Darrell Steven Griffith (born June 16, 1958), also known by his nickname Dr. Dunkenstein, is an American former

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

player who spent his entire professional career with 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), ...

of 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 St ...

from 1980 to 1991.Darrell Griffith NBA statistics
basketball-reference.com. Retrieved on February 1, 2010. He played collegiately at the

University of Louisville The University of Louisville (UofL) is a public research university in Louisville, Kentucky. It is part of the Kentucky state university system. When founded in 1798, it was the first city-owned public university in the United States and one o ...

High school and college

Griffith starred at

Louisville Male High School Louisville Male Traditional High School is a public co-ed secondary school serving students in grades 9 through 12 in the southside of Louisville, Kentucky, USA. It is part of the Jefferson County Public School District. History Ninth and Ches ...

and was heavily recruited by colleges all across the country. In fact, Griffith reportedly turned down an offer to forego college and sign with the ABA's Kentucky Colonels. He decided to attend his hometown school, the

, much to the delight of local fans. He didn't disappoint, delivering the school's first-ever NCAA men's basketball championship in 1980. He scored 23 points in the

Cardinals Cardinal or The Cardinal may refer to: Animals * Cardinal (bird) or Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds **''Cardinalis'', genus of cardinal in the family Cardinalidae **''Cardinalis cardinalis'', or northern cardinal, the ...

' 59–54 victory over

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California ...

in the championship game. Due to his strong performance, he was named Most Outstanding Player of the Final Four. Griffith totaled 825 points in his senior season, setting a school record. For his efforts, he was named First Team All-American by the

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. ne ...

and was given the

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 ...

as the best college basketball player in the nation. He left college as Louisville's all-time leading scorer with 2,333 points in his career. His jersey number, 35, was retired during ceremonies after the 1980 season.

Professional career

Utah selected Griffith with the second overall pick in the

1980 NBA draft The 1980 NBA draft was the 34th annual draft of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The draft was held on June 10, 1980, at the Sheraton Centre Hotel & Towers, before the 1980–81 season. In this draft, 23 NBA teams took turns selecti ...

. The Jazz had recently moved to

Salt Lake City Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the capital and most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the seat of Salt Lake County, the most populous county in Utah. With a population of 200,133 in 2020, th ...

from

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

, and the team needed a star to replace legendary shooting guard

Pete Maravich Peter Press Maravich ( ; June 22, 1947 – January 5, 1988), known by his nickname Pistol Pete, was an American professional basketball player. Maravich was born in Aliquippa, Pennsylvania, part of the Pittsburgh metropolitan area, and raised i ...

. Griffith accepted the challenge, averaging 20.6 points per game in his first season and earning the NBA's Rookie of the Year award. For the next four seasons, Griffith teamed with small forward Adrian Dantley to form one of the highest-scoring duos in the league. With defensive support from center

Mark Eaton Mark Edward Eaton (January 24, 1957 – May 28, 2021) was an American professional basketball player who spent his entire career (1982–1993) with the Utah Jazz of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Named an NBA All-Star in 1989, he wa ...

and point guard

Rickey Green Rickey Green (born August 18, 1954) is an American retired professional basketball player who played in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Green, a and point guard, led Chicago's Hirsch High School to the 1973 IHSA Class AA State ch ...

, the Jazz improved dramatically, winning the Midwest Division title in 1983–84 and qualifying for the NBA playoffs for the first time ever. Individually, Griffith transformed his offensive game, adding long-distance shooting skills to his aerial acrobatics. He led the league in three-point shooting (36.1 percent) and set an NBA record for most three-pointers made in a single season (91). His new abilities earned him a new nickname: Utah's play-by-play announcer

Hot Rod Hundley Rodney Clark "Hot Rod" Hundley (October 26, 1934 – March 27, 2015) was an American professional basketball player and television broadcaster. Hundley was the number 1 pick of the 1957 NBA draft by the Cincinnati Royals out of West Virginia Uni ...

began calling him "The Golden Griff". The following season (1984–85) was the best of Griffith's career. He averaged a career-high 22.6 points per game,Jazz: Retired Numbers
NBA.com. Retrieved on February 1, 2010. and broke his own league record by sinking 92 three-point shots. During the year, he passed Joey Hassett as the all-time NBA leader for most career three-pointers. He also continued his high-flying ways, representing the Jazz in the 1984 and 1985

NBA Slam Dunk Contest The NBA Slam Dunk Contest (officially known as the AT&T Slam Dunk) is an annual National Basketball Association (NBA) competition held during the NBA All-Star Weekend. ''Sports Illustrated'' wrote "the dunk contest was the best halftime inventio ...

s. However, the team changed dramatically in the mid-1980s with the emergence of

Karl Malone Karl Anthony Malone (born July 24, 1963) is an American former professional basketball player in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Nicknamed "the Mailman", he is considered one of the greatest power forwards in NBA history. Malone sp ...

