Daniel John Willard Ferry (born October 17, 1966) is an American executive and 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 who played the forward position. Considered one of the most celebrated basketball players in the United States from the high school graduating class of 1985, Ferry chose to attend

Duke University Duke University is a Private university, private research university in Durham, North Carolina, United States. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day city of Trinity, North Carolina, Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1 ...

. Ferry led the

Duke Blue Devils The Duke Blue Devils are the college athletics in the United States, intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Duke University, located in Durham, North Carolina. Duke's athletics department features 27 varsity teams that all compete at the N ...

to three

Final Four In sports, the final four is the last four teams remaining in a playoffs, playoff tournament. Usually the final four compete in the two games of a single-elimination tournament's semi-final (penultimate) round. Of these teams, the two who win in ...

appearances while setting many school records and earning several national player of the year awards. In 2002, Ferry was named to the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) 50th Anniversary men's basketball team honoring the fifty greatest players in conference history. Drafted into the NBA in

1989 1989 was a turning point in political history with the "Revolutions of 1989" which ended communism in Eastern Bloc of Europe, starting in Poland and Hungary, with experiments in power-sharing coming to a head with the opening of the Berlin W ...

as the second overall pick, Ferry played one season for Italian league's Il Messaggero (now Virtus Roma) after refusing to play for the

Los Angeles Clippers The Los Angeles Clippers are an American professional basketball team based in the Greater Los Angeles area. The Clippers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference. The ...

. He went on to spend the majority of his career with the Cleveland Cavaliers, where he played from 1990 to 2000. In the NBA, Ferry was a role player known for his three-point shooting. Ferry finished his playing career with the San Antonio Spurs, winning an NBA championship in the 2002–03 season before retiring. After Ferry's playing career ended, he became an executive. Ferry has served as vice president of basketball operations for the

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 as general manager of the

Atlanta Hawks The Atlanta Hawks are an American professional basketball team based in Atlanta. The Hawks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southeast Division (NBA), Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), Easte ...

and 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 ...

. He was hired as a consultant to the Spurs in 2020.

Early life and family

Ferry was born in

Hyattsville, Maryland Hyattsville is a city in Prince George's County, Maryland, United States. It is an urban suburb of Washington, D.C. The population was 21,187 at the 2020 United States census. History Before Europeans reached the area, the upper Anacostia ...

to former NBA center and NBA executive Bob Ferry and his wife, Rita Ferry. Ferry is of Irish descent; his great-great-grandfather, Peter Ferry, was born in Ireland in 1828 and emigrated to St. Louis, Missouri. The younger Ferry began his basketball career in earnest at DeMatha Catholic High School in Maryland where he excelled at the high school level under Morgan Wootten. The two-time All-American was ranked as one of the country's top high school basketball centers while at DeMatha and earned Parade Magazine's prep Player of the Year in 1985. Ferry was one of the most highly recruited high school seniors in the nation before committing to

. Ferry and his wife, Tiffany, have five children.

College career

Ferry attended

and played basketball for the school over four seasons from 1985 to 1989. During his college career, he helped lead the Blue Devils to the Final Four in 1986, 1988 and

, twice winning the MVP award for the East Regional. Known for his outside shooting, rebounding abilities, and full-court vision, Ferry was selected to the first team All-America in 1989 and second-team All-America in 1988. As of 2024, Ferry still held Duke's all-time single game scoring record, having scored 58

points A point is a small dot or the sharp tip of something. Point or points may refer to: Mathematics * Point (geometry), an entity that has a location in space or on a plane, but has no extent; more generally, an element of some abstract topologica ...

against Miami on December 10, 1988. He has been described as one of Duke's greatest players of all time. Ferry became the first player in Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) history to collect more than 2,000 points, 1,000 rebounds and 500 assists in his collegiate career. He left Duke with several national player of the year awards under his belt, including the

Naismith College Player of the Year The Naismith College Player of the Year is "the most prestigious national award presented annually to the men's and women's college basketball players of the year," as chosen by the Atlanta Tipoff Club's Board of Selectors. It is named in honor o ...

, USBWA College Player of the Year ( Oscar Robertson Trophy) and the

UPI United Press International (UPI) is an American international news agency whose newswires, photo, news film, and audio services provided news material to thousands of newspapers, magazines, radio and television stations for most of the 20th ce ...

player of the year awards. Ferry's number 35 was retired in 1989 at the end of his senior season. In 2002, Ferry was named to the ACC 50th Anniversary men's basketball team honoring the fifty greatest players in ACC history.

Professional career

Italy

After college, Ferry was drafted by the

in the first round (second overall pick) of the 1989 NBA draft. He did not want to play with the Clippers; instead, he accepted an offer to play for the Italian league's Il Messaggero (now Virtus Roma). Ferry averaged 23 points per game during the 1989–90 season, leading the Italian club into the playoffs. The Clippers traded Ferry's rights on November 16, 1989, along with Reggie Williams, to the

in exchange for guard Ron Harper, two first-round draft picks and a second-round pick.

