David A. Stallworth (December 20, 1941 – March 15, 2017) was an American 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 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) for eight seasons and was a member of the

New York Knicks The New York Knickerbockers, shortened and more commonly referred to as the New York Knicks, are an American professional basketball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of Manhattan. The Knicks compete in the Na ...

' 1969–70 championship-winning team.

College career

A 6'7" forward/ center from Dallas' Madison High School, Stallworth graduated in 1961 and attended

Wichita State University Wichita State University (WSU) is a public research university in Wichita, Kansas, United States. It is governed by the Kansas Board of Regents. The university offers more than 60 undergraduate degree programs in more than 200 areas of study in ...

. In his three seasons with the Shockers, he set 18 school records, including the highest career point per game average (24.2). Stallworth helped the team reach the

1964 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament The 1964 NCAA University Division basketball tournament involved 25 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball in the United States. It began on March 9, 1964, and ...

, the school's first appearance in the NCAA Tournament, and was named to the

All-American The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

team twice. He earned the nickname "Dave the Rave" while playing at Wichita State.

NBA career

In the

1965 NBA draft The 1965 NBA draft was the 19th annual draft of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The draft was held on May 6, 1965, before the 1965–66 season. In this draft, nine NBA teams took turns selecting amateur U.S. college basketball player ...

, Stallworth was selected in the first round by the

, with the third overall pick. Stallworth played eight seasons (1965–1967; 1969–1975) in the NBA as a member of the Knicks and Baltimore/Capital Bullets. He averaged 9.3

points per game Points per game, often abbreviated PPG, is the average number of points scored by a player or team per game played in a sport, over the course of a series of games, a whole season, or a career. It is calculated by dividing the total number of poi ...

in his career and won a league championship with New York in 1970. Stallworth's play for the Knicks in the 1969–70 season came after he had suffered a heart attack in March 1967, during his second season in the NBA; he had posted a scoring average of 12.6 points per game the previous season. Following a period as a coach for a Wichita-based amateur team, Stallworth was told by his doctor that he could return to playing. A back-up on the 1969–70 Knicks, Stallworth was forced into action in Game 5 of the

1970 NBA Finals The 1970 NBA World Championship Series was the championship series of the 1970 NBA playoffs, which concluded the 1969–70 National Basketball Association (NBA) season. The Eastern Division champion New York Knicks defeated the Western Divi ...

after

Willis Reed Willis Reed Jr. (June 25, 1942 – March 21, 2023) was an American professional basketball player, coach, and general manager. He spent his entire ten-year pro playing career (1964–1974) with the New York Knicks of the National Basketball ...

was injured early. He was assigned to cover

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

star

Wilt Chamberlain Wilton Norman Chamberlain ( ; August21, 1936 – October12, 1999) was an American professional basketball player. Standing tall, he played Center (basketball), center in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for 14 seasons. He was enshrin ...

, and aided in holding him in check when on defense. In a game that the Knicks won after trailing by 16, Stallworth made a reverse layup after driving to the basket on Chamberlain in the final minutes; Wayne Coffey, a ''

New York Daily News The ''Daily News'' is an American newspaper based in Jersey City, New Jersey. It was founded in 1919 by Joseph Medill Patterson in New York City as the ''Illustrated Daily News''. It was the first U.S. daily printed in Tabloid (newspaper format ...

'' journalist and writer called it "one of the single most dramatic moments of the season." Stallworth was traded along with Mike Riordan and an undisclosed amount of cash to the Baltimore Bullets for

Earl Monroe Vernon Earl Monroe (born November 21, 1944) is an American former professional basketball player. He played for two teams, the Baltimore Bullets and the New York Knicks, during his career in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Both teams ...

on November 11, 1971. He averaged 11.4 points per game and 6.2 rebounds per game in his 64 appearances for the Bullets in 1971–72, but his statistics declined over the next two seasons and the Bullets traded him to the

Phoenix Suns The Phoenix Suns are an American professional basketball team based in Phoenix, Arizona. The Suns compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division (NBA), Pacific Division of the Western Conference (NBA), We ...

in 1974. Stallworth was released by the Suns without playing for the team, and he returned to the Knicks for the 1974–75 season, playing in seven games.

