Walter Berry (born May 14, 1964) 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. After spending three 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), he had a very successful career in various leagues around Europe and the EuroLeague. Berry played the

power forward The power forward (PF), also known as the four, is one of the five traditional positions in a regulation basketball game. Traditionally, power forwards have played a role similar to centers. When on offense, they typically play with their ba ...

position. Out of New York, Berry was originally nicknamed "The Truth."

College career

Berry played

college basketball In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athleti ...

for his hometown college, St. John's University, with the then called St. John's Redmen. At St. John's he won the

John Wooden Award The John R. Wooden Award is an award given annually to the most outstanding men's and women's college basketball players. The program consists of the men's and women's Player of the Year awards, the Legends of Coaching award, and recognizing the ...

, the Big East Men's Basketball Player of the Year award, plus the

USBWA College Player of the Year The Oscar Robertson Trophy is given out annually to the outstanding men's college basketball player by the United States Basketball Writers Association (USBWA). The trophy is considered to be the oldest of its kind and has been given out since 195 ...

award in 1986, after averaging 23 points and 11.1 rebounds per game. Berry, nicknamed, "The Truth", was also the second leading scorer on St. John's 1985 Final Four team.

Professional career

NBA

Berry was selected by the

Portland Trail Blazers The Portland Trail Blazers (colloquially known as the Blazers) are an American professional basketball team based in Portland, Oregon. The Trail Blazers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Con ...

with the 14th overall pick in the 1986 NBA draft. He only played 7 games for the Blazers before he was traded to the

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 exchange for

Kevin Duckworth Kevin Jerome Duckworth (April 1, 1964 – August 25, 2008) was an American professional basketball player who played as center in the National Basketball Association (NBA). A native of Illinois, he played college basketball at Eastern Illinois U ...

. He spent three seasons in the

NBA 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 St ...

, from 1986 to 1989, with the Trail Blazers, Spurs,

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, ...

, and

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 ...

. However, he did not get along with some of his coaches, including Larry Brown, while with the San Antonio Spurs. He was released by the New Jersey Nets, after failure to conform to team policy.Unhappy Berry Is Waived By nets.
/ref> He holds NBA career averages of 14.1 points and 4.7 rebounds per game.

Europe

In 1989, Berry went to Italy, where he played for Italian LBA League club Paini Napoli. After that, he spent much of his career playing in Greece, in the

Greek Basket League The Greek Basket League (GBL), often also referred to as the Greek A1 Basketball League, or Greek Basketball Championship (originally called Panhellenic Basketball Championship), and also known as the Stoiximan Basket League for sponsorship reaso ...

and the EuroLeague, where he forged a reputation as one of the most savvy scorers, with a wide variety of shots and ways of scoring.

Later career

Berry would continue to play basketball for

Jayson Williams Jayson Williams (born February 22, 1968) is an American former professional basketball player who played in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for 11 seasons, primarily with the New Jersey Nets. He played his first three seasons with the ...

' NBA Charity Team. He joined Jayson Williams at the

2002 Winter Olympics The 2002 Winter Olympics, officially the XIX Olympic Winter Games and commonly known as Salt Lake 2002 ( arp, Niico'ooowu' 2002; Gosiute Shoshoni: ''Tit'-so-pi 2002''; nv, Sooléí 2002; Shoshoni: ''Soónkahni 2002''), was an internation ...

in Salt Lake City, where Williams' NBA charity team played

exhibition game An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, a scrimmage, a demonstration, a preseason game, a warmup match, or a preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sporting event whose prize money and impact on the player's or ...

NBA career statistics

Regular season

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Portland Portland most commonly refers to: * Portland, Oregon, the largest city in the state of Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States * Portland, Maine, the largest city in the state of Maine, in the New England region of the northeas ...

, 7 , , 0 , , 2.7 , , .750 , , – , , 1.000 , , 1.0 , , 0.1 , , 0.3 , , 0.0 , , 1.9 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

San Antonio ("Cradle of Freedom") , image_map = , mapsize = 220px , map_caption = Interactive map of San Antonio , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = United States , subdivision_type1= U.S. state, State , subdivision_name1 = Texas , s ...

, 56 , , 45 , , 28.0 , , .529 , , .000 , , .648 , , 5.4 , , 1.9 , , 0.6 , , 0.7 , , 17.6 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 73 , , 56 , , 26.3 , , .563 , , – , , .600 , , 5.4 , , 1.5 , , 0.8 , , 0.9 , , 17.4 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

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 ...

, 29 , , 17 , , 19.2 , , .468 , , – , , .683 , , 4.0 , , 0.7 , , 0.3 , , 0.4 , , 8.9 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

, 40 , , 14 , , 20.0 , , .541 , , .500 , , .713 , , 3.8 , , 1.4 , , 0.5 , , 0.9 , , 8.8 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 205 , , 132 , , 23.7 , , .539 , , .200 , , .638 , , 4.7 , , 1.4 , , 0.6 , , 0.7 , , 14.1

Playoffs

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1988 File:1988 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The oil platform Piper Alpha explodes and collapses in the North Sea, killing 165 workers; The USS Vincennes (CG-49) mistakenly shoots down Iran Air Flight 655; Australia celebrates its Australian ...

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, 3, , 0, , 31.3, , .540, , .000, , .800, , 7.0, , 2.0, , 1.7, , 0.7, , 22.0 , - , style="text-align:left;",

1989 File:1989 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Cypress Street Viaduct, Cypress structure collapses as a result of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, killing motorists below; The proposal document for the World Wide Web is submitted; The Exxo ...

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, 4, , 0, , 14.3, , .500, , –, , .875, , 2.3, , 1.3, , 0.5, , 0.3, , 8.3 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 7 , , 0 , , 21.6 , , .526 , , .000 , , .826 , , 4.3 , , 1.6 , , 1.0 , , 0.4 , , 14.1

References

External links

FIBA EuroLeague Profile

Italian League Profile

Spanish League Profile

Greek League Profile
* 198
Oscar Robertson Trophy
{{DEFAULTSORT:Berry, Walter 1964 births Living people African-American basketball players All-American college men's basketball players American expatriate basketball people in Greece American expatriate basketball people in Italy American expatriate basketball people in Slovenia American expatriate basketball people in Spain American expatriate basketball people in Venezuela American men's basketball players Basketball players from New York City Aris B.C. players Houston Rockets players Iraklis Thessaloniki B.C. players Liga ACB players Makedonikos B.C. players New Jersey Nets players Olympiacos B.C. players Pallacanestro Cantù players Panteras de Miranda players P.A.O.K. BC players People from East Harlem Portland Trail Blazers draft picks Portland Trail Blazers players Power forwards (basketball) San Antonio Spurs players San Jacinto Central Ravens men's basketball players Sportspeople from Manhattan St. John's Red Storm men's basketball players 21st-century African-American people 20th-century African-American sportspeople