Bob Dandridge

Bob Dandridge
Personal information
Born (1947-11-15) November 15, 1947 (age 77)
Richmond, Virginia, U.S.
Listed height6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)
Listed weight195 lb (88 kg)
Career information
High schoolMaggie Walker (Richmond, Virginia)
CollegeNorfolk State (1965–1969)
NBA draft1969: 4th round, 45th overall pick
Selected by the Milwaukee Bucks
Playing career1969–1981
PositionSmall forward / shooting guard
Number10
Career history
1969–1977Milwaukee Bucks
1977–1981Washington Bullets
1981Milwaukee Bucks
Career highlights and awards
Career statistics
Points15,530 (18.5 ppg)
Rebounds5,715 (6.8 rpg)
Assists2,846 (3.4 apg)
Stats at NBA.com Edit this at Wikidata
Stats at Basketball Reference Edit this at Wikidata
Basketball Hall of Fame

Robert L. Dandridge Jr. (born November 15, 1947) is an American former professional basketball player. Nicknamed the "Greyhound",[1] Dandridge was a four-time NBA All-Star and two-time NBA champion, who scored 15,530 points in his career. He was elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2021.

Early years

Born in Richmond, Virginia, he attended Maggie L. Walker High School in Richmond and Norfolk State University, teaming up with Pee Wee Kirkland. His teams had phenomenal years. The Spartans won the CIAA title in 1968 with a 25–2 record; they lost in the second round of the NCAA Division II Men's Tournament. The next year their record was 21–4 and they lost in the first round of the D-II tournament. He was drafted by the Kentucky Colonels in the 1969 American Basketball Association draft and by the Milwaukee Bucks in the fourth round of the 1969 NBA draft.[2]

Basketball career

Dandridge was named to the NBA All-Rookie Team in 1970. In just his second season, Dandridge played an important part on the Milwaukee Bucks team that won the NBA championship in 1971, averaging 19.2 points, 9.6 rebounds, and 3.4 assists per playoff game, alongside the Hall-of-Fame duo of Lew Alcindor (Kareem Abdul-Jabbar) and Oscar Robertson.[3] In Game 3 of that finals series, Dandridge led all scorers with 29 points, while also recording 10 rebounds.[4] On January 23, 1976, Dandridge scored a career high 40 points in a 113–97 win over the Kansas City Kings.[5] He played a total of 13 seasons in the NBA, nine of them with the Bucks as well as four with the Washington Bullets, with whom he won an NBA championship in 1978 during his first season with the team, while forming the frontcourt with another future Hall-of-Fame duo: Elvin Hayes and Wes Unseld. In Game 2 of the 1978 NBA Finals, Dandridge led all scorers with 34 points en route to a Bullets win.[6] His dunk in Game 7 of the 1978 Finals sealed the Bullets championship victory. Dandridge returned to the Bucks for 11 games in 1981, before retiring.[7]

In his career, he averaged 18.5 points per game over 839 regular season games and 20 points per game in 98 playoff games and was a four-time NBA all star. Dandridge is usually mentioned as one of the NBA's best forwards in the 1970s.

Dandridge scored more points in the NBA Finals in the 1970s than any other player, including Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. He scored a total of 450 points in four NBA Finals played, playing a total of 23 games, garnering an average of over 19 points a game, most notably scoring 109 points in the 1979 NBA Finals, which was the most on his Washington Bullets team.[8]

In 1992, Dandridge was inducted into the Virginia Sports Hall of Fame.

In 2021 Dandridge was elected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.

Retirement

After retiring as a player, Dandridge served as an assistant coach at Hampton University from 1987 to 1992. Today, he lives in Norfolk, Virginia and conducts basketball clinics.[9]

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
 †  Won an NBA championship

Regular season

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
1969–70 Milwaukee 81 – 30.4 .485 – .754 7.7 3.6 – – 13.2
1970–71† Milwaukee 79 – 36.2 .509 – .702 8.0 3.5 – – 18.4
1971–72 Milwaukee 80 – 37.0 .498 – .739 7.7 3.1 – – 18.4
1972–73 Milwaukee 73 – 39.1 .472 – .789 8.2 2.8 – – 20.2
1973–74 Milwaukee 71 – 35.5 .503 – .818 6.7 2.8 1.6 0.6 18.9
1974–75 Milwaukee 80 – 37.9 .473 – .805 6.9 3.0 1.5 0.6 19.9
1975–76 Milwaukee 73 – 37.5 .502 – .824 7.4 2.8 1.5 0.5 21.5
1976–77 Milwaukee 70 – 35.7 .467 – .771 6.3 3.8 1.4 0.4 20.8
1977–78† Washington 75 – 37.0 .471 – .788 5.9 3.8 1.3 0.6 19.3
1978–79 Washington 78 – 33.7 .499 – .825 5.7 4.7 0.9 0.7 20.4
1979–80 Washington 45 – 32.4 .451 .182 .809 5.5 4.0 0.6 0.8 17.4
1980–81 Washington 23 – 23.7 .426 .000 .718 3.6 2.6 0.7 0.4 10.0
1981–82 Milwaukee 11 0 15.8 .382 – .588 1.5 1.2 0.5 0.2 4.7
Career 839 – 35.2 .484 .167 .780 6.8 3.4 1.3 0.6 18.5
All-Star 4 1 18.5 .480 – .667 3.5 0.5 1.3 0.0 6.5

Playoffs

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
1970 Milwaukee 10 – 39.9 .507 – .655 8.7 5.7 – – 16.3
1971† Milwaukee 14 – 38.2 .463 – .782 9.6 3.4 – – 19.2
1972 Milwaukee 11 – 40.1 .495 – .740 8.8 1.9 – – 21.5
1973 Milwaukee 6 – 34.0 .421 – .704 4.7 1.2 – – 13.8
1974 Milwaukee 16 – 40.5 .493 – .766 7.6 2.8 1.4 0.6 19.3
1976 Milwaukee 3 – 40.7 .490 – .900 7.7 2.7 1.0 0.0 22.0
1978† Washington 19 – 39.3 .479 – .690 6.5 3.9 1.6 0.7 21.2
1979 Washington 19 – 41.4 .473 – .827 7.4 5.5 0.7 0.8 23.1
Career 98 – 39.6 .480 – .761 7.7 3.7 1.2 0.7 20.1

References

  1. ^ Jim Owczarski (May 16, 2021). "Milwaukee Bucks legend Bob Dandridge elected to basketball Hall of Fame". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Retrieved September 12, 2021.
  2. ^ BasketballReference.com Bob Dandridge page
  3. ^ "1970-71 Milwaukee Bucks Roster and Stats". Basketball Reference.
  4. ^ 1971 NBA Finals Game 3: Baltimore Bullets at Milwaukee Bucks Box Score, April 28, 1971
  5. ^ "Bob Dandridge Career High 40 Points". Statmuse.
  6. ^ "1978 NBA Finals Game 2: Seattle SuperSonics at Washington Bullets". Basketball Reference.
  7. ^ "Bob Dandridge Transactions". Basketball Reference.
  8. ^ "1979 NBA Finals – SuperSonics vs. Bullets".
  9. ^ "Class of 1992: Bobby Dandridge". virginiasportshalloffame.com. Archived from the original on October 21, 2006. Retrieved March 8, 2015.