Dan Roundfield
Roundfield as a senior at Central Michigan
Personal information
Born(1953-05-26)May 26, 1953
Detroit, Michigan, U.S.
DiedAugust 6, 2012(2012-08-06) (aged 59)
San Nicolas Zuid, Aruba
Listed height6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)
Listed weight205 lb (93 kg)
Career information
High schoolChadsey (Detroit, Michigan)
CollegeCentral Michigan (1972–1975)
NBA draft1975: 2nd round, 28th overall pick
Selected by the Cleveland Cavaliers
Playing career1975–1988
PositionPower forward
Number32, 5
Career history
1975–1978Indiana Pacers
1978–1984Atlanta Hawks
1984–1985Detroit Pistons
1985–1987Washington Bullets
1987–1988Auxilium Torino
Career highlights and awards
Career ABA and NBA statistics
Points11,657 (14.3 ppg)
Rebounds7,502 (9.2 rpg)
Blocks1,160 (1.4 bpg)
Stats Edit this at Wikidata at NBA.com
Stats Edit this at Wikidata at Basketball-Reference.com

Danny Thomas Roundfield (May 26, 1953 – August 6, 2012) was an American professional basketball player. The 6'8" forward/center graduated from Detroit's Chadsey Senior High School in 1971. On the collegiate scene, Roundfield was twice selected to the All-Mid-American Conference Team for Central Michigan University; he was also the 1975 MAC Player of the Year.

Roundfield spent 12 seasons in the American Basketball Association and National Basketball Association, playing for the Indiana Pacers (1975–1978), Atlanta Hawks (1978–1984), Detroit Pistons (1984–1985), and Washington Bullets (1985–1987). Then he moved to Turin, Italy, and played a season for Auxilium Torino.

Roundfield earned a reputation as a strong rebounder and tenacious defender, and during his career he was named to five NBA All-Defensive teams and three All-Star teams. His nickname was Dr. Rounds.

Professional career

Roundfield was selected in the 2nd round of the 1975 NBA draft by the Cleveland Cavaliers, but opted to play for the Indiana Pacers in the last season of the ABA. After a nondescript rookie season, Roundfield was suddenly pressed into duty as starting power forward and jumped center in his second season as the Pacers had traded away Mel Daniels before his rookie season and Tom Owens went to the Houston Rockets. He was signed by the Atlanta Hawks as a free agent before the 1978–79 season; the Pacers received the Hawks' first round pick as compensation, which they used to select Dudley Bradley.

On November 21, 1978, Roundfield scored a career best 38 points, along with grabbing 10 rebounds, in a 113–107 win over the San Diego Clippers.[1] In the 1979 NBA Playoffs, Roundfield led the Hawks to a first round win over the Rockets while averaging 18 points, 15 rebounds, and 3.5 blocks a game.[2] However, in the following round, the Hawks would be eliminated by the defending champion Washington Bullets in a tough seven-game series.[3] Roundfield was selected to the NBA Eastern Conference All-Star team in three consecutive seasons from 1980 to 1982. He made the most of his 1980 All-Star appearance debut, scoring 18 points and grabbing 13 rebounds in 27 minutes coming off the bench. He came close to winning the game's MVP award for his performance, but was overshadowed by fellow Detroit product George Gervin's 34-point output. In the 1982 NBA Playoffs, Roundfield scored a career playoff high 29 points, in a deciding Game 2 loss to the Philadelphia 76ers in a best of three first round series.[4]

On June 18, 1984, Roundfield was traded by the Hawks to the Detroit Pistons for Antoine Carr, Cliff Levingston, a 1986 2nd round draft pick, and a 1987 2nd round draft pick. A year later, he was traded by the Pistons to the Washington Bullets for Rick Mahorn and Mike Gibson.[5] After a season playing for Auxilium Torino in Italy, Roundfield retired in 1988.[6]

