 Greenwood withUCLA in 1977–78 | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1957-05-27)May 27, 1957 Lynwood, California, U.S. |
| Died | June 8, 2025(2025-06-08) (aged 68) Riverside, California, U.S. |
| Listed height | 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) |
| Listed weight | 222 lb (101 kg) |
| Career information | |
| High school | Verbum Dei (Los Angeles, California) |
| College | UCLA (1975–1979) |
| NBA draft | 1979: 1st round, 2nd overall pick |
| Drafted by | Chicago Bulls |
| Playing career | 1979–1991 |
| Position | Power forward /center |
| Number | 34, 10, 22, 33 |
| Career history | |
| 1979–1985 | Chicago Bulls |
| 1985–1989 | San Antonio Spurs |
| 1989 | Denver Nuggets |
| 1989–1990 | Detroit Pistons |
| 1990–1991 | San Antonio Spurs |
| Career highlights | |
| |
| Career statistics | |
| Points | 8,428 (10.2 ppg) |
| Rebounds | 6,537 (7.9 rpg) |
| Assists | 1,614 (2.0 apg) |
Stats at NBA.com  | |
| Stats atBasketball Reference | |
| Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame | |
David Murphy-Kasim Greenwood (May 27, 1957 – June 8, 2025) was an American professionalbasketball player whoseNational Basketball Association (NBA) career spanned 12 years from 1979 to 1991. He playedcollege basketball for theUCLA Bruins, earning consensusAll-American honors twice in 1978 and 1979. Greenwood was selected by theChicago Bulls in the first round of the1979 NBA draft with the second overall pick. He was named to theNBA All-Rookie First Team with the Bulls during the 1979–80 season.[1] A forward/center, he also played in the NBA with theSan Antonio Spurs,Denver Nuggets andDetroit Pistons.
Following a standout high school career atVerbum Dei High School, Greenwood attended the nearbyUniversity of California, Los Angeles, from 1975 to 1979. Hestarted all four seasons for theBruins, earning consensus first-teamAll-American andPac-10 Conference Player of the Year (now Pac-12) honors in hisjunior andsenior seasons.[2][3]
Greenwood was inducted into thePac-12 Hall of Honor in 2017 and theNational Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame in 2021. As of the conclusion of the 2024–25 season, he ranked No. 15 all-time in points at UCLA (1,721) and No. 4 all-time inrebounds (1,022).[2]
Greenwood was the second overall pick of the1979 NBA draft. The Chicago Bulls lost the coin toss to theLos Angeles Lakers, who drafted futureHall of FamerEarvin "Magic" Johnson with thefirst overall pick, acquired in a trade with theNew Orleans Jazz.[4]
As a rookie, Greenwood was an immediate starter for the Bulls. He averaged 16.3 points per game and led Chicago with 9.4 rebounds per game. Greenwood was selected for the 1979–80NBA All-Rookie Team alongside Johnson andLarry Bird.[5]
Before theMichael Jordan era inChicago, Greenwood was one of the franchise's marquee players along withReggie Theus andOrlando Woolridge. On October 24, 1985, Greenwood was traded by the Bulls to theSan Antonio Spurs in exchange for future Hall of FamerGeorge Gervin.[1]
On January 26, 1989, Greenwood and Spurs teammate,Darwin Cook were traded to theDenver Nuggets forCalvin Natt andJay Vincent.[1] On October 6, 1989, Greenwood signed as an unrestricted free agent with theDetroit Pistons, whom he would assist in a victorious effort in the1990 NBA Finals as a reserve.[1] He would later sign as an unrestricted free agent with theSan Antonio Spurs on August 17, 1990, until his release on May 21, 1991.[1]
Following his NBA career, Greenwood owned severalBlockbuster Video stores and coached high school basketball at his alma mater, Verbum Dei, where his teams won the California state championships in 1998 and 1999.[6]
Greenwood died from cancer inRiverside, California, on June 8, 2025, at the age of 68.[6]
| 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 |
| † | Won anNBA championship |
| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1979–80 | Chicago | 82 | 82 | 34.0 | .474 | .143 | .810 | 9.4 | 2.2 | 0.7 | 1.6 | 16.3 |
| 1980–81 | Chicago | 82 | 82 | 33.0 | .486 | .000 | .748 | 8.8 | 2.7 | 0.9 | 1.5 | 14.4 |
| 1981–82 | Chicago | 82 | 82 | 35.5 | .473 | .000 | .825 | 9.6 | 3.2 | 0.9 | 1.1 | 14.6 |
| 1982–83 | Chicago | 79 | 61 | 29.8 | .455 | .000 | .708 | 9.7 | 1.9 | 0.7 | 1.1 | 10.0 |
| 1983–84 | Chicago | 78 | 76 | 34.8 | .490 | .000 | .737 | 10.1 | 1.8 | 0.9 | 0.9 | 12.2 |
| 1984–85 | Chicago | 61 | 28 | 25.0 | .458 | .000 | .713 | 6.4 | 1.3 | 0.6 | 0.3 | 6.1 |
| 1985–86 | San Antonio | 68 | 24 | 28.1 | .510 | .000 | .772 | 7.8 | 1.3 | 0.5 | 0.8 | 7.9 |
| 1986–87 | San Antonio | 79 | 78 | 32.7 | .513 | .500 | .785 | 9.9 | 3.0 | 0.9 | 0.6 | 11.9 |
| 1987–88 | San Antonio | 45 | 40 | 27.5 | .460 | .000 | .748 | 6.7 | 2.2 | 0.7 | 0.5 | 8.6 |
| 1988–89 | San Antonio | 38 | 15 | 24.0 | .425 | — | .800 | 6.3 | 1.4 | 0.8 | 0.6 | 7.7 |
| Denver | 29 | 3 | 16.9 | .419 | — | .676 | 5.7 | 1.4 | 0.6 | 1.0 | 5.9 | |
| 1989–90† | Detroit | 37 | 0 | 5.5 | .423 | — | .552 | 2.1 | 0.3 | 0.1 | 0.2 | 1.6 |
| 1990–91 | San Antonio | 63 | 11 | 16.2 | .503 | .000 | .734 | 3.5 | 0.8 | 0.5 | 0.4 | 3.8 |
| Career | 823 | 582 | 28.4 | .477 | .138 | .765 | 7.9 | 2.0 | 0.7 | 0.9 | 10.2 | |
| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1981 | Chicago | 6 | — | 35.3 | .586 | .000 | .417 | 7.3 | 1.8 | 1.5 | 0.8 | 17.8 |
| 1985 | Chicago | 4 | 4 | 34.8 | .536 | — | .800 | 7.8 | 1.3 | 1.5 | 1.0 | 9.5 |
| 1986 | San Antonio | 3 | 3 | 33.7 | .522 | — | .750 | 6.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 0.3 | 10.0 |
| 1989 | Denver | 3 | 0 | 11.3 | .333 | — | .500 | 3.7 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 1.7 |
| 1990† | Detroit | 5 | 0 | 9.4 | .500 | — | .250 | 1.8 | 0.0 | 0.4 | 0.1 | 1.0 |
| 1991 | San Antonio | 1 | 0 | 5.0 | 1.000 | — | — | 2.0 | 2.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 2.0 |
| Career | 22 | 7 | 24.5 | .557 | .000 | .583 | 5.2 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 0.5 | 8.5 | |