Charles Edward Davis Jr. (born October 5, 1958) 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.

Early life

Davis was born on October 5, 1958, in

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

, and grew up in the

housing projects Public housing, also known as social housing, refers to subsidized or affordable housing provided in buildings that are usually owned and managed by local government, central government, nonprofit organizations or a combination thereof ...

of Nashville. He attended

McGavock High School McGavock High School (commonly McGavock or Big Mac) is a public high school located in Nashville, Tennessee. The high school is a Model Academy School (affiliated with the National Career Academy Coalition). In January 2014, President Barack Ob ...

in Nashville. Davis led the McGavock High School Raiders to a 25–6 record and victory in the Class AAA Tennessee State Championship in 1976. He was selected Most Valuable Player in the championship tournament.

College basketball

Davis attended

Vanderbilt University Vanderbilt University (informally Vandy or VU) is a private university, private research university in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. Founded in 1873, it was named in honor of shipping and railroad magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt, who provide ...

(1976-81) and starred on its basketball team, graduating in 1981. He led the team in rebounding each of his four full years playing, and led it in scoring twice. In 1978, he was selected third-team All-

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central United States, South Central and Southeastern United States. Its 16 members in ...

(SEC), and in 1979 was first-team All-SEC. He once held the school's record for career field goals, and is ninth (as of 2025) in all-time career scoring at Vanderbilt. He had a

redshirt Redshirt, Red Shirt, or Redshirts may refer to: Sports * Redshirt (college sports) Redshirt, in United States college athletics, is a delay or suspension of an athlete's participation in order to lengthen their period of eligibility. Typically ...

year (1979-80) due to injuries. Together with teammate Mike Rhodes, they were known as "Town and Country". Davis and Rhodes jointly held the school's career field goal record (683) for over 25 years, until it was broken by

Shan Foster Shan Donte Foster (born August 20, 1986) is an American former professional basketball player. He played shooting guard for the Commodores college basketball team at Vanderbilt University. He is the school's all-time leader in both points and thr ...

in the 2007-08 season. Davis was at odds with head coach Richard Schmidt (who came in during Davis's redshirt year) over Davis playing with an injury. Davis has stated that Schmidt limited Davis's play the following year, which kept Davis from the all-time Vanderbilt scoring record at the time. Schmidt stated that he believed it was better for the team to give his younger players more playing time, and that was the reason for limiting both Davis's and Rhodes's playing time in their senior year.

Professional basketball

A 6 ft 7 in (201 cm) 215 lb (97 kg)

small forward The small forward (SF), also known as the three, is one of the five Basketball position, positions in a regulation basketball game. Small forwards are typically shorter, quicker, and leaner than Power forward (basketball), power forwards and Cent ...

, he was selected in the second round of the

1981 NBA draft The 1981 NBA draft was the 35th annual NBA draft, draft of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The draft was held on June 9, 1981, before the 1981–82 NBA season, 1981–82 season. The draft was broadcast in the United States on the NBA ...

by the

Washington Bullets The Washington Wizards are an American professional basketball team based in Washington, D.C. The Wizards compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference. The team plays i ...

and played eight 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) as a member of the Bullets,

Milwaukee Bucks The Milwaukee Bucks are an American professional basketball team based in Milwaukee. The Bucks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Central Division (NBA), Central Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), East ...

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 Southwest Division (NBA), Southwest Division of the Western Conference (NBA ...

, and

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 Central Division of the Eastern Conference. The team was founded on January 16 ...

. After three full years with the Bullets, Davis was waived in November 1984, and signed with Milwaukee less than a week later. He played with the Bucks through the 1985-86 season. Davis did not play in the NBA during the 1986-87 season. In November 1987, the Bucks traded him along with a second round draft pick to the Spurs for

Larry Krystkowiak Larry Brett Krystkowiak ( ; born September 23, 1964) is a retired American professional basketball player, and former head coach of the Utah Utes men's basketball team. Early life Krystkowiak was born in Missoula, Montana, to Bernard and Helen K ...

. The Spurs waived him in December 1987, and he signed with the Bulls as a free agent in September 1988. Davis played his final two NBA seasons in Chicago (1988-90), on teams led by

Michael Jordan Michael Jeffrey Jordan (born February 17, 1963), also known by his initials MJ, is an American businessman and former professional basketball player, who is currently a minority owner of the Charlotte Hornets of the National Basketball Ass ...

. He also spent time playing professional basketball in Italy and Japan. On March 18, 1986, in perhaps his most notable game as a professional, Davis led the Bucks to a win while scoring 26 points and grabbing 10 rebounds in only 26 minutes of playing time, in a 116–87 victory over the

. Davis scored 2,214 points and grabbed 1,008

rebounds 'Rebound' is a term used in sports to describe the ball (or puck or other object of play) becoming available for possession by either opponent after an attempt to put the ball or puck into the goal has been unsuccessful. Rebounds are generally ...

in his NBA career. He played in a total of 49 playoff games over six different seasons.

Personal life

While still an NBA player, Davis established The Charles Davis Foundation, to provide educational, athletic, and vocational instruction for Nashville inner-city children. Thousands of children have been served by the foundation over the decades. He also served as its executive director. In 1999, he was chairman of the board of Innovative Technology Systems. Davis is the cousin of former Vanderbilt women's basketball player Jessica Mooney, who grew her basketball skills at the Charles Davis basketball camps in the summer. Davis and his wife Toni were inspirations to Mooney.

