CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — Former Phoenix Suns star Walter Davis, a five-time NBA All-Star who had his quantity retired by the Phoenix Suns, has died. He was 69.
Davis was a star in faculty for North Carolina the place he performed for the late Dean Smith. It was North Carolina, the place Davis’ nephew Hubert Davis is the pinnacle basketball coach, which introduced Water Davis’ loss of life Thursday.
The varsity’s launch stated Walter Davis died Thursday morning of pure causes whereas visiting household in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Davis was drafted fifth total by Phoenix in 1977 and have become the NBA Rookie of the Yr after averaging 24.2 factors a sport. He performed 11 of his 16 professional seasons with the Suns, who retired his No. 6.
Davis moved to Denver for 3 seasons and Portland for one earlier than returning to the Nuggets in 1992-93 for his last yr.
In faculty, Davis was virtually unstoppable as he led one of many high packages within the sport. He helped the Tar Heels to the NCAA title sport in 1977, the place they misplaced to Marquette.
Former North Carolina assistant coach and head coach Roy Williams stated Smith and assistant coach Invoice Guthridge “used to rave about how a lot enjoyable it was to teach Walter. I obtained to look at him as a fan and liked attending to know him later.”
Davis is tenth all-time in scoring in Tar Heels historical past. His 106 video games with double-figure scoring are fourth all-time at North Carolina, trailing solely Phil Ford, Sam Perkins and Tyler Hansbrough.
Ford stated he and Davis had been finest mates virtually from the time they met practically 50 years in the past. “He was the perfect man at my wedding ceremony and I used to be the perfect man at his,” Ford stated in a press release.
“He liked me and I liked him,” Ford continued. “He was an excellent, nice, nice man that occurred to be an excellent basketball participant.”
Davis, from Pineville, North Carolina, is a part of the North Carolina Sports activities Corridor of Fame. He was named to the ACC’s fiftieth anniversary crew in 2002.
