David Thirdkill (born April 12, 1960) is an American retired basketball player. He played in the NBA, and was the 1993 Israeli Basketball Premier League MVP.
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | April 12, 1960 St. Louis, Missouri, U.S. |
| Listed height | 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) |
| Listed weight | 196 lb (89 kg) |
| Career information | |
| High school | Soldan (St. Louis, Missouri) |
| College |
|
| NBA draft | 1982: 1st round, 15th overall pick |
| Selected by the Phoenix Suns | |
| Playing career | 1982–1996 |
| Position | Small forward / shooting guard |
| Number | 40, 22, 21, 45 |
| Career history | |
| 1982–1983 | Phoenix Suns |
| 1983–1984 | Detroit Pistons |
| 1985 | Milwaukee Bucks |
| 1985 | San Antonio Spurs |
| 1985–1986 | Boston Celtics |
| 1986–1987 | Tanduay Rhum Masters |
| 1988 | Purefoods TJ Hotdogs |
| 1987–1988 | Rochester Flyers |
| 1989 | Virtus Roma |
| 1989–1990 | Chorale Roanne Basket |
| 1991–1994 | Hapoel Tel Aviv |
| 1994–1995 | Hapoel Holon |
| 1995–1996 | Bnei Herzelia |
| Career highlights and awards | |
| |
| Stats at NBA.com | |
| Stats at Basketball Reference | |
NBA career
editHe was selected by the Phoenix Suns in the first round (15th overall) of the 1982 NBA draft.[2] A 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) small forward from the College of Southern Idaho and Bradley University, Thirdkill played in five NBA seasons from 1982 to 1987.[3]
Born in St. Louis, Missouri and nicknamed "The Sheriff",[2][4] he played for the Suns, Detroit Pistons, Milwaukee Bucks, San Antonio Spurs and Boston Celtics.[5] On January 24, 1986, he scored a career-high 20 points and grabbed a career-high 8 rebounds in a 135–114 win over the Golden State Warriors.[6] He earned a championship ring with the 1985-86 Celtics.
In his NBA career, Thirdkill played in 179 games and scored a total of 510 points.[7][8] Thirdkill made one 3 point shot as a rookie with Phoenix, then never made another three pointer. He finished his career one for 11 from three point land.[9]
NBA career statistics
edit| 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 an NBA championship |
Regular season
edit| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1982–83 | Phoenix | 49 | 2 | 10.6 | .435 | .143 | .577 | 1.5 | 0.7 | 0.4 | 0.1 | 4.0 |
| 1983–84 | Detroit | 46 | 0 | 6.3 | .431 | .000 | .484 | 0.7 | 0.6 | 0.2 | 0.1 | 1.7 |
| 1984–85 | Detroit | 10 | 1 | 11.5 | .522 | .000 | .455 | 0.8 | 0.1 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 2.9 |
| 1984–85 | Milwaukee | 6 | 0 | 2.7 | .750 | .000 | .500 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1.2 |
| 1984–85 | San Antonio | 2 | 2 | 26.0 | .455 | .000 | .833 | 3.5 | 1.5 | 1.0 | 0.5 | 7.5 |
| 1985–86† | Boston | 49 | 0 | 7.9 | .491 | .000 | .625 | 1.4 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 0.1 | 3.3 |
| 1986–87 | Boston | 17 | 0 | 5.2 | .417 | .000 | .313 | 1.1 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 1.5 |
| Career | 179 | 5 | 8.2 | .457 | .091 | .565 | 1.2 | 0.5 | 0.3 | 0.1 | 2.8 | |
Playoffs
edit| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1984–85 | San Antonio | 5 | 0 | 4.4 | .250 | .000 | .500 | 0.4 | 0.4 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.8 |
| 1985–86† | Boston | 13 | 0 | 3.6 | .333 | .000 | .455 | 0.6 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 1.3 |
| Career | 18 | 0 | 3.8 | .318 | .000 | .467 | 0.6 | 0.3 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 1.2 | |
International career
editIn 1987, Thirdkill played in a tournament (Open Conference) for the Tanduay Rhum Masters team in the Philippine Basketball Association and won the championship aside from being named "Best Import" of the conference.[10] He returned for another conference in 1988, this time for the newly formed Purefoods team, which he led to another finals appearance.[10] Thereafter, he played in Italy for Virtus Roma, in France for Chorale Roanne Basket and Saint-Quentin Basket-Ball.
He then played most notably in Israel for a spell of five years, mainly for Hapoel Tel Aviv, finally retiring in 1996. He was the 1993 Israeli Basketball Premier League MVP.
References
edit- ^ "CBA all-stars". USA Today. January 22, 1988. p. 5C. Retrieved April 4, 2023.
- ^ a b In '80s, Bradley spread the news Archived August 16, 2007, at the Wayback Machine, July 28, 2002
- ^ "David Thirdkill Player Profile, Boston Celtics, NBA Stats, NCAA Stats, Game Logs, Bests, Awards - RealGM". basketball.realgm.com.
- ^ Reynolds, Dave. "Reynolds: 'Sheriff' is back in town in St. Louis". Journal Star.
- ^ Smith, Sam. "THIRDKILL FINALLY FINDS HOME WITH CELTICS". chicagotribune.com.
- ^ "Golden State Warriors at Boston Celtics Box Score, January 24, 1986". Basketball-Reference. Retrieved May 7, 2020.
- ^ "David Thirdkill Stats". Basketball-Reference.com.
- ^ "David Thirdkill - Men's Basketball". Bradley University Athletics.
- ^ "David Thirdkill Stats".
- ^ a b Cuna, Charlie (March 23, 2020). "Norman Black, Billy Ray Bates and other PBA imports who made an impact in the '80s". ESPN. Retrieved June 3, 2024.