James Frederick Saunders (born June 13, 1951) 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 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).

Collegiate career

Fred Saunders began his collegiate career at

University of Louisiana at Lafayette The University of Louisiana at Lafayette (UL Lafayette, University of Louisiana, ULL, or UL) is a Public university, public research university in Lafayette, Louisiana, United States. It has the largest enrollment within the nine-campus Universi ...

in 1970; in his three years there, he averaged 6.5 points per game. Saunders transferred to

Syracuse University Syracuse University (informally 'Cuse or SU) is a Private university, private research university in Syracuse, New York, United States. It was established in 1870 with roots in the Methodist Episcopal Church but has been nonsectarian since 1920 ...

for his senior year. At

, Saunders averaged 9.8 points per game as a

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 ...

for the Orangemen. The Orangemen finished the season with a record of 17-9 and went on to the

NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship The NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament, branded as March Madness, or The Big Dance, is a single-elimination tournament played in the United States to determine the men's college basketball national champion of the Division I level ...

tournament. At Syracuse, he acquired the nickname "Chocolate Thunder" due to his unique skyhook
Collegiate Stats

NBA

Saunders was selected by 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 the second round of the

1974 NBA draft The 1974 NBA draft was the 28th annual draft of the National Basketball Association (NBA), and was held on May 28, 1974, before the 1974–75 season. In this draft, 18 NBA teams took turns selecting amateur U.S. college basketball players and ot ...

with the 31st overall pick. He played power forward for the Suns and 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), ...

during the 1970s.

Career statistics

NBA

Source

Regular season

{, class="wikitable sortable" style="font-size:95%; text-align:right;" !Year !Team !GP !MPG !FG% !FT% !RPG !APG !SPG !BPG !PPG , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;", Phoenix , 69 , , 15.3 , , .433 , , .695 , , 3.7 , , 1.2 , , .6 , , .2 , , 6.1 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;", Phoenix , 17 , , 8.6 , , .438 , , .545 , , 2.2 , , .8 , , .3 , , .1 , , 3.6 , - , 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 ...

, 68 , , 15.5 , , .466 , , .660 , , 3.3 , , 1.3 , , .4 , , .1 , , 5.9 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 26, , 9.3 , , .330 , , .824 , , 1.4 , , .4 , , .3 , , .2 , , 2.8 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

, 30 , , 13.3 , , .483 , , .632 , , 2.5 , , 1.2 , , .5 , , .3 , , 5.0 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 210 , , 13.8 , , .443 , , .682 , , 3.0 , , 1.1 , , .4 , , .2 , , 5.3

Playoffs

{, class="wikitable sortable" style="font-size:95%; text-align:right;" !Year !Team !GP !MPG !FG% !FT% !RPG !APG !SPG !BPG !PPG , - , style="text-align:left;",

1977 Events January * January 8 – 1977 Moscow bombings, Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group. * January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (no ...

, style="text-align:left;",

, 9 , , 7.3 , , .364 , , .833 , , 1.0 , , .6 , , .1 , , .0 , , 3.2

Collegiate career

NBA

Career statistics

NBA

Regular season

Playoffs

References

See also