Steven Bernard Sheppard (born March 21, 1954) 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 from

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, who was nicknamed "Bear". A 6'6" forward from the

University of Maryland The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland, United States. Founded in 1856, UMD is the flagship institution of the Univ ...

, Sheppard participated on the

United States national basketball team The USA Basketball Men's National Team, commonly known as Team USA and the United States men's national basketball team, is the basketball team representing the United States. It is the most successful men's team in international competition, ...

which won a gold medal at the

1976 Summer Olympics The 1976 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Montreal 1976 (), were an international multi-sport event held from July 17 to August 1, 1976, in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Montreal ...

. Sheppard was then selected by the

Chicago Bulls The Chicago Bulls are an American professional basketball team based in Chicago. The Bulls compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Central Division of the Eastern Conference. The team was founded on January 16 ...

as the eighth pick in the second round of the

1977 NBA draft The 1977 NBA draft was the 31st annual draft of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The draft was held on June 10, 1977, before the 1977–78 season. In this draft, 22 NBA teams took turns selecting amateur U.S. college basketball player ...

. In two NBA seasons (1977–1979) with the Bulls and

Detroit Pistons The Detroit Pistons are an American professional basketball team based in Detroit. The Pistons compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Central Division (NBA), Central Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), East ...

, Sheppard scored 367 points and grabbed 178

rebounds 'Rebound' is a term used in sports to describe the ball (or puck or other object of play) becoming available for possession by either opponent after an attempt to put the ball or puck into the goal has been unsuccessful. Rebounds are generally ...

Career statistics

NBA

Source

Regular season

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Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

, 64 , , 10.9 , , .454 , , .661 , , 2.0 , , .7 , , .2 , , .0 , , 4.3 , - , style="text-align:left;" rowspan="2", , style="text-align:left;",

, 22 , , 9.2 , , .471 , , .632 , , 1.3 , , .7 , , .2 , , .0 , , 2.7 , - , style="text-align:left;",

Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

, 20 , , 3.8 , , .480 , , .533 , , 1.0 , , .2 , , .2 , , .1 , , 1.6 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 106 , , 9.2 , , .459 , , .633 , , 1.7 , , .6 , , .2 , , .0 , , 3.5

References

External links

Career statistics
at basketball-reference.com

1954 births Living people 20th-century African-American sportsmen 21st-century African-American sportsmen American expatriate basketball people in Italy American men's basketball players Basketball players at the 1976 Summer Olympics Basketball players from New York City Chicago Bulls draft picks Chicago Bulls players Detroit Pistons players DeWitt Clinton High School alumni Maryland Terrapins men's basketball players Medalists at the 1976 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists for the United States in basketball Small forwards Virtus Roma players {{1950s-US-basketball-bio-stub