Sidney Wicks (born September 19, 1949) 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 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). A native of

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

, he played

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for 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 ...

. Wicks was selected by the

Portland Trail Blazers The Portland Trail Blazers (colloquially known as the Blazers) are an American professional basketball team based in Portland, Oregon. The Trail Blazers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Northwest Division (N ...

in the 1971 NBA draft with the second overall pick. He was named the

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and was a four-time

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with the Trail Blazers. He also played professionally for the

Boston Celtics The Boston Celtics ( ) are an American professional basketball team based in Boston. The Celtics compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NBA), Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), ...

and San Diego Clippers, finishing his career after one season in Italy.

Early life

Wicks was born on September 19, 1949, in

Contra Costa County, California Contra Costa County (; ''Contra Costa'', Spanish for 'Opposite Coast') is a county located in the U.S. state of California, in the East Bay of the San Francisco Bay Area. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 1,165,927. Th ...

. He attended Alexander Hamilton High School in Los Angeles. Because of non-qualifying grades in high school, Wicks attended

Santa Monica College Santa Monica College (SMC) is a Public university, public community college in Santa Monica, California. Founded as a Junior college#United States, junior college in 1929, SMC enrolls over 30,000 students in more than 90 fields of study. The coll ...

for a year before he could attend his preferred university, the

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

(UCLA). Wicks later received Academic All-America honors at UCLA in 1971. He earned a degree in sociology from the school. A 6'8"

power forward The power forward (PF), also known as the four, is one of the five traditional Basketball positions, positions in a regulation basketball game. Traditionally, power forwards have played a role similar to center (basketball), centers and are typi ...

/ center, Wicks was a phenom at UCLA, playing on three straight

NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship The NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament, branded as March Madness, or The Big Dance, is a single-elimination tournament played in the United States to determine the men's college basketball national champion of the Division I level ...

s from 1969 to 1971. He was the Bruins' star player on the latter two championship teams. Wicks was named the Most Outstanding Player of the Final Four in 1970, the Helms National Co-Player of the Year (1970), and the USBWA and Sporting News Player of the Year (1971), and was a consensus All-American in 1970 and 1971. On February 1, 1996, his jersey #35 was retired in a halftime ceremony at UCLA's home court, Pauley Pavilion. Wicks was a 1985 inductee into the UCLA Athletics Hall of Fame. In 2010, he was selected to the

College Basketball Hall of Fame The National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame, located in Kansas City, Missouri, is a hall of fame and museum dedicated to men's college basketball. The museum is an integral portion of the College Basketball Experience created by the Nation ...

Professional career

The

selected Wicks with the second pick of the 1971 NBA draft after paying the

Cleveland Cavaliers The Cleveland Cavaliers, often referred to as the Cavs, are an American professional basketball team based in Cleveland. The Cavaliers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Central Division (NBA), Central Divis ...

$250,000 not to select him. The

Dallas Chaparrals The Dallas Chaparrals were a charter member of the American Basketball Association (ABA). The team moved to San Antonio, Texas, for the 1973–74 season and were renamed the San Antonio Spurs. The Spurs joined the National Basketball Association ...

chose him in the 1971 ABA draft. After averaging 24.5 points and 11.5 rebounds for the Trail Blazers, Wicks was named

. He also played in the

NBA All-Star Game The National Basketball Association All-Star Game is the annual all-star game hosted each February by the National Basketball Association (NBA) and showcases 24 of the league's All-star, star players. Since 2022, it was held on the third Sunday of ...

. Wicks played for the Trail Blazers from 1971 to 1976, earning a total of four All-Star selections (1972–1975). He held the Blazers' franchise record for rebounds in a game with 27 until being surpassed by Enes Kanter Freedom. Wicks averaged 22.3 points and 10.3 rebounds a game in his five years with the team. In October 1976, the rights to Wicks were sold to the Boston Celtics; Portland went on to win an NBA championship the next season. Wicks played for the Celtics from 1976 to 1978. Wicks then went to the San Diego Clippers and played there until 1981. Overall, Wicks averaged 16.8 points per game and 8.7 rebounds per game over ten seasons and 760 games in the NBA. His scoring average dropped every year after his rookie season. Following his NBA career, Wicks played one season in Italy.

