Louis "Louis" Dampier ( born Louis 20 "Louie" Dampier ; born November 20, 1944 , Indianapolis , Indiana , USA ) is an American professional basketball player , one of the best players in the American Basketball Association , having played all nine seasons of its existence, plus three seasons in National Basketball Association . ABA champion in the 1974/1975 season as part of the Kentucky Colonels team. In 1997, he was included in the list of thirty players who entered the symbolic national team of all times of the ABA . Member of the Basketball Hall of Fame since 2015.
| Louis Dampier | |
|---|---|
| Louie dampier | |
 Louis Dampierre in 1979 | |
| Finished his career | |
| Position | Point guard |
| Nicknames | Little louis |
| Growth | 183 cm |
| Weight | 77 kg |
| Citizenship |  USA |
| Date of Birth | November 20, 1944 ( 74) |
| Place of Birth | Indianapolis , Indiana |
| School | Southport (Indianapolis) |
| College | Kentucky (1964-1967) |
| NBA draft | 38th (4th round), 1967 , Cincinnati Royals |
| Statistics | |
| Games | 960 |
| Glasses | 15279 ( 15.9 on average per game) |
| Rebounds | 2543 ( 2.6 on average per game) |
| Gears | 4687 ( 4.9 on average per game) |
| Intercepts | 407 ( 0.4 on average per game) |
| Block shots | 153 ( 0.2 on average per game) |
Content
The early years
Louis Dampier was born on November 20, 1944 in Indianapolis ( Indiana ), attended Southport High School from his eponymous suburb , in which he played for the local basketball team. As part of it, he took part in the annual all-star match among the leading high school players from Indiana and Kentucky [1] .
Student career
In 1963 he entered the University of Kentucky , where for three years he played for the Kentucky Wildcats basketball team, in which he spent a successful career under the guidance of the famous coach, member of the Basketball Hall of Fame , Adolf Rapp , eventually gaining 1575 points in 80 games ( 19.7 on average per game), 408 rebounds (5.1) and 136 assists (1.7) [2] .
During her student career, Wildcats Dampier’s partners were former trainer Pat Riley , Tommy Cron and Larry Conley , and her most successful milestone was the 1965-1966 tournament , in which Wild Cats made it to the decisive NCAA Championship match , becoming vice champions of the country . On March 12, 1966, the Wildcats reached the final of four NCAA ( Eng. Final Four ), where at first in the semifinal, on March 18, they hardly outplayed the team of Jack Marina , Steve Wackendack and Bob Verga “ Duke Blue Devils ” with a score of 83-79, in which Dampier became the best player in his team by scoring 23 points [3] [4] , and after that, in the final match, on March 19, in a bitter struggle, they lost to the team of Bobby Joe Hill and Dave Lattin “ UTEP Miners ” with a score of 65 -72, in it Louis, along with Pat Riley, also became the best player in his team by scoring 19 points [4] [5] .
For three years at the university (at that time freshmen did not have the right to participate in sports tournaments) Dampier was included in the first team of all the stars of the Southeast Conference (1965-1967) three times in a row, and also twice in a row - in the second all-American team of the NCAA ( 1966-1967). In addition, he was twice included in the academic team of the Southeast Conference (1966-1967), and once in the academic all-American team of the NCAA (1967). At the end of his student career, he became the third in the list of the best snipers Wildcats, losing only to Cotton Nash (1770) and Alex Grose (1744). Sweater number 10, under which Louis played for the Wildcats, was withdrawn from circulation and hung out under the arches of the Rapp Arena , the basketball court on which the Wild Cats are still holding their home matches [6] .
Professional career
Despite the fact that Dampier was one of the best players in the Southeast Conference, which was the supplier of a huge number of basketball talents of the time, Louis was deprived of excessive attention from the clubs of the National Basketball Association and in the 1967 NBA draft he was selected only in the fourth round under the 38th number by the Cincinnati Royals team, so he entered into an agreement with the club of the Kentucky Colonels rival to the NBA of the American Basketball Association , who also chose him for the ABA draft in the same year [1] . In addition to Dampier, the Colonels management contracted with another experienced defender Darelle Carrier , thereby forming the best explosive defensive duo of the association, which cemented the defenses of Kentucky for five seasons, each of which in the first three tournaments of the association gained at least 20 points on average per game. In addition, for two consecutive years, Louis became the leader in the number of accurate three-point shots and attempts from a long distance (199 out of 552 and 198 out of 548), and Darrel - in the percentage of realization of shots from behind the arc (37.9 and 37.5) [1 ] [7] .
Considering that during his sports career, Louis was never injured and very rarely missed matches due to fatigue, Dampier became the ABA leader in some statistical indicators, including games held (728), points scored (13 726), made assists (4044) and three-point shots realized (794), and during the 1970/1971 season he realized 57 free throws in a row [8] . In addition, Dampierre, along with Mel Daniels , is the association's record holder for the number of matches played by all ABA stars (ASG) (7 each ). In the 1974/1975 season, he, as teammate of Dan Issl and Artis Gilmore , became the ABA champion [9] .
At the end of the 1975/1976 season, the ABA, as a result of the merger with the NBA , ceased to exist, and Dampier, following a draft distribution, signed an agreement with the San Antonio Spurs team, one of the four ABA clubs, along with Indiana Pacers , “ New York Nets ”and“ Denver Nuggets ”, who moved to the NBA, where he played the next three seasons, mainly acting as a backup George Gervin [1] . In 1997, on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the founding of the ABA, Louis was included in the symbolic team of the best basketball players of the association [10] . In 1998-2002, Dampier worked as an assistant to the head coach of the Denver Nuggets club, and in 2015 was included in the basketball Hall of Fame [11] .
Notes
- ↑ 1 2 3 4 Louie Dampier ABA Stats . basketball-reference.com . Sports Reference LLC. Date of treatment April 26, 2016.
- ↑ Louie Dampier College Career . thedraftreview.com . The Draft Review. Date of treatment April 26, 2016.
- ↑ Kentucky 83, Duke 79 . sports-reference.com . Sports Reference LLC. Date of treatment April 26, 2016.
- ↑ 1 2 1965-66 Southeastern Conference Season Summary . sports-reference.com . Sports Reference LLC. Date of treatment April 26, 2016.
- ↑ Texas-El Paso 72, Kentucky 65 . sports-reference.com . Sports Reference LLC. Date of treatment April 26, 2016.
- ↑ Louie Dampier UK Career . bigbluehistory.net . Big Blue History. Date of treatment April 26, 2016.
- ↑ Darel Carrier ABA Stats . basketball-reference.com . Sports Reference LLC. Date of treatment April 26, 2016.
- ↑ NBA & ABA Career Leaders and Records for Points . basketball-reference.com . Sports Reference LLC. Date of treatment April 26, 2016.
- ↑ 1974-75 Kentucky Colonels Roster and Stats . basketball-reference.com . Sports Reference LLC. Date of treatment April 26, 2016.
- ↑ 30 Year ABA All-Time Team . remembertheaba.com . Remember the ABA. Date of treatment April 26, 2016.
- ↑ Five Direct-Elect Members Announced for the Class of 2015 by the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame . hoophall.com . Basketball Hall of Fame. Date of treatment April 26, 2016. Archived on February 14, 2015.