Wesley Joel Matthews Sr. (born August 24, 1959) 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 who 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). He won two NBA championships with the

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 ...

. He is the father of former NBA player Wesley Matthews.

Basketball career

Matthews graduated from Warren Harding High School in

Bridgeport, Connecticut Bridgeport is the List of municipalities in Connecticut, most populous city in the U.S. state of Connecticut and the List of cities in New England by population, fifth-most populous city in New England, with a population of 148,654 in 2020. Loc ...

, in 1977. A

point guard The point guard (PG), also called the one or the point, is one of the Basketball positions, five positions in a regulation basketball game. A point guard has perhaps the most specialized role of any position and is usually the shortest player ...

at the

University of Wisconsin–Madison The University of Wisconsin–Madison (University of Wisconsin, Wisconsin, UW, UW–Madison, or simply Madison) is a public land-grant research university in Madison, Wisconsin, United States. It was founded in 1848 when Wisconsin achieved st ...

, he was selected by the

Washington Bullets The Washington Wizards are an American professional basketball team based in Washington, D.C. The Wizards compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference. The team plays i ...

with the 14th pick of the

1980 NBA draft The 1980 NBA draft was the 34th annual draft of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The draft was held on June 10, 1980, at the Sheraton Centre Hotel & Towers, before the 1980–81 season. In this draft, 23 NBA teams took turns selectin ...

. He played nine seasons in the league with the Bullets,

Atlanta Hawks The Atlanta Hawks are an American professional basketball team based in Atlanta. The Hawks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southeast Division (NBA), Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), Easte ...

(two stints),

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 ...

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 ...

San Antonio Spurs The San Antonio Spurs are an American professional basketball team based in San Antonio. The Spurs compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southwest Division (NBA), Southwest Division of the Western Conference (NBA ...

and

. Averaging eight points and four assists per game, he scored 3,654 career points and earned

NBA Championship The NBA Finals is the annual championship series of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The Eastern Conference (NBA), Eastern and Western Conference (NBA), Western Conference champions play a best-of-seven series to determine the league ...

rings with the

1987 Events January * January 1 – Bolivia reintroduces the Boliviano currency. * January 2 – Chadian–Libyan conflict – Battle of Fada: The Military of Chad, Chadian army destroys a Libyan armoured brigade. * January 3 – Afghan leader ...

and 1988 Lakers. Matthews retired from professional basketball in 1996. Besides his NBA stints, he also played in the United States Basketball League, in the

Continental Basketball Association The Continental Basketball Association (CBA), originally known as the Eastern Pennsylvania Basketball League, and later as the Eastern Professional Basketball League and the Eastern Basketball Association, was a men's professional basketball m ...

and in

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

, spending the 1989–90 season at Ranger Varese before being called by the Hawks for one

regular season In an organized sports league, a typical season is the portion of one year in which regulated games of the sport are in session: for example, in Major League Baseball the season lasts approximately from the last week of March to the last week of S ...

match. He had a stint in the

Philippine Basketball Association The Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) is a men's professional basketball league in the Philippines, composed of twelve company-branded Franchising, franchise teams. Founded in 1975, it is the first professional basketball league in Asia ...

(PBA), winning the best import award in 1991 for Ginebra San Miguel.

Career statistics

NBA

Regular season

, - , style="text-align:left;" rowspan="2", , style="text-align:left;", Washington , 45 , , , , 25.8 , , .499 , , .333 , , .767 , , 1.5 , , 4.4 , , 1.0 , , 0.2 , , 12.3 , - , style="text-align:left;",

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

, 34 , , , , 32.5 , , .488 , , .000 , , .837 , , 2.1 , , 6.2 , , 1.8 , , 0.2 , , 12.5 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 47 , , 5 , , 17.8 , , .440 , , .250 , , .759 , , 1.2 , , 3.0 , , 1.1 , , 0.0 , , 6.9 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 64 , , 0 , , 18.5 , , .403 , , .292 , , .768 , , 1.4 , , 3.9 , , 0.9 , , 0.1 , , 6.9 , - , style="text-align:left;" rowspan="2", , style="text-align:left;",

, 6 , , 0 , , 16.0 , , .533 , , .000 , , .818 , , 0.7 , , 3.5 , , 0.8 , , 0.2 , , 8.3 , - , style="text-align:left;",

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 ...

, 14 , , 5 , , 20.9 , , .446 , , .143 , , .643 , , 1.6 , , 4.4 , , 0.8 , , 0.1 , , 7.1 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

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 ...