Post-NBA career

Following his playing career, Wicks lived for a year in Italy before returning to the United States. He served as an assistant coach at UCLA during

Walt Hazzard Mahdi Abdul-Rahman (born Walter Raphael Hazzard Jr.; April 15, 1942 – November 18, 2011) was an American professional basketball player and college basketball coach. He played in college for the UCLA Bruins and was a member of their first natio ...

's four years as head coach. Following coaching, he entered the real estate field, living in

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

, and Los Angeles.

Personal life

Wicks was married from 1973 to 1979. He has one daughter, Sibahn Epps. At 9 a.m. on May 5, 1989, in Mira Mesa, San Diego,

, Wicks was seriously injured in a car accident. A loaded cement truck failed to stop at a red light and struck the driver's side of Wicks's vehicle. Wicks had his ruptured

spleen The spleen (, from Ancient Greek '' σπλήν'', splḗn) is an organ (biology), organ found in almost all vertebrates. Similar in structure to a large lymph node, it acts primarily as a blood filter. The spleen plays important roles in reg ...

removed at Scripps Memorial Hospital in

La Jolla, California La Jolla ( , ) is a hilly, seaside neighborhood in San Diego, California, occupying of curving coastline along the Pacific Ocean. The population reported in the 2010 census was 46,781. The climate is mild, with an average daily temperature o ...

. He also had facial lacerations and minor head injuries. A passenger in Wicks' car suffered a mild concussion and facial injuries. The cement truck driver was not injured. As of 2006, Wicks lived in

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

and Los Angeles.

NBA career statistics

Regular season

, - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;", Portland , 82 , , , , 39.6 , , .427 , , , , .710 , , 11.5 , , 4.3 , , — , , — , , 24.5 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;", Portland , 80 , , , , 39.4 , , .452 , , , , .723 , , 10.9 , , 5.5 , , , , , , 23.8 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;", Portland , 75 , , , , 38.0 , , .459 , , , , .762 , , 9.1 , , 4.3 , , 1.2 , , .8 , , 22.5 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;", Portland , 82 , , , , 38.6 , , .497 , , , , .706 , , 10.7 , , 3.5 , , 1.3 , , 1.0 , , 21.7 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;", Portland , 79 , , , , 38.5 , , .483 , , , , .674 , , 9.0 , , 3.1 , , 1.0 , , .7 , , 19.1 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

, 82 , , , , 32.2 , , .458 , , , , .668 , , 10.0 , , 2.1 , , .8 , , .7 , , 15.1 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 81 , , , , 29.8 , , .467 , , , , .660 , , 8.3 , , 2.1 , , .8 , , .6 , , 13.4 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

San Diego San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...

, 79 , , , , 25.6 , , .462 , , , , .650 , , 5.1 , , 1.6 , , .9 , , .5 , , 9.8 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 71 , , , , 30.2 , , .423 , , .000 , , .546 , , 5.8 , , 3.0 , , 1.1 , , .7 , , 7.1 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 49 , , , , 22.1 , , .437 , , .000 , , .507 , , 4.6 , , 2.3 , , .8 , , .8 , , 6.7 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 760 , , , , 33.9 , , .459 , , .000 , , .685 , , 8.7 , , 3.2 , , 1.0 , , .7 , , 16.8 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", All-Star , 4 , , 1 , , 20.3 , , .450 , , , , .722 , , 8.3 , , 1.0 , , , , , , 12.3

Playoffs

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

1977 Events January * January 8 – 1977 Moscow bombings, 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 (no ...

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

, 9 , , , , 29.0 , , .519 , , , , .732 , , 9.2 , , 1.8 , , 1.4 , , .3 , , 13.1 , - , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 9 , , , , 29.0 , , .519 , , , , .732 , , 9.2 , , 1.8 , , 1.4 , , .3 , , 13.1

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Wicks, Sidney 1949 births Living people 20th-century African-American sportsmen 21st-century African-American sportsmen Alexander Hamilton High School (Los Angeles) alumni All-American college men's basketball players American expatriate basketball people in Italy American men's basketball players Basketball coaches from California Basketball players from Los Angeles Boston Celtics players Centers (basketball) Dallas Chaparrals draft picks NBA All-Stars National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame inductees Portland Trail Blazers draft picks Portland Trail Blazers players Power forwards Reyer Venezia players San Diego Clippers players Santa Monica Corsairs men's basketball players Texas Chaparrals draft picks UCLA Bruins men's basketball coaches UCLA Bruins men's basketball players