David Barakau Wesley (born November 14, 1970) 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 court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

player who played 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 St ...

(NBA). He is the current television color analyst for the New Orleans Pelicans. He is the cousin of former NBA player

Michael Dickerson Michael DeAngelo Dickerson (born June 25, 1975) is an American former professional basketball player who was a member of the Houston Rockets and Vancouver / Memphis Grizzlies of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The shooting guard was ...

Early life

David graduated from

Longview High School Longview High School (colloquially known as LHS) is a public high school located in the city of Longview, Texas, in Gregg County, United States and classified as a 5A school by the UIL. It is a part of the Longview Independent School District ...

Longview, Texas Longview is a city in the U.S. state of Texas, and county seat of Gregg County; a small part of Longview extends into the western portion of neighboring Harrison County. Longview is located in East Texas, where Interstate 20 and U.S. Highways ...

. He was classmates with former NFL player Bobby Taylor.

College career

Wesley played his freshman year at

Temple Junior College Temple College is a public community college in Temple, Texas, with regional branch campuses at other locations in Central Texas. History Temple Junior College was founded in 1926 to serve post-secondary students in eastern Bell County, Tex ...

, then transferred to

Baylor University Baylor University is a private Baptist Christian research university in Waco, Texas. Baylor was chartered in 1845 by the last Congress of the Republic of Texas. Baylor is the oldest continuously operating university in Texas and one of the ...

. Wesley averaged 17 points per game and 4.4 assists per game in 72 total games at Baylor, and left in 1992, 33 hours short of a degree in

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 explorat ...

Professional career

Wichita Falls Texans (1992-1993)

When Wesley left

in 1992, many scouts considered him too small (at 6'1") to play as a shooting guard in the NBA, and doubted his ability to make the transition to point guard. As a result, Wesley was not selected in the

1992 NBA draft The 1992 NBA draft took place on June 24, 1992, at Memorial Coliseum in Portland, Oregon. The draft is considered to be one of the deepest in NBA history. The top three picks (Shaquille O'Neal, Alonzo Mourning, Christian Laettner) were conside ...

. He spent the 1992–93 season in the CBA playing for the

Wichita Falls Texans The Wichita Falls Texans were a minor league basketball team in the Continental Basketball Association from 1988 to 1994. The team was located in Wichita Falls, Texas, and played their games at D.L. Ligon Coliseum, located on the campus of Midwe ...

New Jersey Nets, Boston Celtics, Charlotte/New Orleans Hornets, and Houston Rockets (1993-2006)

Wesley signed with 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 ...

as a free agent in 1993. He later played for the Boston Celtics, the

Charlotte Charlotte ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 census, making Charlotte the 16th-most populo ...

New Orleans Hornets 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 ...

the Houston Rockets, and the Cleveland Cavaliers. Wesley dispelled the initial doubts about his ability to succeed in the NBA, averaging almost 13 points and 4.6 assists per game over a 14-year career, including ten straight seasons with double-digit scoring averages (1995–96 through 2004–05). He received praise as a tenacious man-to-man defender, and a reliable outside shooter. Wesley played in 55 playoff games and scored double figures in more than half of them.

Cleveland Cavaliers (2006-2007)

During the 2006–07 season, Wesley only played for 35 games and averaged career-lows of 2.1 points, 1.0 rebounds and 1.1 assists. He also did not play any minutes during the

playoffs The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eit ...

. On September 29, 2007, Wesley was traded back to the Hornets for

Cedric Simmons Cedric Simmons (born January 3, 1986) is an American-born Bulgarian professional basketball player for SeaHorses Mikawa in Japan. He was born in the United States, but also holds Bulgarian citizenship, and has played for the senior men's Bulgaria ...

. On October 29, 2007, the New Jersey Nets reacquired guard David Wesley from the New Orleans Hornets for swingman Bernard Robinson, center Mile Ilić and cash considerations. On November 1, 2007, not even a week after the Nets signed him, he was waived. A few days later, Wesley stated he planned on ending his NBA career. His 11,842 career points rank second all-time behind

Moses Malone Moses Eugene Malone (March 23, 1955 – September 13, 2015) was an American professional basketball player who played in both the American Basketball Association (ABA) and the National Basketball Association (NBA) from 1974 through 1995. A cen ...

among undrafted NBA players.

Coaching

From 2011–2012, Wesley worked as an assistant coach for the

NBA D-League The NBA G League, or simply the G League, is the National Basketball Association's (NBA) official minor league basketball organization. The league was known as the National Basketball Development League (NBDL) from 2001 to 2005, and the NBA Dev ...

Texas Legends The Texas Legends are an American professional basketball team in the NBA G League based in Frisco, Texas, and are affiliated with the Dallas Mavericks. The Legends play their home games at the Comerica Center. The team began as the Colorado ...

Broadcasting

On August 6, 2012, it was announced that Wesley would join the Fox Sports New Orleans team in broadcasting

games. (Since then, the team has been renamed the New Orleans Pelicans.) He was hired to be the Pelicans television color analyst.

Personal

David Wesley was charged in 2000 with misdemeanor reckless driving in the crash that killed his friend and teammate Bobby Phills. A Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police report said Phills was speeding at more than when Phills lost control and crossed into oncoming traffic and collided with a car. The report said both Phills and Wesley were driving "in an erratic, reckless, careless, negligent and/or aggressive manner". In a non-jury trial, a judge acquitted Wesley of the charge of racing Phills.After the Crash: Friends, teammates, and family remember the career, legacy, and tragic death of former Charlotte Hornets guard Bobby Phills
. ''

Grantland ''Grantland'' was a sports and pop-culture blog owned and operated by ESPN. The blog was started in 2011 by veteran writer and sports journalist Bill Simmons, who remained as editor-in-chief until May 2015. ''Grantland'' was named after famed e ...

''. March 31, 2015. Retrieved on June 1, 2016.

References

External links

David Wesley Profile NBA
– David Wesley Player Profile * {{DEFAULTSORT:Wesley, David 1970 births Living people American men's basketball players Basketball coaches from Texas Basketball players from San Antonio Baylor Bears men's basketball players Boston Celtics players Charlotte Hornets players Cleveland Cavaliers players Houston Rockets players Junior college men's basketball players in the United States Longview High School alumni National Basketball Association broadcasters New Jersey Nets players New Orleans Hornets announcers New Orleans Hornets players New Orleans Pelicans announcers People from Longview, Texas Point guards Shooting guards Sportspeople from San Antonio Texas Legends coaches Undrafted National Basketball Association players Wichita Falls Texans players