Louis Dampier (born November 20, 1944) is an American retired 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. 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 gu ...

, 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 American Basketball Association–National Basketball Association merger in 1976, leading to four A ...

(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 of the

Denver Rockets Denver () is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Consolidated city and county, consolidated city and county, the List of capitals in the United States#State capital, capital, and List of municipalities in Colorado#, most populous city of th ...

, later renamed the Nuggets. After the

ABA–NBA merger The ABA-NBA merger was a major pro sports business maneuver in 1976 when the American Basketball Association (ABA) combined with the National Basketball Association (NBA), after multiple attempts over several years. The NBA and ABA had entered ...

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 ...

–

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 so ...

) 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) with 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 Southwest Division. The team plays its home ...

. 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 Southport High School is a public high school located in Indianapolis, Indiana, United States. Located in Perry Township, on the south side of the city, Southport is a part of the Perry Township Schools. Demographics The demographic breakdown ...

. 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 The University of Kentucky (UK, UKY, or U of K) is a public land-grant research university in Lexington, Kentucky. Founded in 1865 by John Bryan Bowman as the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Kentucky, the university is one of the state ...

, playing

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding t ...

as well as basketball. Playing under coach

Adolph Rupp Adolph Frederick Rupp (September 2, 1901 – December 10, 1977) was an American college basketball coach. He is ranked seventh in total victories by a men's NCAA Division I college coach, winning 876 games in 41 years of coaching at the Un ...

, 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 Patrick James Riley (born March 20, 1945) is an American professional basketball executive, former coach, and former player in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He has been the team president of the Miami Heat since 1995, and he also se ...

led Rupp's Runts to the 1966

NCAA championship The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges and ...

game, where they lost to Texas Western College (now the

University of Texas at El Paso The University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) is a public research university in El Paso, Texas. It is a member of the University of Texas System. UTEP is the second-largest university in the United States to have a majority Mexican American stud ...

) in a watershed game for college basketball. This game spearheaded the end of racial segregation in college basketball. During his three years at

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia ...

(at the time,

freshmen A freshman, fresher, first year, or frosh, is a person in the first year at an educational institution, usually a secondary school or at the college and university level, but also in other forms of post-secondary educational institutions. Ara ...

were ineligible to play varsity sports), Dampier was a two-time All-American and three-time All-

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is an American college athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central and Southeastern United States. Its fourteen members include the flagship public universities o ...

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 Charles Francis "Cotton" Nash (born July 24, 1942) is an American former Major League Baseball (MLB) outfielder and National Basketball Association (NBA) forward. Basketball career Born in Jersey City, New Jersey, Nash played collegiately for ...

(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 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 ...

(now the

Sacramento 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 oldest ...

) 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 A three-point field goal (also 3-pointer, three, or trey) is a field goal in a basketball game made from beyond the three-point line, a designated arc surrounding the basket. A successful attempt is worth three points, in contrast to the two poi ...

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 throw In basketball, free throws or foul shots are unopposed attempts to score points by shooting from behind the free-throw line (informally known as the foul line or the charity stripe), a line situated at the end of the restricted area. Free throws ...

s 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, as well as 7'2" center

Artis Gilmore Artis Gilmore (born September 21, 1949) is an American former professional basketball player who played in the American Basketball Association (ABA) and National Basketball Association (NBA). Gilmore was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basket ...

. After the 1976 season, the ABA ceased operations with Kentucky and two other teams folding. Dampier was selected by the

(one of the four teams to join the NBA in the

) in the 1976 ABA Dispersal Draft. Playing mostly as a role player behind

George Gervin George Gervin ( ; born April 27, 1952), nicknamed "the Iceman", is an American former professional basketball player who played in both the American Basketball Association (ABA) and National Basketball Association (NBA) for the Virginia Squires, ...

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

, 80 , , - , , 20.4 , , .460 , , - , , .744 , , 1.0 , , 2.9 , , 0.6 , , 0.2 , , 6.6 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 82 , , - , , 24.8 , , .509 , , - , , .752 , , 1.5 , , 3.5 , , 1.1 , , 0.2 , , 9.1 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 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. * J ...

, style="text-align:left;", Kentucky (ABA) , 5 , , - , , 44.8 , , .442 , , .405 , , .839 , , 4.8 , , 4.6 , , - , , - , , 26.6 , - , style="text-align:left;",

1969 This year is notable for Apollo 11's first landing on the moon. Events January * January 4 – The Government of Spain hands over Ifni to Morocco. * January 5 **Ariana Afghan Airlines Flight 701 crashes into a house on its approach to ...

, style="text-align:left;", Kentucky (ABA) , 7 , , - , , 46.6 , , .357 , , .291 , , .870 , , 4.3 , , 4.0 , , - , , - , , 22.3 , - , style="text-align:left;",

1970 Events January * January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC. * January 5 – The 7.1 Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity of X (''Extreme''). Between 10,000 and ...

, style="text-align:left;", Kentucky (ABA) , 12 , , - , , 43.8 , , .369 , , .329 , , .774 , , 3.8 , , 6.8 , , - , , - , , 17.7 , - , style="text-align:left;",

1971 * The year 1971 had three partial solar eclipses ( February 25, July 22 and August 20) and two total lunar eclipses ( February 10, and August 6). The world population increased by 2.1% this year, the highest increase in history. Events J ...

, style="text-align:left;", Kentucky (ABA) , 19 , , - , , 43.6 , , .385 , , .319 , , .742 , , 4.1 , , 9.4 , , - , , - , , 16.9 , - , style="text-align:left;,

1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using mean solar tim ...

, style="text-align:left;", Kentucky (ABA) , 6 , , - , , 42.3 , , .420 , , .478 , , .625 , , 3.2 , , 7.5 , , - , , - , , 13.2 , - , style="text-align:left;,

1973 Events January * January 1 - The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Denmark 1973 enlargement of the European Communities, enter the European Economic Community, which later becomes the European Union. * January 15 – Vietnam War: ...

, style="text-align:left;", Kentucky (ABA) , 12 , , - , , 34.8 , , .516 , , .455 , , .700 , , 2.1 , , 3.3 , , - , , - , , 13.4 , - , style="text-align:left;,

1974 Major events in 1974 include the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis and the resignation of United States President Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal. In the Middle East, the aftermath of the 1973 Yom Kippur War determined politics; ...

, 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 It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe. Events January * January 1 - Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...

† , 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;",

, 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 Events January * January 8 – Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group. * January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (now the Democrat ...

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

, 2 , , - , , 31.0 , , .250 , , - , , 1.000 , , 1.5 , , 4.5 , , 0.5 , , 0.5 , , 6.0 , - , style="text-align:left;",

1978 Events January * January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213. * January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd government). * January 6 ...

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

, 6 , , - , , 21.5 , , .459 , , - , , .250 , , 1.2 , , 2.5 , , 0.7 , , 0.3 , , 5.8 , - , style="text-align:left;",

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

, 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

High school

University of Kentucky

Pro basketball

ABA and NBA career statistics

Regular season

Playoffs

See also

References

External links