Raymond Anthony Townsend (born December 20, 1955) 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 Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

player. He played three seasons in the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

(NBA) with the

Golden State Warriors The Golden State Warriors are an American professional basketball team based in San Francisco. The Warriors compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference. Founded in 1946 i ...

and the

Indiana Pacers The Indiana Pacers are an American professional basketball team based in Indianapolis. The Pacers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Central Division (NBA), Central Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), Ea ...

. Townsend played

college basketball College basketball is basketball that is played by teams of Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. In the Higher education in the United States, United States, colleges and universities are governed by collegiate athle ...

with the

UCLA Bruins The UCLA Bruins are the athletic teams that represent the University of California, Los Angeles. The Bruin men's and women's teams participate in NCAA Division I as part of the Big Ten Conference and the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF ...

, earning all-conference honors in the Pacific-8 (known later as the

Pac-12 The Pac-12 Conference is a collegiate athletic conference in the Western United States. It participates at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level for all sports, and its football teams compete in the Football Bowl ...

). He was selected by the Warriors in the first round of the

1978 NBA draft The 1978 NBA draft was the 32nd annual NBA draft, draft of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The draft was held on June 9, 1978, at the Plaza Hotel in New York City, New York, before the 1978–79 NBA season, 1978–79 season. In this dr ...

, with the 22nd overall pick, and became the first

Filipino-American Filipino Americans () are Americans of Filipino ancestry. Filipinos in North America were first documented in the 16th century and other small settlements beginning in the 18th century. Mass migration did not begin until after the end of the Sp ...

to play in the NBA. He played at the

point guard The point guard (PG), also called the one or the point, is one of the Basketball positions, five positions in a regulation basketball game. A point guard has perhaps the most specialized role of any position and is usually the shortest player ...

position.

High school career

Townsend attended Camden High School and

Archbishop Mitty High School Archbishop Mitty High School affectionately known as Mitty by its staff, students and alumni is a private Catholic high school located in San Jose, California, United States. The school is named for John Joseph Mitty, the fourth Archbishop of S ...

, in

San Jose, California San Jose, officially the City of San José ( ; ), is a cultural, commercial, and political center within Silicon Valley and the San Francisco Bay Area. With a city population of 997,368 and a metropolitan area population of 1.95 million, it is ...

, where he played high school basketball. As a high school senior, he averaged close to 28 points a game for the Camden High Cougars. This was prior to the 3 point shot line being regulated years later. After graduating from high school, he played

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school then known as the southern branch of the C ...

College career

Townsend played

, with the

. He was a member of the 1975 UCLA National Basketball Championship team, which was the 10th and final NCAA championship team of the school's

head coach A head coach, senior coach, or manager is a professional responsible for training and developing athletes within a sports team. This role often has a higher public profile and salary than other coaching positions. In some sports, such as associat ...

John Wooden John Robert Wooden (October 14, 1910 – June 4, 2010) was an American basketball coach and player. Nicknamed "the Wizard of Westwood", he won ten National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament, nati ...

. He earned first-team All-Pac-8 honors as a senior, in 1978.

Professional career

Townsend was selected with the last pick in the first round (22nd overall), of the

, by the

. He was the first Filipino-American to play in the NBA. He concluded his

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

career in

1982 Events January * January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00). * January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street Bridge in Washington, D.C. ...

, as a member of the

. He also played in Italy's LBA with Banco Roma, during the 1984–85 season.Ray Townsend .
/ref> With Roma, he won the 1984 edition of the

FIBA Intercontinental Cup The FIBA Intercontinental Cup, previously known to as the FIBA World Cup for Champion Clubs and the FIBA Club World Cup, is an annual international men's basketball competition organised by FIBA, the sport's global governing body. The competit ...

Personal life

Townsend was born in

. He is half-Filipino through his mother. A 1976

Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with a circulation of over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellen ...

issue featured Townsend's father, Ray Sr., in its "Faces in the Crowd" section. He was recognized as "the oldest junior college basketball player in history." At age 39, he was the second man off the bench.KUSports.com: Fathers’ examples still guide Kansas coaches
/ref> Townsend's brother, Kurtis, is an assistant coach for the

Kansas Jayhawks The Kansas Jayhawks, commonly referred to as simply KU or Kansas, are the athletic teams that represent the University of Kansas. KU is one of three schools List of college athletic programs in Kansas, in the state of Kansas that participate in ...

team that won the

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

and

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

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

. After his basketball playing career, Townsend worked as youth sports development coordinator in

Career statistics

NBA

Source

Regular season

, - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;", Golden State , 65 , , , , 11.9 , , .439 , , , , .735 , , .8 , , 1.4 , , .4 , , .1 , , 4.7 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;", Golden State , 75 , , , , 15.5 , , .406 , , .154 , , .714 , , 1.2 , , 1.5 , , .8 , , .1 , , 5.4 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

Indiana Indiana ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Michigan to the northwest, Michigan to the north and northeast, Ohio to the east, the Ohio River and Kentucky to the s ...

, 14 , , 0 , , 6.8 , , .268 , , .222 , , .550 , , .9 , , .7 , , .2 , , .0 , , 2.5 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 154 , , 0 , , 13.1 , , .411 , , .171 , , .703 , , 1.0 , , 1.4 , , .6 , , .1 , , 4.8

References

External links

*
Italian League Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Townsend, Raymond 1955 births Living people Alberta Dusters players American expatriate basketball people in Brazil American expatriate basketball people in Canada American expatriate basketball people in Italy American men's basketball players American sportspeople of Filipino descent Basketball players from San Jose, California Clube Atlético Monte Líbano basketball players Dallas Mavericks expansion draft picks Esporte Clube Sírio basketball players Golden State Warriors draft picks Golden State Warriors players Indiana Pacers players Montana Golden Nuggets players Virtus Roma players Point guards Shooting guards UCLA Bruins men's basketball players Archbishop Mitty High School alumni