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Dave Meyers (basketball)

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David William Meyers (April 21, 1953 – October 9, 2015) was an American basketball player who played for the Milwaukee Bucks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The forward played college basketball for the UCLA Bruins. He was an All-American as a senior in 1975, when he won his second national championship with UCLA. He was drafted in the first round of the 1975 NBA draft with the second overall pick, and played four years professionally with the Bucks.

Dave Meyers
Meyers with UCLA in 1972–73
Personal information
Born(1953-04-21)April 21, 1953
San Diego, California, U.S.
DiedOctober 9, 2015(2015-10-09) (aged 62)
Temecula, California, U.S.
Listed height6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)
Listed weight215 lb (98 kg)
Career information
High schoolSonora (La Habra, California)
CollegeUCLA (1972–1975)
NBA draft1975: 1st round, 2nd overall pick
Selected by the Los Angeles Lakers
Playing career1975–1980
PositionPower forward
Number21, 22, 7
Career history
1975–1980Milwaukee Bucks
Career highlights and awards
Career NBA statistics
Points3,149 (11.2 ppg)
Rebounds1,771 (6.3 rpg)
Assists652 (2.3 apg)
Stats at NBA.com Edit this at Wikidata
Stats at Basketball Reference

Early life

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Born in San Diego, California, Meyers was one of 11 children (six girls, five boys) of Bob and Pat Meyers.[1] Bob was a standout basketball player at Marquette University and was the Warriors' captain in 1944–45.[2] Meyers attended high school at Sonora High School in La Habra, California. As a senior, he averaged 22.7 points per game in leading the Raiders to the Orange League title and, in the postseason, the California Southern Section AA championship. Meyers was named AA Player of the Year.[3]

College career

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As a sophomore in 1972–73, Meyers played a backup role on the UCLA Bruins men's basketball team,[4] averaging 4.9 points per game, sixth on the team, and 2.9 rebounds. UCLA won the Pac-8 title, went 30–0 and captured the 1973 NCAA championship with an 87–66 win over Memphis State. Meyers recorded four points and three rebounds in the championship game.[5]

As a junior in 1973–74, Meyers became a starter on a front line with future Hall of Famers Bill Walton and Jamaal Wilkes.[6] Meyers averaged 11.4 points and 5.7 rebounds.[6]

In 1974–75, with Walton and Wilkes graduated, the Bruins reloaded and Meyers was the senior starter on a front line with two sophomores and future All-Americans Marques Johnson and Richard Washington. Meyers led the team in both scoring and rebounding with 18.3 points and 7.9 rebounds per game with a .484 field goal percentage.[7] He won the John Wooden Award as UCLA's Most Valuable Player,[6] and he was a consensus first-team All-American.[6] The Bruins went 28–3 and won the NCAA championship in the 1975 NCAA Division I basketball tournament, the team's 10th in a 12-year span, with a 92–85 win over Kentucky.[6] Meyers recorded 24 points and 11 rebounds in the championship game.[8]

Meyers appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated in 1975 with the headline "UCLA Still Best in the West."[9] He was inducted into the Pac-12 Conference Hall of Honor in March 2015.[10]

NBA career

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Meyers was the second overall pick in the 1975 NBA draft by the Los Angeles Lakers.[11] Nineteen days later,[11] Meyers, along with Elmore Smith, Junior Bridgeman, and Brian Winters, was traded to the Milwaukee Bucks in exchange for Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Walt Wesley.

In his rookie season of 1975–76 with the Bucks, Meyers played 72 games and averaged 22.1 minutes per game. He averaged 7.4 points, 6.2 rebounds and 1.4 assists per game.[11] He posted a then career single-game high of 28 points in just his third NBA game, against the New Orleans Jazz.[12]

In 1976–77, Meyers was limited to 52 games, but his playing time increased to over 25 minutes per game, while he averaged 9.7 points, 6.8 rebounds and 1.7 assists per game, with a .467 field goal percentage.[11] On April 10, 1977, he set a new personal best of 31 points against the San Antonio Spurs.[13]

In 1977–78, his third season, Meyers came into his own as a starter and the Bucks, after two losing seasons, rebounded to a 44–38 record. Playing alongside his former UCLA teammate Marques Johnson, Meyers played 80 games and averaged over 30 minutes per game. Meyers posted a career-high 14.7 points per game along with 6.7 rebounds and a career-high 3.0 assists.[11] On November 15, 1977, he upped his single-game scoring personal best to 32 points, against the Portland Trail Blazers.[14]

Meyers missed the 1978–79 season with a back injury.

