David Greenwood
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David Murphy-Kasim Greenwood (May 27, 1957 – June 8, 2025) was an American professional basketball player whose National Basketball Association (NBA) career spanned 12 years from 1979 to 1991. He played college basketball for the UCLA Bruins, earning consensus All-American honors twice in 1978 and 1979. Greenwood was selected by the Chicago Bulls in the first round of the 1979 NBA draft with the second overall pick. He was named to the NBA All-Rookie First Team with the Bulls during the 1979–80 season. A forward/center, he also played in the NBA with the San Antonio Spurs, Denver Nuggets and Detroit Pistons.
College career
Following a standout high school career at Verbum Dei High School, Greenwood attended the nearby University of California, Los Angeles, from 1975 to 1979. He started all four seasons for the Bruins, earning consensus first-team All-American and Pac-10 Conference Player of the Year (now Pac-12) honors in his junior and senior seasons.
Greenwood was inducted into the Pac-12 Hall of Honor in 2017 and the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame in 2021. As of the conclusion of the 2024–25 season, he ranked No. 15 all-time in points at UCLA (1,721) and No. 4 all-time in rebounds (1,022).
Professional career
Greenwood was the second overall pick of the 1979 NBA draft. The Chicago Bulls lost the coin toss to the Los Angeles Lakers, who drafted future Hall of Famer Earvin "Magic" Johnson with the first overall pick, acquired in a trade with the New Orleans Jazz.
As a rookie, Greenwood was an immediate starter for the Bulls. He averaged 16.3 points per game and led Chicago with 9.4 rebounds per game. Greenwood was selected for the 1979–80 NBA All-Rookie Team alongside Johnson and Larry Bird.
Before the Michael Jordan era in Chicago, Greenwood was one of the franchise's marquee players along with Reggie Theus and Orlando Woolridge. On October 24, 1985, Greenwood was traded by the Bulls to the San Antonio Spurs in exchange for future Hall of Famer George Gervin.
On January 26, 1989, Greenwood and Spurs teammate, Darwin Cook were traded to the Denver Nuggets for Calvin Natt and Jay Vincent. On October 6, 1989, Greenwood signed as an unrestricted free agent with the Detroit Pistons, whom he would assist in a victorious effort in the 1990 NBA Finals as a reserve. He would later sign as an unrestricted free agent with the San Antonio Spurs on August 17, 1990, until his release on May 21, 1991.
Later life and death
Following his NBA career, Greenwood owned several Blockbuster Video stores and coached high school basketball at his alma mater, Verbum Dei, where his teams won the California state championships in 1998 and 1999.
Greenwood died from cancer in Riverside, California, on June 8, 2025, at the age of 68.
NBA career statistics
| 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 |
Regular season
| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1979–80 | Chicago | 82 | 82 | 34.0 | .474 | .143 | .810 | 9.4 | 2.2 | 0.7 | 1.6 | 16.3 |
| 1980–81 | Chicago | 82 | 82 | 33.0 | .486 | .000 | .748 | 8.8 | 2.7 | 0.9 | 1.5 | 14.4 |
| 1981–82 | Chicago | 82 | 82 | 35.5 | .473 | .000 | .825 | 9.6 | 3.2 | 0.9 | 1.1 | 14.6 |
| 1982–83 | Chicago | 79 | 61 | 29.8 | .455 | .000 | .708 | 9.7 | 1.9 | 0.7 | 1.1 | 10.0 |
| 1983–84 | Chicago | 78 | 76 | 34.8 | .490 | .000 | .737 | 10.1 | 1.8 | 0.9 | 0.9 | 12.2 |
| 1984–85 | Chicago | 61 | 28 | 25.0 | .458 | .000 | .713 | 6.4 | 1.3 | 0.6 | 0.3 | 6.1 |
| 1985–86 | San Antonio | 68 | 24 | 28.1 | .510 | .000 | .772 | 7.8 | 1.3 | 0.5 | 0.8 | 7.9 |
| 1986–87 | San Antonio | 79 | 78 | 32.7 | .513 | .500 | .785 | 9.9 | 3.0 | 0.9 | 0.6 | 11.9 |
| 1987–88 | San Antonio | 45 | 40 | 27.5 | .460 | .000 | .748 | 6.7 | 2.2 | 0.7 | 0.5 | 8.6 |
| 1988–89 | San Antonio | 38 | 15 | 24.0 | .425 | — | .800 | 6.3 | 1.4 | 0.8 | 0.6 | 7.7 |
| Denver | 29 | 3 | 16.9 | .419 | — | .676 | 5.7 | 1.4 | 0.6 | 1.0 | 5.9 | |
| 1989–90† | Detroit | 37 | 0 | 5.5 | .423 | — | .552 | 2.1 | 0.3 | 0.1 | 0.2 | 1.6 |
| 1990–91 | San Antonio | 63 | 11 | 16.2 | .503 | .000 | .734 | 3.5 | 0.8 | 0.5 | 0.4 | 3.8 |
| Career | 823 | 582 | 28.4 | .477 | .138 | .765 | 7.9 | 2.0 | 0.7 | 0.9 | 10.2 |
Playoffs
| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1981 | Chicago | 6 | — | 35.3 | .586 | .000 | .417 | 7.3 | 1.8 | 1.5 | 0.8 | 17.8 |
| 1985 | Chicago | 4 | 4 | 34.8 | .536 | — | .800 | 7.8 | 1.3 | 1.5 | 1.0 | 9.5 |
| 1986 | San Antonio | 3 | 3 | 33.7 | .522 | — | .750 | 6.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 0.3 | 10.0 |
| 1989 | Denver | 3 | 0 | 11.3 | .333 | — | .500 | 3.7 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 1.7 |
| 1990† | Detroit | 5 | 0 | 9.4 | .500 | — | .250 | 1.8 | 0.0 | 0.4 | 0.1 | 1.0 |
| 1991 | San Antonio | 1 | 0 | 5.0 | 1.000 | — | — | 2.0 | 2.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 2.0 |
| Career | 22 | 7 | 24.5 | .557 | .000 | .583 | 5.2 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 0.5 | 8.5 |
External links
- , databaseBasketball.com