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John Drew (basketball)

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John Drew
Drew in 1974
Personal information
Born (1954-09-30) September 30, 1954 (age 70)
Vredenburgh, Alabama
NationalityAmerican
Listed height6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)
Listed weight205 lb (93 kg)
Career information
High schoolJ. F. Shields (Beatrice, Alabama)
CollegeGardner–Webb (1972–1974)
NBA draft1974: 2nd round, 25th overall pick
Selected by the Atlanta Hawks
Playing career1974–1986
PositionSmall forward
Number22, 20
Career history
1974–1982Atlanta Hawks
1982–1984Utah Jazz
1984–1986Wyoming Wildcatters
Career highlights and awards
Career NBA statistics
Points15,291 (20.7 ppg)
Rebounds5,088 (6.9 rpg)
Steals1,004 (1.4 spg)
Stats at NBA.com Edit this at Wikidata
Stats at Basketball Reference

John Edward Drew (born September 30, 1954) is an American retired professional basketball player. A small forward from Gardner–Webb University, he played 11 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Drew was a two-time NBA All-Star, and was one of the earliest casualties of the drug policy instituted by league commissioner David Stern.

Amateur years

Born in Vredenburgh, Alabama, a small town in Monroe County, John Drew attended J.F. Shields High School in Beatrice, Alabama. There, John led the school to its first State championship. He was coached by Alabama Hall of Fame Coach Willie Averett and played alongside teammate Jerome Sanders, who went on to also be inducted into the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame. Following high school, Drew played basketball at Gardner–Webb University[1].

NBA career

Selected by the Atlanta Hawks with the 7th pick (in the 2nd round) of the 1974 NBA draft, Drew quickly made an impact with the club, averaging 18.5 points per game, 10.7 rebounds per game, and leading the NBA in offensive rebounding during his rookie season (Drew was named to the NBA All-Rookie Team for his efforts). From 1974 to 1982, the immensely talented Drew starred for the Hawks, with whom he was a two-time All-Star, averaging more than 20 points per game on five occasions. After being traded by Atlanta for Dominique Wilkins, Drew played three seasons (1982–1985) with the Utah Jazz, retiring with 15,291 career points. He joined Artis Gilmore and Eddie Lee Wilkins as the only alumni of Gardner–Webb University to play in the NBA.

With Jason Kidd, Drew holds the NBA record for most turnovers in a regular season game (14). Drew set that mark with the Hawks in a March 1, 1978 game against New Jersey.[1]

Drug addiction

Drew battled cocaine addiction during his professional basketball career. He missed 38 games during the 1982-83 season as he spent eight weeks in drug rehab.[2] He made a successful return in 1983-84 and won the league's Comeback Player of the Year award, but relapsed the next season and was waived by the Jazz, then was arrested in 1985 for passing bad checks.[3]

Drew spent the next two years with the Continental Basketball Association's Wyoming Wildcatters, becoming an All-Star in the CBA.[3] In 1986, he was arrested in Atlanta twice in less than three months, first on October 2 for selling cocaine to an undercover agent[4] and then on December 17 for cocaine possession and purchasing the drug from an undercover agent.[5]

After seeking treatment for the fourth time in his career, Drew became the first player to be banned by NBA commissioner David Stern for multiple violations of the league's new substance abuse policy,[6] despite not being on an NBA roster at the time of his arrest.[3] He could not seek reinstatement until the 1987-88 season.[6] Drew opined that the NBA's drug policy "will keep guys from coming forward and admitting they still have a problem."[6] The Washington Bullets expressed interest in signing him that season but were prohibited from doing so by the league due to his past infractions.[3]

After several years out of the public eye, he resurfaced in 2002, when he claimed to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that he "finally" had a grip on his addiction without going into further details.[7]

NBA career statistics

Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game
 FG%  Field goal percentage  3P%  3-point field goal percentage  FT%  Free throw percentage
 RPG  Rebounds per game  APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game
 BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game  Bold  Career high

Regular season

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
1974–75 Atlanta 78 – 29.3 .428 – .713 10.7 1.8 1.5 0.5 18.5
1975–76 Atlanta 77 – 30.5 .502 – .744 8.6 1.9 1.8 0.4 21.6
1976–77 Atlanta 74 – 36.3 .487 – .714 9.1 1.8 1.4 0.4 24.2
1977–78 Atlanta 70 – 31.5 .480 – .760 7.3 2.0 1.7 0.4 23.2
1978–79 Atlanta 79 – 30.5 .473 – .731 6.6 1.5 1.6 0.2 22.7
1979–80 Atlanta 80 – 28.8 .453 .000 .757 5.9 1.3 1.1 0.3 19.5
1980–81 Atlanta 67 – 31.0 .456 .000 .787 5.7 1.2 1.5 0.2 21.7
1981–82 Atlanta 70 51 29.1 .486 .333 .741 5.4 1.4 0.9 0.0 18.5
1982–83 Utah 44 33 27.4 .474 .000 .755 5.3 2.2 0.8 0.2 21.2
1983–84 Utah 81 4 22.2 .479 .273 .778 4.2 1.7 1.1 0.0 17.7
1984–85 Utah 19 16 24.4 .412 .000 .770 4.3 1.8 1.2 0.1 16.2
Career 739 104 29.5 .470 .175 .748 6.9 1.7 1.4 0.3 20.7
All-Star 2 1 12.0 .143 – .800 3.0 0.0 1.0 0.0 3.0

Playoffs

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
1978 Atlanta 2 – 39.5 .429 – .625 7.5 1.5 0.5 0.5 26.0
1979 Atlanta 9 – 30.6 .420 – .761 6.7 0.8 1.0 0.4 16.1
1980 Atlanta 5 – 30.0 .381 – .714 6.0 0.8 1.4 0.0 14.6
1982 Atlanta 2 – 29.5 .364 – .583 5.0 0.5 0.0 0.0 11.5
1984 Utah 11 – 15.6 .506 – .788 2.3 0.8 0.4 0.0 10.2
Career 29 – 25.3 .431 – .725 4.8 0.8 0.7 0.2 14.0

See also

References

  1. ^ Regular Season Records: Turnovers. Retrieved on October 15, 2009.
  2. ^ Johnson, Roy S. (February 27, 1983). "An Athlete, A Cocaine Addict: John Drew Fights For His Life". New York Times. Retrieved April 21, 2018.
  3. ^ a b c d McManis, Sam (February 4, 1986). "Drew, a Three-Time Offender, Hopes to Return". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved April 21, 2018.
  4. ^ "Former Atlanta Hawks star John Drew Monday was sentenced". UPI. January 13, 1987. Retrieved April 21, 2018.
  5. ^ Associated Press (December 17, 1986). "John Drew, Ex-NBA Star, Free on Bond After Another Drug-Related Arrest". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved April 21, 2018.
  6. ^ a b c "Drew Opposes Ban". New York Times. January 31, 1986. Retrieved April 21, 2018.
  7. ^ Bisher, Furman (October 25, 2002). "Drew found, finding his way". Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Retrieved April 21, 2018.
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