In the 1979–80 season, he played 79 games and just under 28 minutes per game as the Bucks went 49–33 and won the NBA Midwest Division.[15] Meyers averaged 12.1 points, 5.7 rebounds and 2.8 assists per game.

After five NBA seasons, on April 30, 1980, Meyers made a surprise announcement that he was retiring from basketball to spend more time with his family and devote more time to his Jehovah's Witness faith.[16]

Career statistics

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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

NBA

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Regular season

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Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
1975–76 Milwaukee 72 – 22.1 .419 – .643 6.2 1.4 1.0 0.3 7.4
1976–77 Milwaukee 50 – 25.2 .467 – .661 6.8 1.7 0.8 0.6 9.7
1977–78 Milwaukee 80 – 30.2 .461 – .722 6.7 3.0 1.1 0.6 14.7
1979–80 Milwaukee 79 – 27.9 .481 .200 .634 5.7 2.8 0.9 0.5 12.1
Career 281 – 26.6 .461 .200 .676 6.3 2.3 1.0 0.5 11.2

Playoffs

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Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
1976 Milwaukee 3 – 18.0 .455 – .824 4.7 0.7 0.3 0.0 8.0
1978 Milwaukee 9 – 18.0 .444 – .667 8.2 3.9 0.8 1.2 12.9
1980 Milwaukee 7 – 27.9 .419 .000 .467 5.0 2.0 1.3 0.9 9.4
Career 19 – 27.8 .436 .000 .629 6.5 2.7 0.9 0.9 10.8

College

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Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
1972–73 UCLA Bruins 28 – – .477 – .756 2.9 – – – 4.9
1973–74 UCLA Bruins 30 – – .488 – .701 5.7 – – – 11.4
1974–75 UCLA Bruins 31 – – .484 – .736 7.9 2.6 – – 18.3
Career 89 – – .485 – .729 5.6 2.6 – – 11.8

Personal life

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Meyers married his wife, Linda, in 1975. Their daughter Crystal was born a year later, and son Sean followed three years later. Meyers worked as a sales representative for Motorola and took night classes in education at National University.[17] He received his teaching certificate and, beginning in 1988, for many years he served as an elementary school teacher at Railroad Canyon Elementary School in Lake Elsinore, California. He also served as a basketball instructor, both privately and at camps, primarily for children aged 8–12.[1]

Meyers died of cancer in Temecula, California, on October 9, 2015, at the age of 62.[18]

Meyers was the older brother of Ann Meyers, who was also an outstanding basketball player and the only woman to sign a free agent contract with an NBA team (Indiana Pacers in 1979).[19]

References

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  1. ^ a b "Passion for the Game: Former Bruin Dave Meyers Teaches Children About Basketball, but He Doesn't Want to Coach". Los Angeles Times. April 1995.
  2. ^ "Bruin Great Ann Meyers Drysdale To Receive 2014 Dick Enberg Award". uclabruins.com. Archived from the original on March 11, 2014.
  3. ^ "CONTENTdm" (PDF).
  4. ^ Bolch, Ben (July 25, 2022). "Gabriela and Jaime Jaquez Jr. hope to pick up where Ann and Dave Meyers left off". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved August 6, 2022.
  5. ^ "UCLA vs. Memphis Box Score, March 26, 1973 - College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com". College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com.
  6. ^ a b c d e "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on March 1, 2014. Retrieved March 11, 2014.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  7. ^ "1974-75 UCLA Bruins Roster and Stats - College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com". College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com.
  8. ^ "UCLA vs. Kentucky Box Score, March 31, 1975 - College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com". College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com.
  9. ^ UCLA STILL BEST IN THE WEST. Sports Illustrated. February 17, 1975, Volume 42, Issue 7
  10. ^ Pac-12 Basketball Hall of Honor to Induct 2014-15 Class, Pac-12 Conference, January 15, 2015
  11. ^ a b c d e "Dave Meyers". Basketball-Reference.com.
  12. ^ "Dave Meyers 1975-76 Game Log". Basketball-Reference.com.
  13. ^ "Dave Meyers 1976-77 Game Log". Basketball-Reference.com.
  14. ^ "Dave Meyers 1977-78 Game Log". Basketball-Reference.com.
  15. ^ "1979-80 Milwaukee Bucks". Basketball-Reference.com.
  16. ^ "The Milwaukee Sentinel - Google News Archive Search". Archived from the original on December 23, 2015. Retrieved June 18, 2015.
  17. ^ "Sports Illustrated Vault - 1950 Issues". SI.com.
  18. ^ AP Story. "Associated Press".
  19. ^ "MERCURY NAME ANN MEYERS DRYSDALE NEW GM - THE OFFICIAL SITE OF THE PHOENIX SUNS". NBA.com.
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