Richard Washington

For other people named Richard Washington, see Richard Washington (disambiguation).
Richard Washington
Personal information
Born (1955-07-15) July 15, 1955 (age 69)
Portland, Oregon, U.S.
Listed height6 ft 11 in (2.11 m)
Listed weight220 lb (100 kg)
Career information
High schoolBenson Polytechnic
(Portland, Oregon)
CollegeUCLA (1973–1976)
NBA draft1976: 1st round, 3rd overall pick
Selected by the Kansas City Kings
Playing career1976–1982
PositionPower forward / center
Number31
Career history
1976–1979Kansas City Kings
1979–1980Milwaukee Bucks
1980Dallas Mavericks
1980–1982Cleveland Cavaliers
Career highlights and awards
Career NBA statistics
Points3,456 (9.8 ppg)
Rebounds2,204 (6.3 rpg)
Assists409 (1.2 apg)
Stats at NBA.com Edit this at Wikidata
Stats at Basketball Reference Edit this at Wikidata

Richard Lee Washington (born July 15, 1955) is an American former professional basketball player in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the UCLA Bruins, winning a national championship in 1975, when he was voted the NCAA tournament's Most Outstanding Player. After being named a consensus first-team All-American as a junior in 1976, he was selected by the Kansas City Kings with the third overall pick of the 1976 NBA draft.

Early life

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A 6'11" center born in Portland, Oregon, Washington played high school ball at Portland's Benson Tech. An all-around athlete and agile big man, Washington was a three-time all-state and first-team all-tournament selection and led Benson to state championships in 1971 and 1973. Benson was a combined 77–6 those three seasons.[1] Washington was also a hurdler in track and, as a defensive end-receiver, was MVP on the Techmen football team his junior year (the last year he played football).[2]

College career

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Washington was highly recruited out of high school and seriously considered the University of Hawaii, but he decided to play college basketball for perennial national champion UCLA and legendary coach John Wooden.[2][3] He played three seasons at UCLA, with the Bruins going 26–4, 28–3 and 28–4. They won three Pac-8 championships and advanced three Final Fours.[2]

In Washington's sophomore season of 1974–75, the Bruins captured the NCAA title. The Bruins went 28–3 and, powered by the front line of future NBA players Washington, Dave Meyers and Marques Johnson, and defeated Kentucky 92–85 in the title game, which would also be coach Wooden's final game. Washington was named NCAA basketball tournament Most Outstanding Player following UCLA's 1975 championship.[2]

He earned first-team All-American honors as a junior in 1975–76.[4]

College statistics

[edit]
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
Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
1973–74 UCLA 24 – – .513 – .500 2.8 0.5 – – 4.1
1974–75 UCLA 31 – – .576 – .724 7.8 2.2 – – 15.9
1975–76 UCLA 32 – – .513 – .736 8.6 3.1 – – 20.1
Career 87 – – .536 – .702 6.7 2.0 – – 14.2

NBA career

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Washington was declared eligible for the 1976 NBA draft due to hardship status. He played six seasons in the NBA as a member of the Kansas City Kings, Milwaukee Bucks, Dallas Mavericks and Cleveland Cavaliers.[2] In his NBA career, he scored 3,456 points and grabbed 2,204 rebounds.

NBA career statistics

[edit]
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

Regular season

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Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
1976–77 Kansas City 82 – 27.6 .431 – .697 8.5 1.0 0.8 1.1 13.0
1977–78 Kansas City 78 – 28.6 .477 – .754 8.4 1.5 0.9 0.9 12.8
1978–79 Kansas City 18 – 8.9 .341 – .625 2.7 0.4 0.4 0.2 2.1
1979–80 Milwaukee 75 – 14.6 .468 .000 .605 3.7 0.7 0.3 0.6 5.9
1980–81 Dallas 11 – 27.9 .436 .000 .739 7.6 1.5 0.5 0.6 10.8
1980–81 Cleveland 69 – 21.8 .459 .500 .750 5.3 1.6 0.6 0.8 9.9
1981–82 Cleveland 18 2 17.4 .435 .000 .600 4.2 0.8 0.4 0.1 6.1
Career 351 2 22.4 .453 .250 .711 6.3 1.2 0.6 0.8 9.8

Playoffs

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Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
1978–79 Kansas City 4 – 13.0 .550 – 1.000 3.3 0.0 0.3 0.3 6.0
1979–80 Milwaukee 7 – 16.0 .532 .000 .250 2.9 0.4 0.6 1.1 7.3
Career 11 – 14.9 .537 .000 .500 3.0 0.3 0.5 0.8 6.8

Personal life

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Washington and his wife, Leiko, reside in Milwaukie, Oregon. They have raised two daughters. Interested in building and construction since his youth, in 1993 he founded Richard Washington Construction, a general contracting company.[2][5]

In 1988, Washington was inducted into the Oregon Sports Hall of Fame.[1]

References

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  1. ^ a b "Oregon Sports Hall of Fame". www.oregonsportshall.org. Archived from the original on May 21, 2012.
  2. ^ a b c d e f "Catching Up With Richard Washington ('73–'76)". Bruin Basketball Report. December 11, 2005. Archived from the original on March 22, 2014.
  3. ^ "Daytona Beach Morning Journal – Google News Archive Search".
  4. ^ "UCLA BASKETBALL HISTORY" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on June 6, 2015. Retrieved September 18, 2014.
  5. ^ "RICHARD WASHINGTON". linkedin.com. Retrieved November 11, 2023. [self-published source]
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