 Budd from the 1960 "Howler" | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1938-10-28)October 28, 1938 (age 87) Woodbury, New Jersey, U.S. |
| Listed height | 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) |
| Listed weight | 205 lb (93 kg) |
| Career information | |
| High school | Woodbury (Woodbury, New Jersey) |
| College | Wake Forest (1957–1960) |
| NBA draft | 1960: 2nd round, 10th overall pick |
| Drafted by | New York Knicks |
| Playing career | 1960–1966 |
| Position | Small forward |
| Number | 10 |
| Career history | |
| 1960–1965 | New York Knicks |
| 1965–1966 | Camden Bullets |
| Career highlights | |
| |
| Career NBA statistics | |
| Points | 2,505 (7.1 ppg) |
| Rebounds | 1,623 (4.6 rpg) |
| Assists | 337 (1.0 apg) |
Stats at NBA.com  | |
| Stats atBasketball Reference | |
David L. Budd (born October 28, 1938) is a retired American basketball player who played for theNew York Knicks in theNational Basketball Association. He played college ball atDivision I Wake Forest University inWinston-Salem, N.C.
Budd grew up in Woodbury, N.J. and attendedWoodbury Junior-Senior High School.[1] By sophomore year, it was evident that basketball was his true calling. Standing at 6 feet 6 inches (1.98 m) and weighing close to 200 pounds (91 kg),[2] Budd was a very imposing player. He possessed technical skills comparable to apoint guard and blossomed into a star. Throughout his high school career, Budd was mentored by Woodbury Junior High School teacher and assistant basketball coachJoe Colone.[3] Colone was a formerNBA player for theNew York Knicks and could provide excellent coaching and tips to prepare Budd for playing collegiate (and later, professional) basketball.[3] Under Colone's tutelage, he earned two first team All-Colonial Conference selections during his junior and senior years as well as an All-South Jersey selection his senior year. His talent interested many colleges, but Budd ultimately chose to play atWake Forest University.
After graduation from high school in 1956, Budd attended Wake Forest. Due toNCAA rules (circa 1971 and earlier), college freshmen were not allowed to participate in varsity basketball.[4] When he became an eligible sophomore during the 1957–58 season, he played in 23 games, averaging 15.8 points per game (ppg) on a 47.5 field goal percentage as aforward. He also grabbed 8.5 rebounds per game (rpg) and shot 66.8% from thecharity stripe.[2] Assists were not yet tracked in college. His junior year campaign saw him play in 24 games and average 14.6 ppg on 43.2% shooting. Budd snatched 8.6 rebounds per game and had a 66.8 free throw %. As a senior, he played in all 28 games while averaging 10.7 ppg and a career-high 10.0 rpg. Shot 49.7% from the field and 72.7% from the free throw line. Budd played with future NBA broadcaster (and then-sophomore)Billy Packer during his senior season.[5] He was also a tough but not dirty, player and got placed onprobation for fighting, following the infamous Wake Forest-UNC brawl atWinston-Salem in 1959.[6] Wake Forest's new all-purpose exercise facility, the Kenneth D. Miller Center (built in 2001), is home to a basketball gym on the third floor that is used as an extra practice court for both the men's and women's basketball teams. It is named the Dave Budd Gymnasium in his honor.[7] For his career, Budd played in 75 contests and held career averages of 13.5 points & 9.1 rebounds per game as well as a 46.6 FG% and 69.2 FT%.
After enjoying success at the college level, Budd was drafted after his senior year by theNew York Knicks in 1960.[9] He was the 10th overall selection in the second round (at the time there were fewer teams in the league and each round only had eight selections). He was drafted the same year thatOscar Robertson andJerry West were picked No. 1 and #2, respectively. Though never anAll-Star, Budd did enjoy moderate success while playing at the highest level. One of his claims to fame was that he was one of the three centers for the Knicks that attempted to guardWilt Chamberlain on the night of hisrecord-setting 100-point performance. On that night, Budd was the only opponent who mustered adouble-double, scoring 13 points and grabbing 10 rebounds in 27 minutes. Also on that same night, Budd was the only other player in the game to collect a double digit number of rebounds (Chamberlain had 25).[10] Budd is the only person from Woodbury, NJ to ever play in the NBA, and wore No. 10 as his jersey number.
I had played him before and had moderate success for short periods of time. You couldn't play him conventionally because he was so big. The only thing you could attempt to do was either front him, and in that case they'd try to lob it in to him, or beat him down the floor and set up where he wanted to get and force him out a couple of extra steps. The guy weighed 300 or 270, so that wasn't easy, either.
— Budd, on guarding Wilt Chamberlain[11]
| 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 |
Source[1]
| Year | Team | GP | MPG | FG% | FT% | RPG | APG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960–61 | New York | 61 | 17.6 | .432 | .649 | 4.9 | .7 | 6.5 |
| 1961–62 | New York | 79 | 17.3 | .436 | .597 | 4.4 | 1.1 | 6.5 |
| 1962–63 | New York | 78 | 22.1 | .493 | .748 | 5.1 | 1.1 | 9.5 |
| 1963–64 | New York | 73 | 14.1 | .431 | .730 | 3.8 | .8 | 4.7 |
| 1964–65 | New York | 62 | 19.2 | .482 | .712 | 5.0 | 1.0 | 8.3 |
| Career | 353 | 18.1 | .460 | .682 | 4.6 | 1.0 | 7.1 | |