, 78 , , 38 , , 19.5 , , .495 , , .125 , , .694 , , 0.9 , , 4.5 , , 0.9 , , 0.2 , , 5.7 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

San Antonio San Antonio ( ; Spanish for " Saint Anthony") is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in Greater San Antonio. San Antonio is the third-largest metropolitan area in Texas and the 24th-largest metropolitan area in the ...

, 75 , , 46 , , 24.7 , , .531 , , .160 , , .820 , , 1.7 , , 6.3 , , 1.2 , , 0.4 , , 10.9 , - , style="text-align:left; background:#afe6ba;", † , style="text-align:left;",

L.A. 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 of the Western Conference. The Lakers play their hom ...

, 50 , , 0 , , 10.6 , , .476 , , .333 , , .806 , , 0.9 , , 2.0 , , 0.5 , , 0.1 , , 4.2 , - , style="text-align:left; background:#afe6ba;", † , style="text-align:left;",

, 51 , , 8 , , 13.8 , , .460 , , .233 , , .831 , , 1.3 , , 2.7 , , 0.5 , , 0.1 , , 5.7 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 1 , , 0 , , 13.0 , , .333 , , .000 , , 1.000 , , 0.0 , , 5.0 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 4.0 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 465 , , 102 , , 20.0 , , .478 , , .225 , , .788 , , 1.3 , , 4.2 , , 1.0 , , 0.2 , , 7.9 , - class="sortbottom"

Playoffs

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

1982 Events January * January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00). * January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street Bridge in Washington, D.C. ...

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

, 4 , , , , 14.0 , , .200 , , , , 1.000 , , 0.0 , , 2.0 , , 0.0 , , 0.5 , , 4.0 , - , style="text-align:left;",

1983 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to TCP/IP is officially completed (this is considered to be the beginning of the ...

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

, 3 , , , , 12.7 , , .333 , , .000 , , .800 , , 0.0 , , 3.7 , , 0.0 , , 0.3 , , 3.3 , - , style="text-align:left;",

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeas ...

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

, 4 , , , , 5.8 , , .500 , , .500 , , .500 , , 0.0 , , 1.0 , , 0.3 , , 0.0 , , 2.5 , - , style="text-align:left;",

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a n ...

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

, 4 , , 4 , , 22.8 , , .344 , , .000 , , .778 , , 1.5 , , 3.0 , , 1.3 , , 0.0 , , 7.3 , - , style="text-align:left;",

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. ** Spain and Portugal en ...

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

, 3 , , 3 , , 38.7 , , .648 , , .000 , , .750 , , 2.3 , , 8.0 , , 2.0 , , 0.0 , , 25.3 , - , style="text-align:left; background:#afe6ba;",

† , style="text-align:left;",

, 12 , , 0 , , 5.1 , , .478 , , .000 , , .857 , , 0.3 , , 0.8 , , 0.1 , , 0.0 , , 2.3 , - , style="text-align:left; background:#afe6ba;",

1988 1988 was a crucial year in the early history of the Internet—it was the year of the first well-known computer virus, the Morris worm, 1988 Internet worm. The first permanent intercontinental Internet link was made between the United State ...

† , style="text-align:left;",

, 10 , , 0 , , 2.7 , , .400 , , .000 , , .800 , , 0.1 , , 0.2 , , 0.1 , , 0.0 , , 1.2 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 38 , , 7 , , 10.1 , , .482 , , .111 , , .800 , , 0.5 , , 1.7 , , 0.4 , , 0.1 , , 4.6

Personal life

Matthews' son, Wesley, also a basketball guard, played for

Marquette University Marquette University () is a Private university, private Jesuit research university in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States. It was established as Marquette College on August 28, 1881, by John Henni, the first Archbishop of the Roman Catholic Ar ...

,Wesley Matthews Marquette profile
/ref> and has played in the NBA since going

undrafted In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under a contract at present ...

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

Notes

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Matthews, Wes 1959 births Living people 20th-century African-American sportsmen 21st-century African-American sportsmen American expatriate basketball people in Brazil American expatriate basketball people in Italy American expatriate basketball people in the Philippines American men's basketball players Atlanta Hawks players Barangay Ginebra San Miguel players Basketball players from Florida Chicago Bulls players Fort Wayne Fury players Los Angeles Lakers players Ohio Mixers players Pallacanestro Varese players Parade High School All-Americans (boys' basketball) Philadelphia 76ers players Philippine Basketball Association imports Point guards Rapid City Thrillers players Rochester Renegade players San Antonio Spurs players Sportspeople from Sarasota, Florida Warren Harding High School alumni Washington Bullets draft picks Washington Bullets players Wisconsin Badgers men's basketball players