and

John Stockton John Houston Stockton (born March 26, 1962) is an American former professional basketball player. Regarded as one of the greatest point guards, players and passers of all time, he spent his entire NBA career (1984–2003) with the Utah Jazz, a ...

as Utah's top offensive weapons. Dantley was traded away and Griffith suffered from injuries. ("Dr. Dunkenstein was paying his toll", he once said in an interview.) He missed the entire 1985–86 season due to a

stress fracture A stress fracture is a fatigue-induced bone fracture caused by repeated stress over time. Instead of resulting from a single severe impact, stress fractures are the result of accumulated injury from repeated submaximal loading, such as running or ...

in his foot, and would lose his starting position when he returned. Griffith would need an operation on his left knee in March 1988, causing him to miss the remainder of that season. He managed to reclaim his starting spot for most of the 1988–89 season, but lost it permanently the following year. His playing time gradually decreased until his retirement in 1991. He scored 12,391 total points over the course of his 10-year professional career – all with the Jazz. The franchise recognized his contributions by retiring his jersey number 35 on December 4, 1993. Griffith is now a special assistant to the President of the University of Louisville.

NBA career statistics

Regular season

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

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 ...

, 81 , , , , 35.4 , , .464 , , .192 , , .716 , , 3.6 , , 2.4 , , 1.3 , , .5 , , 20.6 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 80 , , 79 , , 32.5 , , .482 , , .288 , , .697 , , 3.8 , , 2.3 , , 1.2 , , .4 , , 19.8 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 77 , , 76 , , 36.2 , , .484 , , .288 , , .679 , , 3.9 , , 3.5 , , 1.8 , , .4 , , 22.2 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 82 , , 82 , , 32.3 , , .490 , , .361 , , .696 , , 4.1 , , 3.5 , , 1.4 , , .3 , , 20.0 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 78 , , 78 , , 35.6 , , .457 , , .358 , , .725 , , 4.4 , , 3.1 , , 1.7 , , .4 , , 22.6 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 76 , , 10 , , 24.3 , , .446 , , .335 , , .703 , , 3.0 , , 1.7 , , 1.3 , , .4 , , 15.0 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 52 , , 11 , , 20.2 , , .429 , , .275 , , .641 , , 2.4 , , 1.8 , , 1.0 , , .1 , , 11.3 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 82 , , 73 , , 29.0 , , .446 , , .311 , , .780 , , 4.0 , , 1.6 , , 1.0 , , .3 , , 13.8 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 82 , , 1 , , 17.6 , , .464 , , .372 , , .654 , , 2.0 , , .8 , , .8 , , .2 , , 8.9 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 75 , , 2 , , 13.4 , , .391 , , .348 , , .756 , , 1.2 , , .5 , , .6 , , .1 , , 5.7 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 765 , , 412 , , 28.0 , , .463 , , .332 , , .707 , , 3.3 , , 2.1 , , 1.2 , , .3 , , 16.2

Playoffs

, - , style="text-align:left;", 1984 , style="text-align:left;",

, 11 , , , , 37.9 , , .443 , , .356 , , .688 , , 5.9 , , 3.7 , , 1.7 , , .2 , , 19.2 , - , style="text-align:left;", 1985 , style="text-align:left;",

, 10 , , 10 , , 34.0 , , .456 , , .361 , , .720 , , 2.9 , , 2.5 , , 1.2 , , .5 , , 17.5 , - , style="text-align:left;", 1987 , style="text-align:left;",

, 5 , , 0 , , 20.8 , , .369 , , .400 , , .737 , , 2.4 , , 1.6 , , 1.2 , , .4 , , 13.6 , - , style="text-align:left;", 1989 , style="text-align:left;",

, 3 , , 0 , , 23.7 , , .408 , , .316 , , , , 4.0 , , .0 , , 1.3 , , .3 , , 15.3 , - , style="text-align:left;", 1990 , style="text-align:left;",

, 5 , , 0 , , 19.4 , , .452 , , .556 , , .800 , , 4.2 , , .6 , , 1.2 , , .2 , , 9.4 , - , style="text-align:left;", 1991 , style="text-align:left;",

, 3 , , 0 , , 3.0 , , .714 , , , , , , .7 , , .0 , , .0 , , .0 , , 3.3 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 37 , , 10 , , 28.1 , , .438 , , .371 , , .711 , , 3.8 , , 2.1 , , 1.3 , , .3 , , 15.1

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Griffith, Darrell 1958 births Living people African-American basketball players All-American college men's basketball players American men's basketball players Basketball players from Louisville, Kentucky Louisville Cardinals men's basketball players Louisville Male High School alumni National Basketball Association players with retired numbers National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame inductees Parade High School All-Americans (boys' basketball) Shooting guards Utah Jazz draft picks Utah Jazz players 21st-century African-American people 20th-century African-American sportspeople