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

Regular season

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
1975–76 Indiana (ABA) 67 – 11.4 .424 .000 .631 3.9 0.5 0.5 0.6 5.1
1976–77 Indiana 61 – 27.0 .466 – .686 8.5 1.1 1.0 2.1 13.9
1977–78 Indiana 79 – 30.7 .489 – .727 10.2 2.5 1.0 1.9 13.4
1978–79 Atlanta 80 – 31.7 .504 – .714 10.8 1.6 1.1 2.2 15.3
1979–80 Atlanta 81 – 32.0 .499 .000 .710 10.3 2.3 1.2 1.7 16.5
1980–81 Atlanta 63 – 33.8 .527 .000 .721 10.1 2.6 1.2 1.9 17.6
1981–82 Atlanta 61 58 36.3 .466 .200 .760 11.8 2.7 1.0 1.5 18.6
1982–83 Atlanta 77 76 36.5 .470 .185 .749 11.4 2.9 0.8 1.5 19.0
1983–84 Atlanta 73 72 35.8 .485 .000 .770 9.9 2.5 0.8 1.0 18.9
1984–85 Detroit 56 43 26.6 .467 .000 .781 8.1 1.8 0.5 1.0 10.9
1985–86 Washington 79 21 29.4 .488 .000 .754 8.1 1.8 0.5 0.6 11.6
1986–87 Washington 36 0 18.6 .409 .200 .792 4.7 1.1 0.3 0.4 6.6
Career 813 270 29.7 .482 .111 .735 9.2 2.0 0.9 1.4 14.3
All-Star 1 0 27.0 .467 – .444 13.0 0.0 1.0 2.0 18.0

Playoffs

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
1976 Indiana (ABA) 2 – 12.5 .583 – .889 5.0 0.0 1.0 2.0 11.0
1979 Atlanta (NBA) 9 – 37.6 .459 – .800 11.8 2.8 0.9 2.6 17.6
1980 Atlanta (NBA) 5 – 34.8 .464 .000 .629 11.6 2.2 0.8 1.6 17.2
1982 Atlanta (NBA) 2 – 42.5 .472 – .571 11.0 1.0 1.0 2.0 21.0
1983 Atlanta (NBA) 3 – 41.3 .480 .000 .455 14.0 3.3 1.3 1.3 17.7
1984 Atlanta (NBA) 5 – 38.2 .435 1.000 .714 8.8 1.7 0.4 1.4 17.2
1985 Detroit (NBA) 9 8 23.9 .485 – .941 6.7 1.7 0.4 0.7 9.1
1986 Washington (NBA) 5 0 35.4 .528 .000 .824 9.2 2.0 0.4 0.8 14.0
Career 40 8 33.2 .473 .250 .732 9.7 2.0 0.7 1.5 15.0

Personal life

Roundfield lived in Atlanta, where he worked for Camp Dresser & McKee Inc.

Roundfield died at Baby Beach in San Nicolas Zuid, Aruba in August 2012, drowning after helping his wife, Bernadine, to safety.[7][8][9]

References

  1. ^ "Dan Roundfield Career High 38 Points". Statmuse.
  2. ^ "1979 NBA Eastern Conference First Round". Basketball Reference.
  3. ^ "1979 NBA Eastern Conference Semifinals Hawks vs. Bullets". Basketball Reference.
  4. ^ "Dan Roundfield Postseason Career High 29 Points". Statmuse.
  5. ^ Dan Roundfield Transactions
  6. ^ Dan Roundfield: The "Backbone" of Early 80s Hawks Teams
  7. ^ Cunningham, Michael (August 7, 2012). "Former Hawks All-Star Dan Roundfield drowns in Aruba". Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Archived from the original on August 9, 2012. Retrieved August 7, 2012.
  8. ^ Lake, Thomas (August 17, 2012). "Sad goodbye to Danny Roundfield, who died heroically saving his wife". CNN Sports Illustrated. Retrieved August 17, 2012.
  9. ^ Araton, Harvey (August 18, 2013). "An N.B.A. All-Star's Ultimate Sacrifice". The New York Times. Retrieved November 4, 2020.

External links

1975 NBA draft
Mid-American Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Year
Categories