French
DeutschWalt Davis
 Davis at the 1952 Olympics | ||||||||||||
| Personal information | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Born | January 5, 1931 Beaumont, Texas, U.S. | |||||||||||
| Died | November 17, 2020 (aged 89) Port Arthur, Texas, U.S. | |||||||||||
| 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 | |||||||||||
| Drafted by | Philadelphia Warriors | |||||||||||
| Playing career | 1953–1958 | |||||||||||
| Position | Power forward / center | |||||||||||
| Number | 12 | |||||||||||
| Career history | ||||||||||||
| 1953–1958 | Philadelphia Warriors | |||||||||||
| 1958 | St. Louis Hawks | |||||||||||
| Career highlights | ||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||
| 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 | ||||||||||||
Medals
| ||||||||||||
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-foot-8-inch (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]
Career statistics
[edit]| 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 |
| † | Won an NBA championship | * | Led the league |
NBA
[edit]Source[2]
Regular season
[edit]| Year | Team | GP | MPG | FG% | FT% | RPG | APG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1953–54 | Philadelphia | 68 | 23.1 | .367 | .644 | 6.4 | .9 | 5.9 |
| 1954–55 | Philadelphia | 61 | 12.6 | .385 | .729 | 3.4 | .6 | 2.9 |
| 1955–56† | Philadelphia | 70 | 15.7 | .369 | .688 | 3.9 | .8 | 4.6 |
| 1956–57 | Philadelphia | 65 | 19.2 | .407 | .698 | 4.7 | .8 | 6.6 |
| 1957–58 | Philadelphia | 35 | 10.7 | .341 | .667 | 2.5 | .5 | 3.0 |
| 1957–58† | St. Louis | 26 | 11.0 | .357 | .776 | 3.3 | .4 | 4.9 |
| Career | 325 | 16.4 | .377 | .695 | 4.3 | .7 | 4.8 | |
Playoffs
[edit]| Year | Team | GP | MPG | FG% | FT% | RPG | APG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1956† | Philadelphia | 10* | 6.9 | .455 | .500 | 2.8 | .3 | 2.3 |
| 1957 | Philadelphia | 2 | 18.5 | .308 | 1.000 | 7.0 | .5 | 6.0 |
| 1958† | St. Louis | 9 | 7.3 | .379 | .833 | 3.0 | .3 | 3.6 |
| Career | 21 | 8.2 | .391 | .773 | 3.3 | .3 | 3.2 | |
References
[edit]
- ^ a b Buddy Davis. sports-reference.com
- ^ a b "Walt Davis NBA stats". Basketball Reference. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved September 25, 2023.
- ^ 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.
