James Donaldson: Dukes

On August 16th, 1957, James Donaldson was born in Heacham, United Kingdom. He went on to be a 1x All Star and a solid player in the NBA.

Donaldson went to Washington State for 4 years (1975-1979). He was selected with the 73rd overall pick in the 1979 NBA Draft by the Seattle SuperSonics. He played one season overseas before making his NBA debut in 1980. He played with the Sonics for 3 seasons before moving on to the San Diego Clippers (later Los Angeles). He joined the Dallas Mavericks in 1985. He was a good player for the Mavericks, blocking shots and getting rebounds, and playing alongside other stars like Mark Aguirre and Rolando Blackman. Donaldson made the 1988 NBA All Star Team. He and Mavericks made it all the way to the Western Conference Finals before losing to the Lakers. He was later voted the worst NBA All-Star by the fans that season. After that, many of the star players on the team were traded or left and many teammates and fans wrongly blamed Donaldson for their woes during the 1980’s and 90’s. Donaldson would leave the Mavericks to play for the Knicks and Jaz until in 1993, he would retire from the NBA. He played 1 years overseas before returning to the Jazz for 1 season in 1995. He would play overseas until 1999 where he would officially retire. In 1983-84, Donaldson would averaged 11.8 points, 7.9 rebounds, and 1.7 blocks. Not bad at all. Overall, Donaldson was a 1x All Star (1988), and a 2nd Team All Pac-8 (1979).

Although the awards and the numbers don’t show it, Donaldson was a really solid player throughout his career.

I hope you enjoyed this edition of This Day In History, please leave a comment on which player I should do next and on which day.