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.

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).

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.

Davis was Inducted into the Texas Sports Hall of Fame in 1964 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.

Career statistics

Legend
GPGames playedGSGames startedMPGMinutes per game
FG%Field goal percentage3P%3-point field goal percentageFT%Free throw percentage
RPGRebounds per gameAPGAssists per gameSPGSteals per game
BPGBlocks per gamePPGPoints per gameBoldCareer high
†Won an NBA championship*Led the league

NBA

Source

Regular season

YearTeamGPMPGFG%FT%RPGAPGPPG
1953–54Philadelphia6823.1.367.6446.4.95.9
1954–55Philadelphia6112.6.385.7293.4.62.9
1955–56†Philadelphia7015.7.369.6883.9.84.6
1956–57Philadelphia6519.2.407.6984.7.86.6
1957–58Philadelphia3510.7.341.6672.5.53.0
1957–58†St. Louis2611.0.357.7763.3.44.9
Career32516.4.377.6954.3.74.8

Playoffs

YearTeamGPMPGFG%FT%RPGAPGPPG
1956†Philadelphia10*6.9.455.5002.8.32.3
1957Philadelphia218.5.3081.0007.0.56.0
1958†St. Louis97.3.379.8333.0.33.6
Career218.2.391.7733.3.33.2