Darnell Valentine
Personal information
Born (1959-02-03) February 3, 1959 (age 64)
Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Listed height6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Listed weight183 lb (83 kg)
Career information
High schoolWichita Heights (Wichita, Kansas)
CollegeKansas (1977–1981)
NBA draft1981: 1st round, 16th overall pick
Selected by the Portland Trail Blazers
Playing career1981–1994
PositionPoint guard
Number10, 14, 1
Career history
1981–1986Portland Trail Blazers
1986–1988Los Angeles Clippers
1988–1991Cleveland Cavaliers
1991–1992Marr Rimini
1992–1993Burghy Modena
1994Reggio Emilia
Career highlights and awards
Career NBA statistics
Points5,400 (8.7 ppg)
Rebounds1,318 (2.1 rpg)
Assists3,080 (5.0 apg)
Stats Edit this at Wikidata at NBA.com
Stats Edit this at Wikidata at Basketball-Reference.com

Darnell Terrell Valentine (born February 3, 1959) is an American former professional basketball player who played ten seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA).

Early life

Valentine was born in Chicago, Illinois and graduated from Wichita Heights High School in Wichita, Kansas, in 1977. He was named to the inaugural McDonald's All-American team, which played in the 1977 Capital Classic.[1][2]

College

He played college basketball at the University of Kansas where he was a three-time Academic All-American and was a member of the 1980 Summer Olympics men's basketball team. The team was unable to compete due to the 1980 Summer Olympics boycott. He did however receive one of 461 Congressional Gold Medals created especially for the spurned athletes.[3]

Professional

Selected by the Portland Trail Blazers in the first round (16th pick overall) of the 1981 NBA draft, Valentine spent 4+1⁄2 years with the Trail Blazers. In 300 regular season games with Portland, he averaged 9.8 points, 2.3 rebounds and 5.4 assists a game. Valentine also played for the Los Angeles Clippers and the Cleveland Cavaliers during his 10-year NBA career. He owns career averages of 8.7 points, 2.1 rebounds and 5.0 assists in 620 NBA games. After winding up his NBA career, Valentine played three seasons in the Italian Basketball League.

From 1994 to 2004 Valentine served as a Regional Representative for the National Basketball Players Association. Valentine worked for the Portland Trail Blazers as Director of Player Programs from September 2004[4] to December 2007.[5] He currently works for Precision Castparts Corp.[6][7] in Portland.

References

  1. ^ "The Origin of the McDonalds All American Game". ESPN. February 26, 2003. Retrieved April 3, 2023.
  2. ^ "Prep Al-America revealed". The Herald Journal. March 20, 1977. p. 14. Retrieved April 3, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ^ Caroccioli, Tom; Caroccioli, Jerry (2008). Boycott: Stolen Dreams of the 1980 Moscow Olympic Games. Highland Park, IL: New Chapter Press. pp. 243–253. ISBN 978-0942257403.
  4. ^ "BLAZERS: Darnell Valentine Player Page". NBA.com. Archived from the original on March 6, 2006. Retrieved November 3, 2005.
  5. ^ Eggers, Kerry (April 3, 2007). "Valentine still feels the love". Retrieved January 7, 2012.[permanent dead link]
  6. ^ Quick, Jason (November 26, 2009). "Trail Blazers Top 40: No. 33 Darnell Valentine". Oregonian. Retrieved January 7, 2012.
  7. ^ Darnell Valentine at LinkedIn.com

External links

1981 NBA draft
Categories