lifeguard, who rescues people from drowning * Prison ...

, Dampier is one of only a handful of men to play all nine seasons 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, ...

(ABA) (1967–1976), all with the

Kentucky Colonels The Kentucky Colonels were a member of the American Basketball Association for all of the league's nine years. The name is derived from the historic Kentucky colonels. The Colonels won the most games and had the highest winning percentage of ...

. He also was one of just two players to play all nine ABA seasons with the same team; the other was

Byron Beck Byron Beck (born January 25, 1945) is an American former professional basketball player. A 6 foot 9 inch forward/center from the University of Denver, Beck was one of six players (along with Louie Dampier, Gerald Govan, Bob Netolicky, Stew John ...

of the Denver Rockets, later renamed the Nuggets. After the ABA–NBA merger in 1976 Dampier also played three seasons (

1976 Events January * January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 11 – The 1976 Phila ...

–

1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the ''International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the ''Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the song ...

) in the National Basketball Association (NBA) with the San Antonio Spurs. Dampier was inducted as a member of the

Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame is an American history museum and hall of fame, located at 1000 Hall of Fame Avenue in Springfield, Massachusetts. It serves as basketball's most complete library, in addition to promoting and pres ...

in 2015.

High school

Dampier was born in

Indianapolis Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the state capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the seat of Marion County. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the consolidated population of Indianapolis and Marion ...

and played at Southport High School. He also played in an annual all-star game featuring top high-school players from Indiana and Kentucky.

University of Kentucky

Dampier was a two-sport athlete at the University of Kentucky, playing baseball as well as basketball. Playing under coach Adolph Rupp, Dampier,

Tommy Kron Thomas M. Kron (February 28, 1943 – November 29, 2007) was an American former professional basketball player. A 6ft 5in guard, Kron, played his rookie season (1966–1967) with the St. Louis Hawks. He was drafted by the Seattle SuperSonics in ...

and Pat Riley led Rupp's Runts to the 1966 NCAA championship game, where they lost to Texas Western College (now the University of Texas at El Paso) in a watershed game for college basketball. This game spearheaded the end of racial segregation in college basketball. During his three years at Kentucky (at the time, freshmen were ineligible to play varsity sports), Dampier was a two-time All-American and three-time All- Southeastern Conference selection. He was also named Academic All-SEC twice and Academic All-American once. Upon graduation from Kentucky in 1967, Dampier scored 1,575 points, at the time third-most in school history behind only Cotton Nash (1,770) and

Alex Groza Alex John Groza (October 7, 1926 – January 21, 1995) was an American professional basketball player from Martins Ferry, Ohio. Resulting from the CCNY point shaving scandal, Groza was banned from the National Basketball Association (NBA) for l ...

(1,744).

Pro basketball

In 1967, the Cincinnati Royals (now the Sacramento Kings) selected Dampier in the fourth round of the NBA Draft and the

selected him in the ABA draft. Dampier eventually signed with the Kentucky Colonels of the fledgling ABA and teamed with Darel Carrier to form the most explosive backcourt duo in the league. In each of the ABA's first three seasons, both Dampier and Carrier averaged at least 20 points per game. Both were three-point field goal specialists (the ABA had used the three-point field goal from its inception), but especially Dampier who made 500 during a three-year stretch: a record 199 during the 1968–69 season, 198 in 1969–70 and 103 in 1970–71. At the conclusion of the ABA's history, Dampier made a career-record 794 3-point field goals. He also finished first all-time in the ABA in games played (728), minutes played (27,770), points scored (13,726), and assists (4,044). During the 1970–71 season, he hit 57 consecutive free throws for what was then a pro record (ABA or NBA). Seven times, he was named an ABA All-Star. He was a unanimous choice for the ABA Top 30 team. He played on the Colonels' 1975 ABA championship team, which featured a later Kentucky standout,

Dan Issel Daniel Paul Issel (born October 25, 1948) is an American former professional basketball player and coach. An outstanding collegian at the University of Kentucky, Issel was twice named an All-American en route to a school-record 25.7 points per ...

, as well as 7'2" center Artis Gilmore. After the 1976 season, the ABA ceased operations with Kentucky and two other teams folding. Dampier was selected by the San Antonio Spurs (one of the four teams to join the NBA in the ABA–NBA merger) in the 1976 ABA Dispersal Draft. Playing mostly as a role player behind George Gervin, Dampier averaged 6.7 points in 232 NBA games. Dampier later served as an assistant coach with 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 ...

. Several divisions in the 21st century semi-pro

ABA ABA may refer to: Businesses and organizations Broadcasting * Alabama Broadcasters Association, United States * Asahi Broadcasting Aomori, Japanese television station * Australian Broadcasting Authority Education * Académie des Beaux- ...

were initially named after stars of the old ABA, including Dampier. Dampier was inducted into the

in September 2015.

