Daniel LaDrew Vranes (born October 29, 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. Vranes led Skyline High School, in Salt Lake City, to the state basketball championship in his senior year (1977). He was named to the inaugural

McDonald's All-American McDonald's Corporation, doing business as McDonald's, is an American multinational fast food chain. As of 2024, it is the second largest by number of locations in the world, behind only the Chinese chain Mixue Ice Cream & Tea. Brothers ...

team, which played in the 1977 Capital Classic. A 6'7" small forward from the

University of Utah The University of Utah (the U, U of U, or simply Utah) is a public university, public research university in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. It was established in 1850 as the University of Deseret (Book of Mormon), Deseret by the General A ...

, he was selected by the Seattle SuperSonics in the 1st round (5th overall) 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 ...

. Vranes played in 7 NBA seasons with the SuperSonics and

Philadelphia 76ers The Philadelphia 76ers, also known colloquially as the Sixers, are an American professional basketball team based in the Philadelphia metropolitan area. The 76ers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Atlan ...

from 1981 to 1988. In his NBA career, Vranes played in 510 games and scored a total of 2,613 points. Perhaps his best year as a professional came during the 1983–84 season as a member of the SuperSonics, appearing in 80 games and averaging 8.4 points per game. On January 18, 1984, Vranes recorded a career high 6 blocks in a 114–107 win over 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 ...

. Known for his defense, after the 1984–85 season, he was named to the NBA All-Defensive Second Team. That season, on October 26, he recorded 6 steals, along with scoring a team-high 24 points, during a 102–94 win over the

Utah Jazz The Utah Jazz are an American professional basketball team based in Salt Lake City. The Jazz compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Northwest Division of the Western Conference. Since the 1991–92 season, the ...

. His single-game total of 18 rebounds recorded on April 22, 1983, during a Game 2 loss to the Trail Blazers, are still tied for fourth most rebounds in Thunder/Sonic franchise history. He played in Europe for AEK BC, Teorematour Arese and Breeze Milano. His ancestors emigrated to the United States from Croatia in the early 1900s. Vranes is a member of

the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Restorationism, restorationist Christianity, Christian Christian denomination, denomination and the ...

. He is a

cousin A cousin is a relative who is the child of a parent's sibling; this is more specifically referred to as a first cousin. A parent of a first cousin is an aunt or uncle. More generally, in the kinship system used in the English-speaking world, ...

Jeff Judkins Jeff Reed Judkins (born March 27, 1956) is an American former professional basketball player and coach. He coached the Brigham Young University (BYU) BYU Cougars women's basketball, Cougars women's basketball team from 2001 to 2022, after serving ...

, his teammate at

Utah Utah is a landlocked state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is one of the Four Corners states, sharing a border with Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico. It also borders Wyoming to the northea ...

.Jares, Joe. "A double Danny dandy," ''Sports Illustrated'', January 29, 1979.
Retrieved December 24, 2020

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Vranes, Danny 1958 births Living people AEK B.C. players All-American college men's basketball players American expatriate basketball people in Greece American expatriate basketball people in Italy American men's basketball players American people of Croatian descent Basketball players at the 1979 Pan American Games Basketball players from Salt Lake City Greek Basket League players Latter Day Saints from Utah McDonald's High School All-Americans Medalists at the 1979 Pan American Games Pan American Games gold medalists for the United States in basketball Pallacanestro Varese players Parade High School All-Americans (boys' basketball) Philadelphia 76ers players Power forwards Seattle SuperSonics draft picks Seattle SuperSonics players Small forwards Utah Utes men's basketball players 20th-century American sportsmen