Walt Davis
Personal information | ||||||||||||
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Born | Beaumont, Texas | January 5, 1931|||||||||||
Died | November 17, 2020 Port Arthur, Texas | (aged 89)|||||||||||
Nationality | American | |||||||||||
Listed height | 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) | |||||||||||
Listed weight | 205 lb (93 kg) | |||||||||||
Career information | ||||||||||||
High school | Nederland (Nederland, Texas) | |||||||||||
College | Texas A&M (1949–1952) | |||||||||||
NBA draft | 1952: 2nd round, 13th overall pick | |||||||||||
Selected by the Philadelphia Warriors | ||||||||||||
Playing career | 1953–1958 | |||||||||||
Position | Power forward / Center | |||||||||||
Number | 12 | |||||||||||
Career history | ||||||||||||
1953–1958 | Philadelphia Warriors | |||||||||||
1958 | St. Louis Hawks | |||||||||||
Career highlights and awards | ||||||||||||
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Career statistics | ||||||||||||
Points | 1,558 (4.8 ppg) | |||||||||||
Rebounds | 1,397 (4.3 rpg) | |||||||||||
Assists | 231 (0.7 apg) | |||||||||||
Stats at NBA.com | ||||||||||||
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com | ||||||||||||
Medals
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Walter Francis "Buddy" Davis (January 5, 1931 – November 17, 2020) was an American athlete. After winning a gold medal in the high jump at the 1952 Olympics he became a professional basketball player.[1]
Despite contracting polio at age nine and being unable to walk for three years, Davis had a standout athletic career at Texas A&M University and later won Olympic gold in the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki, Finland, with a leap of 2.04 metres (6 ft 8+1⁄4 in).[1]
The Philadelphia Warriors selected the 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) Davis in the second round of the 1952 NBA draft. He spent five seasons with the Warriors and St. Louis Hawks, averaging 4.8 points and 4.3 rebounds per game.[2]
Davis was Inducted into the Texas Sports Hall of Fame in 1964[3] and to the Texas Track and Field Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 2016.
Davis died on November 17, 2020 in Port Arthur, Texas at age 89.[4]
References
- ^ a b Buddy Davis. sports-reference.com
- ^ Walt Davis. basketball-reference.com
- ^ Buddy Davis Bio from the Texas Sports Hall of Fame
- ^ Murrell, I. C. (November 17, 2020). "Buddy Davis, Olympic & NBA champ from Nederland, dies at 89". The Port Arthur News. Retrieved November 18, 2020.
- 1931 births
- 2020 deaths
- American male high jumpers
- American men's basketball players
- Athletes (track and field) at the 1952 Summer Olympics
- Basketball players from Texas
- Centers (basketball)
- Medalists at the 1952 Summer Olympics
- Olympic gold medalists for the United States in track and field
- Olympic track and field athletes of the United States
- Philadelphia Warriors draft picks
- Philadelphia Warriors players
- Power forwards (basketball)
- Sportspeople from Beaumont, Texas
- St. Louis Hawks players
- Texas A&M Aggies men's basketball players
- Texas A&M Aggies men's track and field athletes
- Track and field athletes from Texas
- World record setters in athletics (track and field)
- American track and field athletics Olympic medalist stubs
- American basketball biography, 1930s birth stubs