Sidney Wicks
Sidney Wicks (born September 19, 1949) is an American former professional basketball player in the National Basketball Association (NBA). A native of California, he played college basketball for the UCLA Bruins. Wick was selected by the Portland Trail Blazers in the 1971 NBA draft with the second overall pick. He was named the NBA Rookie of the Year and was a four-time NBA All-Star with the Trail Blazers. He also played professionally for the Boston Celtics and San Diego Clippers, finishing his career after one season in Italy.
 Wicks being double-teamed in a 1971 game | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | September 19, 1949 Los Angeles, California |
| Nationality | American |
| Listed height | 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) |
| Listed weight | 225 lb (102 kg) |
| Career information | |
| High school | Alexander Hamilton (Los Angeles, California) |
| College |
|
| NBA draft | 1971 / Round: 1 / Pick: 2nd overall |
| Selected by the Portland Trail Blazers | |
| Playing career | 1971–1982 |
| Position | Power forward |
| Number | 21, 12 |
| Career history | |
| 1971–1976 | Portland Trail Blazers |
| 1976–1978 | Boston Celtics |
| 1978–1981 | San Diego Clippers |
| 1981–1982 | Reyer Venezia Mestre |
| Career highlights and awards | |
| |
| Career NBA statistics | |
| Points | 12,803 (16.8 ppg) |
| Rebounds | 6,620 (8.7 rpg) |
| Assists | 2,437 (3.2 apg) |
| Stats at NBA.com | |
| Stats at Basketball-Reference.com | |
| College Basketball Hall of Fame Inducted in 2010 | |
Early life
Wicks was born in Los Angeles, on September 19, 1949.[1] According to the California Birth Index, however, Wicks was born in Contra Costa County, California.[2] He attended Alexander Hamilton High School in Los Angeles, but because of non-qualifying grades in high school, he had to attend Santa Monica College for a year until he could go to his preferred university, the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). Wicks later earned Academic All-America honors at UCLA in 1971.[3] He earned a degree in sociology from the school.[4]
A 6'8" power forward/center, Wicks was a phenom at UCLA, playing on three straight NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championships from 1969 to 1971, the Bruins' star player on the latter two, being named the Most Outstanding Player of the Final Four in 1970, Helms National Co-Player of the Year (1970) USBWA and Sporting News Player of the Year (1971) and two-time consensus All-American in 1970 and 1971. On February 1, 1996, his jersey #35 was retired in a halftime ceremony at UCLA's home court, Pauley Pavilion. Wicks was a 1985 inductee into the UCLA Athletic Hall of Fame and in 2010, was selected to the College Basketball Hall of Fame.
Professional career
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The Portland Trail Blazers selected Wicks with the second pick of the 1971 NBA draft after paying the Cleveland Cavaliers $250,000 not to select him,[4] and the Dallas Chaparrals chose him in the 1971 ABA draft.[1] After averaging 24.5 points and 11.5 rebounds, Wicks was named NBA Rookie of the Year. He also played in the NBA All-Star Game that season.[1]
Wicks played for the Trail Blazers from 1971 to 1976, earning a total of four selections as an All-Star (1972–1975) and averaging over 20 points per game each of his first four seasons.[1] He held the Blazers' franchise record for rebounds in a game with 27 until being surpassed by Enes Kanter[5] and averaged 22.3 points per game and 10.3 rebounds a game in his five years with the team.[4]