ABA and NBA career statistics

Regular season

, - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;", Kentucky (ABA) , 72 , , - , , 41.1 , , .421 , , .268 , , .823 , , 4.6 , , 3.6 , , - , , - , , 20.7 , - , style="text-align:left", , style="text-align:left;", Kentucky (ABA) , 78 , , - , , style="background:#cfecec;", 42.6* , , .420 , , .361 , , .811 , , 3.8 , , 5.8 , , - , , - , , 24.8 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;", Kentucky (ABA) , 82 , , - , , 40.9 , , .399 , , .361 , , .831 , , 3.8 , , 5.5 , , - , , - , , 26.0 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;", Kentucky (ABA) , 84 , , - , , 38.3 , , .418 , , .368 , , .851 , , 3.5 , , 5.5 , , - , , - , , 18.5 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;", Kentucky (ABA) , 83 , , - , , 38.7 , , .442 , , .361 , , .836 , , 3.1 , , 6.2 , , - , , - , , 15.9 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;", Kentucky (ABA) , 80 , , - , , 38.0 , , .451 , , .348 , , .784 , , 2.7 , , 6.5 , , 1.2 , , 0.1 , , 16.8 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;", Kentucky (ABA) , 84 , , - , , 35.0 , , .465 , , style="background-color:#cfecec", .387* , , .832 , , 2.4 , , 5.6 , , 1.0 , , 0.2 , , 17.8 , - , style="text-align:left;background:#afe6fa", † , style="text-align:left;", Kentucky (ABA) , 83 , , - , , 34.7 , , .500 , , .396 , , .809 , , 2.5 , , 5.4 , , 1.1 , , 0.6 , , 16.8 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;", Kentucky (ABA) , 82 , , - , , 34.6 , , .479 , , .368 , , .863 , , 1.9 , , 5.7 , , 0.7 , , 0.6 , , 13.0 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;", San Antonio , 80 , , - , , 20.4 , , .460 , , - , , .744 , , 1.0 , , 2.9 , , 0.6 , , 0.2 , , 6.6 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;", San Antonio , 82 , , - , , 24.8 , , .509 , , - , , .752 , , 1.5 , , 3.5 , , 1.1 , , 0.2 , , 9.1 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;", San Antonio , 70 , , - , , 10.9 , , .490 , , - , , .744 , , 0.9 , , 1.8 , , 0.5 , , 0.1 , , 3.9 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan=2, Career , 960 , , - , , 33.5 , , .444 , , .358 , , .820 , , 2.6 , , 4.9 , , 0.9 , , 0.2 , , 15.9

Playoffs

, - , style="text-align:left;",

1968 The year was highlighted by protests and other unrests that occurred worldwide. Events January–February * January 5 – "Prague Spring": Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia. * Januar ...

, style="text-align:left;", Kentucky (ABA) , 5 , , - , , 44.8 , , .442 , , .405 , , .839 , , 4.8 , , 4.6 , , - , , - , , 26.6 , - , style="text-align:left;", 1969 ABA Playoffs, 1969 , style="text-align:left;", Kentucky (ABA) , 7 , , - , , 46.6 , , .357 , , .291 , , .870 , , 4.3 , , 4.0 , , - , , - , , 22.3 , - , style="text-align:left;", 1970 ABA Playoffs, 1970 , style="text-align:left;", Kentucky (ABA) , 12 , , - , , 43.8 , , .369 , , .329 , , .774 , , 3.8 , , 6.8 , , - , , - , , 17.7 , - , style="text-align:left;", 1971 ABA Playoffs, 1971 , style="text-align:left;", Kentucky (ABA) , 19 , , - , , 43.6 , , .385 , , .319 , , .742 , , 4.1 , , 9.4 , , - , , - , , 16.9 , - , style="text-align:left;, 1972 ABA Playoffs, 1972 , style="text-align:left;", Kentucky (ABA) , 6 , , - , , 42.3 , , .420 , , .478 , , .625 , , 3.2 , , 7.5 , , - , , - , , 13.2 , - , style="text-align:left;, 1973 ABA Playoffs, 1973 , style="text-align:left;", Kentucky (ABA) , 12 , , - , , 34.8 , , .516 , , .455 , , .700 , , 2.1 , , 3.3 , , - , , - , , 13.4 , - , style="text-align:left;, 1974 ABA Playoffs, 1974 , style="text-align:left;", Kentucky (ABA) , 8 , , - , , 28.6 , , .483 , , .500 , , .778 , , 2.0 , , 4.0 , , 0.8 , , 0.0 , , 13.4 , - , style="text-align:left;background:#afe6fa;", 1975 ABA Playoffs, 1975† , style="text-align:left;", Kentucky (ABA) , 15 , , - , , 40.3 , , .509 , , .385 , , .868 , , 2.4 , , 7.5 , , 1.3 , , 0.5 , , 16.9 , - , style="text-align:left;", 1976 ABA Playoffs, 1976 , style="text-align:left;", Kentucky (ABA) , 10 , , - , , 39.3 , , .519 , , .500 , , .900 , , 1.3 , , 7.7 , , 1.1 , , 0.5 , , 16.0 , - , style="text-align:left;", 1977 NBA Playoffs, 1977 , style="text-align:left;", San Antonio , 2 , , - , , 31.0 , , .250 , , - , , 1.000 , , 1.5 , , 4.5 , , 0.5 , , 0.5 , , 6.0 , - , style="text-align:left;", 1978 NBA Playoffs, 1978 , style="text-align:left;", San Antonio , 6 , , - , , 21.5 , , .459 , , - , , .250 , , 1.2 , , 2.5 , , 0.7 , , 0.3 , , 5.8 , - , style="text-align:left;", 1979 NBA Playoffs, 1979 , style="text-align:left;", San Antonio , 7 , , - , , 7.9 , , .571 , , - , , .571 , , 0.7 , , 1.1 , , 0.4 , , 0.1 , , 2.9 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan=2, Career , 109 , , - , , 37.1 , , .436 , , .366 , , .781 , , 2.8 , , 6.0 , , 0.9 , , 0.3 , , 15.1

References

External links

Basketball-Reference.com
statistics

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dampier, Louie 1944 births Living people All-American college men's basketball players American men's basketball coaches American men's basketball players Basketball coaches from Indiana Basketball players from Indianapolis Cincinnati Royals draft picks Denver Nuggets assistant coaches Kentucky Colonels draft picks Kentucky Colonels players Kentucky Wildcats baseball players Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball players Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame inductees Point guards San Antonio Spurs players Shooting guards