Honors and awards

Davis has received the following awards and honors, among others; * The NCAA Silver Anniversary Award (2006)2006 Silver Anniversary Awards
. Retrieved August 15, 2007. * Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame (1998) * Vanderbilt Athletics Hall of Fame (2009) * Nashville Sports Council Community Spirit Award (2000) * Recognized both on the local and national levels for his public service work * Reese. L. Smith, Jr. Achievement and Community Service Award (1994) * Tennessee Role Model of the Year from Taxpayers for a Better America (1994) * Nominated for President George H. Bush’s “Thousand Points of Light” Award (1992) * A street near the housing projects where he grew up now bears his name

NBA career statistics

Regular season

, - , align="left" , 1981–82 , align="left" ,

Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

, 54 , , 10 , , 10.6 , , .478 , , .000 , , .811 , , 2.5 , , 0.6 , , 0.2 , , 0.2 , , 3.8 , - , align="left" , 1982–83 , align="left" ,

, 74 , , 10 , , 15.7 , , .470 , , .200 , , .629 , , 2.9 , , 1.0 , , 0.4 , , 0.3 , , 7.6 , - , align="left" , 1983–84 , align="left" ,

, 46 , , 0 , , 10.2 , , .472 , , .111 , , .615 , , 2.2 , , 0.7 , , 0.3 , , 0.2 , , 5.0 , - , align="left" , 1984–85 , align="left" ,

, 4 , , 0 , , 7.0 , , .200 , , .000 , , .750 , , 1.0 , , 0.3 , , 0.3 , , 0.0 , , 1.8 , - , align="left" , 1984–85 , align="left" ,

Milwaukee Milwaukee is the List of cities in Wisconsin, most populous city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Located on the western shore of Lake Michigan, it is the List of United States cities by population, 31st-most populous city in the United States ...

, 57 , , 2 , , 13.1 , , .436 , , .100 , , .828 , , 2.6 , , 0.9 , , 0.4 , , 0.1 , , 6.2 , - , align="left" , 1985–86 , align="left" ,

, 57 , , 7 , , 15.3 , , .474 , , .125 , , .813 , , 3.0 , , 1.0 , , 0.5 , , 0.1 , , 7.7 , - , align="left" , 1987–88 , align="left" ,

, 5 , , 0 , , 7.8 , , .333 , , .000 , , .000 , , 0.6 , , 0.6 , , 0.4 , , 0.2 , , 2.4 , - , align="left" , 1987–88 , align="left" ,

San Antonio San Antonio ( ; Spanish for " Saint Anthony") is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in Greater San Antonio. San Antonio is the third-largest metropolitan area in Texas and the 24th-largest metropolitan area in the ...

, 16 , , 0 , , 11.7 , , .433 , , .067 , , .700 , , 2.4 , , 1.1 , , 0.0 , , 0.2 , , 5.8 , - , align="left" , 1988–89 , align="left" ,

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

, 49 , , 3 , , 11.1 , , .426 , , .267 , , .731 , , 2.3 , , 0.6 , , 0.2 , , 0.1 , , 3.8 , - , align="left" , 1989–90 , align="left" ,

, 53 , , 0 , , 8.1 , , .367 , , .280 , , .875 , , 1.5 , , 0.3 , , 0.2 , , 0.2 , , 2.5 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 415 , , 32 , , 12.2 , , .451 , , .170 , , .737 , , 2.4 , , 0.7 , , 0.3 , , 0.2 , , 5.3

Playoffs

, - , align="left" , 1981–82 , align="left" ,

, 6 , , - , , 8.7 , , .412 , , .000 , , 1.000 , , 0.8 , , 0.5 , , 0.2 , , 0.2 , , 2.7 , - , align="left" , 1983–84 , align="left" ,

, 3 , , - , , 5.7 , , .583 , , .000 , , .000 , , 1.0 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 4.7 , - , align="left" , 1984–85 , align="left" ,

, 5 , , 0 , , 10.2 , , .400 , , .000 , , .750 , , 2.0 , , 0.8 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 3.8 , - , align="left" , 1985–86 , align="left" ,

, 12 , , 0 , , 12.1 , , .362 , , .000 , , .900 , , 2.1 , , 0.5 , , 0.3 , , 0.0 , , 5.0 , - , align="left" , 1988–89 , align="left" ,

, 17 , , 0 , , 11.2 , , .404 , , .167 , , .778 , , 2.5 , , 0.3 , , 0.2 , , 0.1 , , 2.7 , - , align="left" , 1989–90 , align="left" ,

, 6 , , 0 , , 3.3 , , .286 , , .000 , , .000 , , 0.5 , , 0.2 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 0.7 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 49 , , 0 , , 9.7 , , .398 , , .091 , , .857 , , 1.8 , , 0.4 , , 0.2 , , 0.0 , , 3.2

References

External links

Career statistics
{{DEFAULTSORT:Davis, Charles 1958 births Living people American expatriate basketball people in Italy American men's basketball players Basketball players from Nashville, Tennessee Chicago Bulls players Milwaukee Bucks players Power forwards San Antonio Spurs players Small forwards Vanderbilt Commodores men's basketball players Victoria Libertas Pallacanestro players Washington Bullets draft picks Washington Bullets players