Daniel Anthony Fortson (born March 27, 1976) 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 the

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 ...

and center positions 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) from 1997 to 2007.

Early life

Although born in

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

, Fortson grew up in

Altoona, Pennsylvania Altoona ( ) is a city in Blair County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 43,963 at the time of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is the principal city of the Altoona Metropolitan statistical area, metropolitan area, w ...

in a difficult home environment. He did not get along well with his father, who spent some time in jail, while his mother struggled with diabetes and depression. Fortson had grown up in the same neighborhood as

Doug West Jeffery Douglas West (born May 27, 1967) is an American former professional basketball player who is an assistant coach for the Philadelphia 76ers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). A swingman from Villanova University, West was sel ...

and began pre school at the same school West attended, Altoona Area High School. Before starting there, he became friends with a family whose son played on his AAU basketball team. He spent two summers living with the family in the middle-class

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...

suburb of Shaler Township, eighty five mile west of Altoona."Holding the Fort" ''St. Louis Post-Dispatch'', January 5, 1997. After his sophomore year, he and his mother moved to Shaler and Fortson transferred to Shaler Area High School for his final two years in high school (1992–1994). He was ruled ineligible his junior year for all but two games but averaged 30 points per game his senior year. He was a member of the prestigious Back board squad for pre-college basketball prospects.

College career

Fortson played for the

Cincinnati Bearcats The Cincinnati Bearcats are the college sports, athletic teams that represent the University of Cincinnati. The teams compete in the NCAA's Division I and the Football Bowl Subdivision as members of the Big 12 Conference. The Bearcats were pr ...

for 3 years from 1994 to 1997. In 1997 opposing coach Charlie Spoonhour complimented Fortson with: "I could do a chin-up on his arm, and it wouldn't affect his shooting.

In his three years playing for the Bearcats he became the school's second highest all-time scorer by scoring 1,881 points. A physical player with a soft shooting touch, he led UC to Conference USA championships in 1996 and 1997. He was a consensus first team All-American in 1997 when he averaged 21.3 points and 9.1 rebounds while shooting 62 percent from the field.

NBA career

Fortson began his pro career after being drafted 10th overall by the

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 ...

. He was immediately traded the same day to the

Denver Nuggets The Denver Nuggets are an American professional basketball team based in Denver. The Nuggets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Northwest Division (NBA), Northwest Division of the Western Conference (NBA), W ...

. In his first year, he averaged double-digit points and the next year averaged a double-double in both points and rebounds despite being undersized playing the center position. However, he had 16.7% of his own shots blocked that season, the highest ever in the NBA as of 2012–13.Comparison limited to players who attempted at least 500 field goals in a season since 1997, the earliest for which NBA.com has data. Before the 1999–2000 season, he was once again traded to 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), ...

in a six-player deal. He missed the first 25 games of the season with a stress fracture in his right foot. He was traded to the

Toronto Raptors The Toronto Raptors are a Canadian professional basketball team based in Toronto. The Raptors compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NBA), Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), E ...

on February 9, 2000, for

Alvin Williams Alvin Leon Williams Jr. (born August 6, 1974) is an American former professional basketball player who played for Villanova University and in the National Basketball Association (NBA) from 1997 to 2007. College career Williams graduated from G ...

and Sean Marks, but the trade was rescinded two days later when Williams failed his physical. Fortson did not play much with the Celtics and averaged 7.6 points and 6.7 rebounds per game. Following that season, he was traded to 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 ...

in a four-team trade. He averaged 16.7 points and 16.3 rebounds per game for the Warriors in the first six games of the 2000–01 season, but those were the only games he would play due to another stress fracture injury in his right foot. He returned the following season, and had the best year of his career averaging 11.2 points and 11.7 rebounds in only 28.8 minutes as a starter for 76 games. In the 2002–03 season, Fortson mostly spent his time on the bench as most of his minutes went to Antawn Jamison and Troy Murphy. For the fourth time in his career, Fortson was again traded, this time in a nine-player deal to the

Dallas Mavericks The Dallas Mavericks (often referred to as the Mavs) are an American professional basketball team based in Dallas. The Mavericks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southwest Division (NBA), Southwest Divisi ...

. Fortson averaged only 11 minutes per game for the Mavericks, having to play behind forwards

Dirk Nowitzki Dirk Werner Nowitzki (; born June 19, 1978) is a German former professional basketball player who is a special advisor for the Dallas Mavericks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Listed at , he is widely regarded as one of the great ...

and Antoine Walker. Because of a need for a center who could make a jump shot, the Mavericks swapped Fortson for Calvin Booth with the Sonics in the offseason of 2004. Quickly, Fortson was back in the rotation and became a fan favorite in Seattle because of his physical play and rebounding prowess. Fortson was a frequent target of foul calls by referees because of his physical play. As a result, Fortson registered the second-highest technical foul total among all active players during the 2004–05 season. During the 2005–06 season, Fortson's popularity and playing time diminished. After returning from a two-game suspension on January 2, 2006, Fortson called NBA senior vice president of basketball operations Stu Jackson a "gangster" for the nearly $200,000 in fines Fortson was docked for his latest transgression with an official. Fortson's rights were renounced by the Thunder on December 22, 2009, after not playing in the NBA since 2007. Eighteen years after Fortson left UC, he was recognized as one of the greatest players in UC history when he was inducted into the Bearcats’ Hall of Fame on October 29, 2015. On May 21, 2016, Fortson was inducted in the Ohio Basketball Hall of Fame.

NBA career statistics

Regular season

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, style="background:#cfecec;", 50* , , 38 , , 28.3 , , .495 , , .000 , , .727 , , 11.6 , , .6 , , .6 , , .4 , , 11.0 , - , 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 ...

, 55 , , 5 , , 15.6 , , .528 , , , , .735 , , 6.7 , , .5 , , .4 , , .1 , , 7.6 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;", Golden State , 6 , , 6 , , 33.8 , , .580 , , , , .778 , , 16.3 , , .8 , , .3 , , .0 , , 16.7 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;", Golden State , 77 , , 76 , , 28.8 , , .428 , , .250 , , .795 , , 11.7 , , 1.6 , , .6 , , .2 , , 11.2 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;", Golden State , 17 , , 0 , , 13.0 , , .370 , , .000 , , .655 , , 4.3 , , .7 , , .5 , , .0 , , 3.5 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

Dallas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

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Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

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, 23 , , 1 , , 12.0 , , .529 , , , , .767 , , 3.4 , , .1 , , .2 , , .1 , , 3.8 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 14 , , 6 , , 11.3 , , .500 , , .000 , , .769 , , 3.1 , , .1 , , .1 , , .0 , , 2.9 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 440 , , 175 , , 20.1 , , .472 , , .167 , , .785 , , 7.2 , , .7 , , .4 , , .2 , , 8.2 , -

Playoffs

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2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

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Notes

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Fortson, Danny 1976 births Living people 20th-century African-American sportsmen 20th-century American sportsmen 21st-century African-American sportsmen All-American college men's basketball players American men's basketball players Basketball players from Philadelphia Boston Celtics players Centers (basketball) Cincinnati Bearcats men's basketball players Dallas Mavericks players Denver Nuggets players Golden State Warriors players McDonald's High School All-Americans Milwaukee Bucks draft picks Parade High School All-Americans (boys' basketball) Power forwards Seattle SuperSonics players Sportspeople from Altoona, Pennsylvania