Nick Levoter Weatherspoon (July 20, 1950 – October 17, 2008) 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 court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

player.

Career

Weatherspoon, nicknamed "Spoon", scored 1,431 points at

Canton McKinley High School McKinley Senior High School is a public high school in Canton, Ohio, United States. It is the only high school in the Canton City School District and has two campuses: Downtown Campus (mostly known as Early College High School or Timken High ...

, holding the Bulldog scoring record for 37 years until Raymar Morgan broke it during the 2005–06 season. He was an All-American at the

University of Illinois The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the Univer ...

before being selected by the

Capital Bullets Capital may refer to: Common uses * Capital city, a municipality of primary status ** List of national capital cities * Capital letter, an upper-case letter Economics and social sciences * Capital (economics), the durable produced goods used fo ...

with the 13th pick of the

1973 NBA draft The 1973 NBA draft was the 27th annual draft of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The draft was held on April 24 and May 5, 1973, before the 1973–74 season. In this draft, 17 NBA teams took turns selecting amateur U.S. college baske ...

. Named to the 1974

NBA All-Rookie Team The NBA All-Rookie Team is an annual National Basketball Association (NBA) honor given since the 1962–63 NBA season to the top rookies during the regular season. Voting is conducted by the NBA head coaches who are not allowed to vote for player ...

, Weatherspoon spent a total of seven seasons in the NBA with the Bullets, the

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 ...

, the

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 ...

, and the

San Diego Clippers The Los Angeles Clippers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Clippers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division in the league's Western Conference. The Clipper ...

. Weatherspoon was elected to the " Illini Men's Basketball All-Century Team" in 2004. He was a member of Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity, and was initiated in the Fraternity through Tau Chapter in 1971.

Honors

Basketball

* 1972 - Team MVPFightingIllini.com
/ref> * 1972 - Honorable Mention All-

Big Ten The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...

* 1973 - Team Captain * 1973 - Team MVP * 1973 - 1st Team All-Big Ten * 1973 - Honorable Mention All American * 2004 - Elected to the " Illini Men's Basketball All-Century Team". * 2008 - Honored as one of the thirty-three honored jerseys which hang in the State Farm Center to show regard for being the most decorated basketball players in the University of Illinois' history.

Career statistics

NBA

Regular season

, - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;", Capital , 65 , , , , 18.7 , , .412 , , , , .691 , , 6.1 , , .6 , , .7 , , .2 , , 7.6 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

, 82 , , , , 16.4 , , .456 , , , , .746 , , 4.2 , , .6 , , .8 , , .3 , , 7.5 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 64 , , , , 16.9 , , .476 , , , , .701 , , 4.3 , , .9 , , .7 , , .3 , , 8.3 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 11 , , , , 13.8 , , .355 , , , , .625 , , 2.2 , , .2 , , .3 , , .5 , , 5.4 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

, 51 , , , , 29.5 , , .461 , , , , .632 , , 7.9 , , 1.0 , , 1.0 , , .5 , , 12.8 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, 41 , , , , 14.9 , , .443 , , , , .881 , , 3.0 , , .8 , , .5 , , .2 , , 5.1 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United State ...

, 82 , , , , 32.2 , , .480 , , , , .739 , , 5.5 , , 1.6 , , 1.0 , , .5 , , 13.8 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 57 , , , , 19.7 , , .434 , , , , .692 , , 3.6 , , .9 , , .6 , , .3 , , 6.9 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 453 , , , , 21.4 , , .455 , , , , .713 , , 4.9 , , .9 , , .8 , , .3 , , 9.0

Playoffs

, - , style="text-align:left;", 1974 , style="text-align:left;", Capital , 7 , , , , 12.4 , , .474 , , , , .400 , , 3.9 , , .0 , , .3 , , .3 , , 2.9 , - , style="text-align:left;",

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;",

, 17 , , , , 23.8 , , .515 , , , , .814 , , 4.8 , , .9 , , .8 , , .1 , , 10.3 , - , style="text-align:left;",

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 ...

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

, 7 , , , , 32.0 , , .450 , , , , .560 , , 6.0 , , 1.4 , , .3 , , .6 , , 12.3 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 31 , , , , 23.1 , , .489 , , , , .699 , , 4.8 , , .8 , , .6 , , .3 , , 9.1

College

, - , style="text-align:left;", 1970–71 , style="text-align:left;",

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rockf ...

, 23 , , , , , , .452 , , , , .718 , , 10.7 , , , , , , , , 16.6 , - , style="text-align:left;", 1971–72 , style="text-align:left;",

, 24 , , 24 , , , , .419 , , , , .746 , , 11.0 , , , , , , , , 20.8 , - , style="text-align:left;", 1972–73 , style="text-align:left;",

, 24 , , 23 , , 36.7 , , .457 , , , , .711 , , 12.3 , , , , , , , , 25.0 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 71 , , 47 , , 36.7 , , .443 , , , , .725 , , 11.4 , , , , , , , , 20.9

References

External links

College stats
at Sports-Reference.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Weatherspoon, Nick 1950 births 2008 deaths African-American basketball players American men's basketball players Basketball players from Mississippi Capital Bullets draft picks Capital Bullets players Chicago Bulls players Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball players Parade High School All-Americans (boys' basketball) People from Greenwood, Mississippi San Diego Clippers players Seattle SuperSonics players Small forwards Basketball players from Canton, Ohio Washington Bullets players 20th-century African-American sportspeople 21st-century African-American people