Donald R. Kojis (January 15, 1939 – November 19, 2021) was an 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 who played twelve seasons in the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball sports league, 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 i ...

(NBA)..

Career

Born in

Milwaukee Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at the 2020 census, Milwaukee i ...

, Wisconsin, he attended

Marquette University Marquette University () is a private Jesuit research university in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Established by the Society of Jesus as Marquette College on August 28, 1881, it was founded by John Martin Henni, the first Bishop of the diocese of ...

and was drafted by the

Chicago Packers 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 Southeast Division. The team plays ...

in the second round (12th pick) of the

1961 NBA draft The 1961 NBA draft was the 15th annual draft of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The draft was held on March 27, 1961, before the 1961–62 season. In this draft, nine NBA teams took turns selecting amateur U.S. college basketball playe ...

. He played forward for the Baltimore Bullets (1963–64),

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 L ...

(1964–66),

Chicago Bulls The Chicago Bulls are an American professional basketball team based in Chicago. The Bulls compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division. The team was founded on January ...

(1966–67) (acquired prior to the season via the expansion draft),

San Diego Rockets The Houston Rockets are an American professional basketball team based in Houston, Texas. The team plays in the Southwest Division of the Western Conference in the National Basketball Association (NBA). The team was established in 1967, and pl ...

(1967–70) (acquired prior to the 1967–68 season via the expansion draft),

Seattle SuperSonics The Seattle SuperSonics (commonly known as the Seattle Sonics) were an American professional basketball team based in Seattle. The SuperSonics competed in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member club of the league's Western Confe ...

(1970–72) and

Kansas City-Omaha Kings The Sacramento Kings are an American professional basketball team based in Sacramento, California. The Kings compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Western Conference Pacific Division. The Kings are the olde ...

(1972–75). Kojis was one of three players ever selected in expansion drafts held in consecutive years (

Bob Weiss Robert William Weiss (born May 7, 1942) is an American professional basketball coach and former player. College career Weiss played college basketball at Penn State University from 1963 to 1965 and averaged 16.3 points per game during his senior ...

and George Wilson being the other two). Kojis was also one of a small number of players who played for three expansion teams (Kojis playing for the 1961–62 Packers, the 1966–67 Bulls, and the 1967–68 Rockets). He was named to the 1968 and 1969 NBA West All-Star Teams. He holds the Pistons' record for most field goal attempts per 48 minutes (25.35). In 12 seasons he played in 814 Games, had 19,241 Minutes Played, 3,947 Field Goals Made, 8,853 Field Goals Attempted, .446 Field Goal Percentage, 2,054 Free Throws Made, 2,853 Free Throws Attempted, .720 Free Throw Percentage, 4,555 Rebounds, 1,112 Assists, 1,937 Personal Fouls and 9,948 Points. He played for the

United States men's national basketball team The USA Basketball Men's National Team, commonly known as the United States men's national basketball team, is the basketball team representing the United States. They are the most successful team in international competition, winning medals in ...

at the

1963 FIBA World Championship The 1963 FIBA World Championship was the 4th FIBA World Championship, the international basketball world championship for men's teams. The competition was hosted by Brazil. The Philippines was originally supposed to host the tournament but FIBA ...

Personal life

Kojis resided in the

San Diego County San Diego County (), officially the County of San Diego, is a county in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 3,298,634, making it California's second-most populous county and the f ...

community of

Julian, California Julian is a census-designated place (CDP) in San Diego County, California. As of the 2010 census, the population was 1,502, down from 1,621 at the time of the 2000 census. Julian is an official California Historical Landmark (No. 412). The Jul ...

and was the director of Whispering Winds Catholic Conference Center. He died on November 19, 2021, at the age of 82.

References

External links

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basketpedya.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kojis, Don 1939 births 2021 deaths American men's basketball players Baltimore Bullets (1963–1973) players Basketball players at the 1963 Pan American Games Basketball players from Milwaukee Chicago Packers draft picks Chicago Bulls expansion draft picks Chicago Bulls players Detroit Pistons players Kansas City Kings players Marquette Golden Eagles men's basketball players Medalists at the 1963 Pan American Games National Basketball Association All-Stars Pan American Games gold medalists for the United States Pan American Games medalists in basketball People from Julian, California Phillips 66ers players San Diego Rockets expansion draft picks San Diego Rockets players Seattle SuperSonics players Small forwards United States men's national basketball team players 1963 FIBA World Championship players