Cleveland Cavaliers

In the summer of 1990, the Cavaliers signed Ferry to a 10-year guaranteed contract for $34 million. Ferry struggled with knee problems in the 1990–91 season. He never lived up to the expectations created by his collegiate success and his large contract, and he was considered a draft bust. While Ferry became a reliable role player in the NBA who was known for his three-point shooting, he did not become a regular starter for the Cavaliers until 1996. In the 1995–96 NBA season, Ferry averaged 13.3 points per game. He had only one other season in his career (1996–1997) in which he averaged more than 10 points per game. During Ferry's 10 years in Cleveland, the team made the NBA playoffs six times. Ferry became the team's all-time leader in games played (723 games) before

Žydrūnas Ilgauskas Zydrunas Ilgauskas (; ; born June 5, 1975) is a Lithuanian-born American former professional basketball player who played the center (basketball), center position. The Ilgauskas played for the Cleveland Cavaliers of the National Basketball Asso ...

surpassed his record on December 2, 2009.

San Antonio Spurs

Ferry signed a one-year, $1 million contract with the

as a free agent on August 10,

2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

. Ferry played for San Antonio for three seasons, amassing a three-point field goal percentage of 42.5%. He won an NBA championship with the Spurs in the 2002–03 season before being traded to 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 ...

in a three-team trade involving the

Sacramento Kings The Sacramento Kings are an American professional basketball team based in Sacramento, California. The Kings compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division (NBA), Pacific Division of the Western Confere ...

. Ferry was waived by the Pacers and he retired in 2003 with a career average of 7.0 points per game. Over the course of his career, Ferry shot 39.3% from three-point range.

Management career

From 2003 to 2005, Ferry worked in the Spurs' front office. On June 27, 2005, Ferry became the Cavaliers' eighth general manager. Ferry began his management tenure with the Cavaliers overseeing a series of less-than-optimal transactions. Nonetheless, the team flourished with superstar

LeBron James LeBron Raymone James Sr. ( ; born December 30, 1984) is an American professional basketball player for the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Nicknamed "King James", he is the NBA's all-time leading scorer and ...

and newly installed head coach Mike Brown at the helm as the team made a series of serious postseason runs beginning in

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

. Ferry, Brown, and Cavaliers majority owner Dan Gilbert began to add talent and depth to the Cavs' roster, notably acquiring one-time

All-Star An all-star team is a group of people all having a high level of performance in their field. Originating in sports, it has since drifted into vernacular and has been borrowed heavily by the entertainment industry. Sports "All-star" as a sport ...

guard Mo Williams, former All-Star center

Shaquille O'Neal Shaquille Rashaun O'Neal ( ; born March 6, 1972), commonly known as Shaq ( ), is an American former professional basketball player who is a sports analyst on the television program ''Inside the NBA''. He is a and Center (basketball), center ...

, starting

shooting guard The shooting guard (SG), also known as the two, two guard or off guard,Shooting guards are 6'3"–6'7"BBC Sports academy URL last accessed 2006-09-09. is one of the five traditional basketball positions, positions in a regulation basketball game ...

Anthony Parker, forward Leon Powe, and former All-Star Antawn Jamison between 2008 and 2010. The Cavaliers reached the NBA Finals for the first time in 2007. On June 4, 2010, it was announced that Ferry and the Cavaliers had come to a mutual agreement to part ways. The Cavaliers went 272–138 during Ferry's tenure. In August 2010, Ferry returned to the Spurs as vice president of basketball operations. On June 25, 2012, Ferry accepted a position as president of basketball operations and general manager for the Atlanta Hawks. In June 2014, Ferry read aloud verbatim an "offensive and racist comment" written in a scouting report during a conference call about

Miami Heat The Miami Heat are an American professional basketball team based in Miami. The Heat compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southeast Division (NBA), Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), Eastern C ...

player

Luol Deng Luol Ajou Deng (born 16 April 1985) is a South Sudanese–British former professional basketball player. He was a two-time NBA All-Star and was named to the NBA All-Defensive Second Team in 2012. Born in South Sudan that was then part of Republ ...

. Hawks co-owner Michael Gearon Jr. called for him to resign or be dismissed. On September 9, Hawks CEO Steve Koonin announced that the team had decided not to dismiss Ferry and that they were instead going to discipline him. A few days later, Ferry asked to take—and was approved for—an immediate, indefinite leave of absence. In June 2015, an independent investigation reported that Ferry's actions were not motivated by racism. According to UPI, " heinvestigation, which included 19 witness interviews and reviewed the contents of more than 24,000 emails, made clear that the offensive language was not Ferry's and none of Ferry's remarks or behavior during the call were motivated by racial or ethnic animus, or by a person's country of origin. To the contrary, the investigation found Ferry shared his own opinion of Deng, recommended him both personally and professionally and ultimately tried to sign him to the team." Following the release of the investigation results, Ferry reached a buyout agreement with the Hawks. Ferry became a special advisor to the general manager of the

New Orleans Pelicans The New Orleans Pelicans are an American professional basketball team based in New Orleans. The Pelicans compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southwest Division (NBA), Southwest Division of the Western Confere ...

in June 2016. After the firing of general manager Dell Demps on February 15, 2019, Ferry was named the team's interim general manager. He held that role for the rest of the season before being removed from his position on April 17 with the hiring of David Griffin as Executive Vice President of Basketball Operations. Ferry was hired as a consultant to the Spurs in 2020.