In October 1976 he was sold to the Boston Celtics, while Portland went on to win its only NBA championship the next season. Wicks played for the Celtics from 1976 to 1978.[4] Wicks then went to the San Diego Clippers and played there until 1981.[1] Overall, Wicks averaged 16.8 points per game and 8.7 rebounds per game over ten seasons and 760 games.[1] He had four seasons averaging over 20 points per game, and four seasons averaging over 10 rebounds per game, accomplishing both of those feats in the same season three times (1971–72, 1972–73, and 1974–75).[1] His scoring average dropped every year after his rookie season.[4] Following his NBA career he played one season in Italy.[4]
Awards and honors
- 1970 – national co-player of the year honors from the Helms Athletic Foundation
- 1971 – player of the year awards from the USBWA and The Sporting News
- November 21, 2010 – induction into the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame
Later years and family
Following his playing career, Wicks lived for a year in Italy before returning to the United States.[4] He served as an assistant coach at UCLA during Walt Hazzard's four years as head coach.[6] Following coaching he entered the real estate field, living in Atlanta, Florida, and Los Angeles.[4]
At 9 a.m. on May 5, 1989, in Mira Mesa, San Diego, California, Wicks was seriously injured in a car accident. He had been driving a 1974 Cadillac and making a left turn through an intersection when a loaded cement truck, which was approaching the intersection at a perpendicular angle, failed to stop at a red light and struck the driver's side door.[7] Wicks had his ruptured spleen removed at Scripps Memorial Hospital in La Jolla, California. He also had facial lacerations and minor head injuries. A passenger in Wicks' car suffered a mild concussion and facial injuries. The cement truck driver was not injured in the crash.[8][9]
Wicks was married from 1973 to 1979 and has one daughter, Sibahn Epps.[4] As of 2006, he lived in North Carolina and Los Angeles.[4]
NBA career statistics
| 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
| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1971–72 | Portland | 82 | — | 39.6 | .427 | — | .710 | 11.5 | 4.3 | — | — | 24.5 |
| 1972–73 | Portland | 80 | — | 39.4 | .452 | — | .723 | 10.9 | 5.5 | — | — | 23.8 |
| 1973–74 | Portland | 75 | — | 38.0 | .459 | — | .762 | 9.1 | 4.3 | 1.2 | .8 | 22.5 |
| 1974–75 | Portland | 82 | — | 38.6 | .497 | — | .706 | 10.7 | 3.5 | 1.3 | 1.0 | 21.7 |
| 1975–76 | Portland | 79 | — | 38.5 | .483 | — | .674 | 9.0 | 3.1 | 1.0 | .7 | 19.1 |
| 1976–77 | Boston | 82 | — | 32.2 | .458 | — | .668 | 10.0 | 2.1 | .8 | .7 | 15.1 |
| 1977–78 | Boston | 81 | — | 29.8 | .467 | — | .660 | 8.3 | 2.1 | .8 | .6 | 13.4 |
| 1978–79 | San Diego | 79 | — | 25.6 | .462 | — | .650 | 5.1 | 1.6 | .9 | .5 | 9.8 |
| 1979–80 | San Diego | 71 | — | 30.2 | .423 | .000 | .546 | 5.8 | 3.0 | 1.1 | .7 | 7.1 |
| 1980–81 | San Diego | 49 | — | 22.1 | .437 | .000 | .507 | 4.6 | 2.3 | .8 | .8 | 6.7 |
| Career | 760 | — | 33.9 | .459 | .000 | .685 | 8.7 | 3.2 | 1.0 | .7 | 16.8 | |
| All-Star | 4 | 1 | 20.3 | .450 | — | .722 | 8.3 | 1.0 | — | — | 12.3 | |
References
- DatabaseBasketball.com Sidney Wicks page
- "Sidney Wicks was born on September 19, 1949 in Contra Costa County, California". californiabirthindex.org. California Birth Index. Retrieved May 23, 2020.
- "UCLA All -Time Academic All-Americans - UCLA Athletics - UCLA Official Athletic Site".
- Eggers, Kerry (February 17, 2006). "Wicks keeps NBA life in past". The Portland Tribune. Retrieved July 10, 2009.
- Eggers, Kerry (March 25, 2008). "Star on home court". The Portland Tribune. Retrieved July 10, 2009.
- JERRY CROWE, "In time of great change, Sidney Wicks helped UCLA stay the same", Los Angeles Times, March 2, 2009
- "Archives". Los Angeles Times.
- LePage, Andrew (May 6, 1989). "Wicks Is Seriously Injured When Truck Hits His Car". Los Angeles Times. p. SD_B1.
- Smith, Sam (May 6, 1989). "NBA Notes". Chicago Tribune. p. A7.
External links
Media related to Sidney Wicks at Wikimedia Commons
- Career statistics and player information from NBA.com and Basketball-Reference.com