Athletes - Adrian Dantley

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	Athletes - Adrian Dantley

Adrian Delano Dantley (born February 28 1956 in Washington, D.C.) is a former basketball small forward who played 15 seasons in the NBA.

Playing career

Dantley attended basketball powerhouse DeMatha Catholic High School in Hyattsville, MD. Upon reaching the NBA, he built a reputation as a precise scorer, averaging 24.3 points per game through his career while shooting .540 from the floor and .818 from the free throw line. He led the league in scoring twice (in 1981 and 1984) and was selected to 6 All-Star Games.

Perhaps even more impressively, most of his points were scored in the paint, although Dantley stood only 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m), and did not have tremendous speed, overpowering physical strength, nor leaping ability, but he did possess great marksmanship and tenacity.

Hall of Fame Controversy

Despite all his achievements, Dantley has yet to be elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame. Most analysts cite four factors in an attempt to explain this disdain:

Dantley never won an NBA title. The Detroit Pistons traded him for Mark Aguirre
, five months before the Pistons won the title in June 1989.
Dantley had some attitude issues and was sometimes considered to be a rebellious player.
Dantley played for a total of seven NBA franchises and could not be easily identified with one team in particular (which may be unfair since he played for 6 years with the Utah Jazz).
Dantley was a scoring forward in an era (the 1980s) when this kind of player was abundant (ex. James Worthy
, Dominique Wilkins
, Bernard King
, Alex English
)

As of February 2006, Dantley still did not receive induction into the Hall of Fame. On an interesting side note, his former high school coach, Morgan Wootten, is a member.

Retiring No. 4?

For years, many supporters of the Jazz have asked owner Larry Miller to retire the number 4 that Dantley wore in Utah, as he is generally considered as the first all-star of the franchise. So far, Miller has yet to formally retire Dantley's number. The Jazz, however, unofficially retired Dantley's number, as they did not allow Carlos Boozer to wear the jersey, which he wore while playing for Duke University.

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Athletes - Adrian Dantley

Playing career

Hall of Fame Controversy

Retiring No. 4?

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