Dantley attended the University of Norte Dame where he starred for three seasons. His freshman season was when he was just 17 but he put up 18 points a game . His scoring jumped to 30 his sophomore year and fell to 28 his junior year. In total Dantley appeared in 86 games for the fighting Irish and averaged 26 points and 10 rebounds.

The Buffalo Braves made Dantley the sixth pick in the first round in 1976. Dantley went on to have a stellar rookie season averaging 20 points a game and winning rookie of the year honors. The Braves kept Dantley for only one season before trading him to the Indiana Pacers. Dantley played just 23 games for the Pacers before they traded him to the Lakers.

Dantley’s scoring dropped to 17 points a game in his season and a half with the Lakers, mainly due to the talent the Lakers had on their roster such as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. After the 1979 season the Lakers traded Dantley to the Utah Jazz for Spencer Hayward.

His years with the Jazz are often considered the pinnacle of his career. In his first season with the Jazz Dantley averaged 28 points a game and made his first all-star appearance. The following season Dantley averaged 31 points a game to lead the league. He would average 30 or more points a game from 1980 until 1984.

Dantley missed most of the 82-83 season with a knee injury but was able to come back the next season. That season marks the only season in his Jazz career that Dantley did not make the all-star team. In total he made six all-star teams all as a member of the Jazz.

The Jazz made the playoff for the first time in franchise history in 1983-84 and Dantley was a big part of that. He once again lead the league in scoring that season and played in all but 2 games.

Dantley’s demise with the Jazz began partly because the Jazz organization felt like Dantley was a bad influence on rookie forward Karl Malone. The Jazz decided that Malone was their future and traded Dantley to the Detroit Pistons in 1986.

Dantley’s scoring dropped with the Pistons yet he remained a 20 point scorer and a key member of the team that lost to the Lakers in the NBA. The Pistons kept him for only two and a half seasons before trading him to Dallas for Mark Aguirre.

Injuries and age started to effect Dantley by the early 1990s. He was slowed up by the knee injury he sustained in 1982 and never was really part of the Mavericks. He played in 45 games in 1990 and did not play in any for the Mavs the following season, instead he opted to being bought out and signing with the Milwaukee Bucks. Dantley played just 10 games for the Bucks before retiring from the NBA in 1991.

Adrian Dantley appeared in 955 career games and had averages of 24 points and 6 rebounds. He was a six time all-star and a two time scoring champion. He was not elected to the Hall-of-fame until 2008.

#62                                         Main index                                         #64