NBA career statistics

Regular season

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Cleveland Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–U.S. maritime border and approximately west of the Ohio-Pennsylvania st ...

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, 68 , , 1 , , 13.8 , , .409 , , .354 , , .836 , , 3.1 , , 1.1 , , .3 , , .2 , , 5.1 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 76 , , 1 , , 19.2 , , .479 , , .415 , , .876 , , 3.7 , , 1.8 , , .4 , , .6 , , 7.5 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 70 , , 1 , , 13.8 , , .446 , , .275 , , .884 , , 2.0 , , 1.1 , , .4 , , .3 , , 5.0 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, style="background:#cfecec;", 82* , , 6 , , 15.7 , , .446 , , .403 , , .881 , , 1.7 , , 1.2 , , .3 , , .3 , , 7.5 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 82 , , 79 , , 32.7 , , .459 , , .394 , , .769 , , 3.8 , , 2.3 , , .7 , , .5 , , 13.3 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 82 , , 48 , , 32.1 , , .429 , , .401 , , .851 , , 4.1 , , 1.8 , , .7 , , .4 , , 10.6 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 69 , , 3 , , 15.0 , , .395 , , .333 , , .800 , , 1.7 , , .9 , , .4 , , .2 , , 4.2 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

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, 63 , , 3 , , 21.0 , , .497 , , .440 , , .912 , , 3.8 , , 1.1 , , .3 , , .4 , , 7.3 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-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 ...

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, 64 , , 1 , , 9.4 , , .355 , , .350 , , .769 , , 1.2 , , .3 , , .1 , , .1 , , 1.9 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 917 , , 186 , , 19.8 , , .446 , , .393 , , .840 , , 2.8 , , 1.3 , , .4 , , .3 , , 7.0 , -

Playoffs

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1992 1992 was designated as International Space Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 – Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt replaces Javier Pérez de Cuéllar of Peru as United Nations Secretary-General. * January 6 ** The Republ ...

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, 9 , , 0 , , 6.1 , , .467 , , .333 , , 1.000 , , 1.8 , , .1 , , .1 , , .1 , , 2.1 , - , style="text-align:left;",

1993 The United Nations General Assembly, General Assembly of the United Nations designated 1993 as: * International Year for the World's Indigenous People The year 1993 in the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands had only 364 days, since its ...

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, 8 , , 0 , , 14.8 , , .382 , , .444 , , .900 , , 3.1 , , 1.8 , , .5 , , .4 , , 4.9 , - , style="text-align:left;",

1994 The year 1994 was designated as the " International Year of the Family" and the "International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal" by the United Nations. In the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands of Kiribati, 1994 had only 364 days, omitti ...

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1995 1995 was designated as: * United Nations Year for Tolerance * World Year of Peoples' Commemoration of the Victims of the Second World War This was the first year that the Internet was entirely privatized, with the United States government ...

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, 4 , , 0 , , 16.8 , , .520 , , .533 , , .667 , , .8 , , 1.5 , , .5 , , .0 , , 9.5 , - , style="text-align:left;",

1996 1996 was designated as: * International Year for the Eradication of Poverty Events January * January 8 – A Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...

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, 3 , , 3 , , 39.0 , , .341 , , .063 , , , , 5.0 , , 3.0 , , 1.0 , , .7 , , 9.7 , - , style="text-align:left;",

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...

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2001 The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...

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2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...

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2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...

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References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ferry, Danny 1966 births Living people 20th-century American sportsmen 21st-century American sportsmen All-American college men's basketball players American expatriate basketball people in Italy American men's basketball players Atlanta Hawks executives Basketball players from Maryland Cleveland Cavaliers executives Cleveland Cavaliers players DeMatha Catholic High School alumni Duke Blue Devils men's basketball players FISU World University Games silver medalists for the United States Los Angeles Clippers draft picks McDonald's High School All-Americans Medalists at the 1987 Summer Universiade NBA general managers New Orleans Pelicans executives Parade High School All-Americans (boys' basketball) Power forwards San Antonio Spurs executives San Antonio Spurs players Small forwards Sportspeople from Hyattsville, Maryland Sportspeople from Shaker Heights, Ohio Basketball players from Cuyahoga County, Ohio Summer World University Games medalists in basketball Virtus Roma players

Early life and family

College career

Professional career

Italy

Cleveland Cavaliers

San Antonio Spurs

Management career

NBA career statistics

Regular season

Playoffs

See also

References

External links