Walter Davis
Teams
Phoenix Suns - 1977-88
Denver Nuggets - 1988-91, 1991-92
Portland Trail Blazers - 1991
Playoffs
Appearances - 10 (1978,1979,1980,1981,1982,1983,1984,1989,1990,1991)
Conference Finals - 3 (1979,1984,1991)
NBA Finals - 0
Championships - 0
Awards and Honors
Rookie of the Year - 1978
All-NBA Second Team - 2 (1978,1979)
*(actual in bold, deserved in italics)
All-Time Ranks
Total Points - #56
Free Throw Percentage - #65
Total Steals - #81
Field Goal Percentage - #99
League Leads
Free Throw Percentage (#3-1990, #4-1984)
Walter Davis was a star player from the day he started playing for the University of North Carolina, and he was selected to play on Team USA in the 1976 Olympics in Montreal, where he was part of the gold medal winning team after his junior year, then went on to be drafted #5 overall by the Phoenix Suns in 1977.
Davis' pro career started out with a bang, as "The Greyhound" averaged 24.2 points and 6 rebounds per game on his way to winning the Rookie of the Year and being named All-NBA Second Team. In his second season he scored 23.6 per game and made the All-NBA Second Team again, and even led Phoenix to the Western Conference Finals, but it turned out that he never reached his rookie numbers again.
Davis suffered through a back injury and a knee injury in the early 1980s, but was still spectacular when he was on the court. In 1983 he set an NBA record that still stands: Most points scored in a game before missing a shot. He scored 34 points on 15 field goals and 4 free throws before missing a shot in the final minute of the game, and nobody has matched that since.
Davis stunned many in 1985 when he admitted to being a cocaine addict and entered a rehab program, which resulted in him missing the majority of the season. That began a streak of 4 straight years of no playoffs, though Davis finally started to look like his old self in 1986 and 1987, averaging over 20 points per game in both seasons, before it came out that he had been using cocaine again. He testified to prosecutors against several teammates in exchange for immunity, then entered rehab once again. When his contract ran out in 1988, the Suns didn't seriously attempt to resign him.
He found a home in Denver, where he played most of the rest of his career, except for a short stay in Portland late in 1991. He was still a solid player in his first stint in Denver, coming off the bench to average at least 15 points per game in 2 seasons.
Davis is the Suns' all-time leading scorer and led them to the Conference Finals twice, but he also was the face of one of the darkest periods in the franchise's history. The relationship was eventually mended, and Phoenix has retired his number 6 jersey and added him to the team's Ring of Honor.
Davis is the rare wing player who shot over 50% for his career, and was also a very good free throw shooter and a volume scorer. Despite the injury and drug issues, he still managed to have a long and productive career, just one that ended without earning the ultimate prize, but with how well he played for over a decade in Phoenix, he deserves to be remembered as one of the greatest of all time.
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