NBA career statistics

Regular season

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New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

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, 76 , , – , , 24.9 , , .466 , , – , , .716 , , 6.2 , , 1.9 , , – , , – , , 13.0 , - , style="text-align:left; background:#afe6ba;", † , style="text-align:left;",

, style="background:#cfecec;", 82* , , – , , 16.8 , , .429 , , – , , .716 , , 3.9 , , 1.7 , , – , , – , , 7.8 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 81 , , – , , 19.3 , , .431 , , – , , .735 , , 4.3 , , 1.3 , , – , , – , , 9.4 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 14 , , – , , 16.1 , , .375 , , – , , .829 , , 2.5 , , 1.8 , , – , , – , , 6.8 , - , style="text-align:left;", 1971–72 , style="text-align:left;",

Baltimore Baltimore is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the 30th-most populous U.S. city. The Baltimore metropolitan area is the 20th-large ...

, 64 , , – , , 28.4 , , .439 , , – , , .804 , , 6.2 , , 2.1 , , – , , – , , 11.4 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 73 , , – , , 16.7 , , .414 , , – , , .772 , , 3.2 , , 1.5 , , – , , – , , 6.0 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

Capital Capital and its variations may refer to: Common uses * Capital city, a municipality of primary status ** Capital region, a metropolitan region containing the capital ** List of national capitals * Capital letter, an upper-case letter Econom ...

, 45 , , – , , 10.2 , , .401 , , – , , .855 , , 2.8 , , .6 , , .6 , , .1 , , 4.4 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 7 , , – , , 8.1 , , .278 , , – , , – , , 2.9 , , .3 , , .4 , , .4 , , 1.4 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 522 , , – , , 20.1 , , .438 , , – , , .732 , , 4.7 , , 1.7 , , .6 , , .1 , , 9.3

Playoffs

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1970 Events January * January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC. * January 5 – The 7.1 1970 Tonghai earthquake, Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity scale, Mercalli ...

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, 19 , , – , , 14.5 , , .459 , , – , , .938 , , 4.1 , , 1.1 , , – , , – , , 7.2 , - , style="text-align:left;",

1971 * The year 1971 had three partial solar eclipses (Solar eclipse of February 25, 1971, February 25, Solar eclipse of July 22, 1971, July 22 and Solar eclipse of August 20, 1971, August 20) and two total lunar eclipses (February 1971 lunar eclip ...

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, 12 , , – , , 15.4 , , .265 , , – , , .718 , , 3.5 , , .8 , , – , , – , , 5.3 , - , style="text-align:left;",

1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using Solar time, ...

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, 6 , , – , , 17.5 , , .429 , , – , , .692 , , 2.5 , , .8 , , – , , – , , 5.5 , - , style="text-align:left;",

1973 Events January * January 1 – The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Denmark 1973 enlargement of the European Communities, enter the European Economic Community, which later becomes the European Union. * January 14 - The 16-0 19 ...

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, 3 , , – , , 4.7 , , 1.000 , , – , , – , , 1.0 , , .3 , , – , , – , , .7 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 40 , , – , , 14.5 , , .400 , , – , , .765 , , 3.4 , , .9 , , – , , – , , 5.9

Personal

After his playing career ended, Stallworth was employed in

Wichita, Kansas Wichita ( ) is the List of cities in Kansas, most populous city in the U.S. state of Kansas and the county seat of Sedgwick County, Kansas, Sedgwick County. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population of the city was 397, ...

Boeing The Boeing Company, or simply Boeing (), is an American multinational corporation that designs, manufactures, and sells airplanes, rotorcraft, rockets, satellites, and missiles worldwide. The company also provides leasing and product support s ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Stallworth, Dave 1941 births 2017 deaths All-American college men's basketball players Amateur Athletic Union men's basketball players American men's basketball players Baltimore Bullets (1963–1973) players Basketball players from Dallas Boeing people Capital Bullets players New York Knicks draft picks New York Knicks players Power forwards Small forwards Wichita State Shockers men's basketball players