Raymond Anthony Townsend (born December 20, 1955) is an American retired professional basketball player. He played three seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA) with the Golden State Warriors and the Indiana Pacers. Townsend played college basketball with the UCLA Bruins, earning all-conference honors in the Pacific-8 (known later as the Pac-12). He was selected by the Warriors in the first round of the 1978 NBA draft, with the 22nd overall pick, and became the first Filipino-American to play in the NBA. During his playing career, he was listed at 6'3" (1.91 m) tall and 175 lbs. (79 kg). He played at the point guard position.
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | December 20, 1955 San Jose, California |
| Nationality | American |
| Listed height | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) |
| Listed weight | 175 lb (79 kg) |
| Career information | |
| High school |
|
| College | UCLA (1974–1978) |
| NBA draft | 1978: 1st round, 22nd overall pick |
| Selected by the Golden State Warriors | |
| Playing career | 1978–1985 |
| Position | Point guard |
| Number | 11 |
| Career history | |
| 1978–1980 | Golden State Warriors |
| 1980–1981 | Alberta Dusters |
| 1981–1982 | Indiana Pacers |
| 1982–1983 | E.C. Sirio |
| 1983–1984 | C.A. Monte Libano |
| 1984–1985 | Virtus Roma |
| Career highlights and awards | |
| |
| Career NBA statistics | |
| Points | 745 (4.8 ppg) |
| Rebounds | 157 (1.0 rpg) |
| Assists | 217 (1.4 apg) |
| Stats at NBA.com | |
| Stats at Basketball Reference | |
High school career
editTownsend attended Camden High School and Archbishop Mitty High School, in San Jose, California, where he played high school basketball. As a high school senior, he averaged close to 28 points a game for the Camden High Cougars. This was prior to the 3 point shot line being regulated years later. After graduating from high school, he played college basketball at UCLA.
College career
editTownsend played college basketball at UCLA, with the UCLA Bruins. He was a member of the 1975 UCLA National Basketball Championship team, which was the 10th and final NCAA championship team of the school's head coach, John Wooden. He earned first-team All-Pac-8 honors as a senior, in 1978.
Professional career
editTownsend was selected with the last pick in the first round (22nd overall), of the 1978 NBA draft, by the Golden State Warriors. He was the first Filipino-American to play in the NBA.[1][2] He concluded his NBA career in 1982, as a member of the Indiana Pacers. He also played in Italy's LBA with Banco Roma, during the 1984–85 season.[3] With Roma, he won the 1984 edition of the FIBA Intercontinental Cup.
Personal life
editTownsend was born in San Jose, California. He is half-Filipino through his mother.[4][5] A 1976 Sports Illustrated issue featured Townsend's father, Ray Sr., in its "Faces in the Crowd" section. He was recognized as "the oldest junior college basketball player in history." At age 39, he was the second man off the bench.[6]
Townsend's brother, Kurtis,[4] is an assistant coach for the Kansas Jayhawks team that won the 2008 and 2022 NCAA Championships. After his basketball playing career, Townsend worked as youth sports development coordinator in San Jose, California.
References
edit- ^ Pimentel, Joseph (December 21, 2008). "Raymond Townsend - First Pinoy NBA Player". Asian Journal. Archived from the original on February 2, 2009.
- ^ Myers, Laura (March 9, 2014). "Picking up more than splinters". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved October 31, 2022.
- ^ Ray Townsend (in Italian).
- ^ a b Henson, Joaquin (January 19, 2004). "Filipinos love this game". NBA.com. Archived from the original on February 11, 2012.
The Philippines, a hoops hotbed in the Far East, has yet to send a player to the NBA although a US-born half-Filipino, half-American guard Raymond Townsend saw action for the Golden State Warriors in 1978–79 and 1979–80 and the Indiana Pacers in 1981–82.
- ^ Ding, Kevin (September 3, 2010). "Lin is the NBA's Asian-African inspiration". The Orange County Register. Archived from the original on September 14, 2010. Retrieved November 18, 2010.
Raymond Townsend and Rex Walters followed more recently, their stories begun when born to Asian mothers but hard to read from their bi-racial faces.
- ^ KUSports.com: Fathers’ examples still guide Kansas coaches
External links
edit
- Career statistics from NBA.com and Basketball Reference
- Italian League Profile (in Italian)