Sidney Wicks

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Sidney Wicks
File:Sidney Wicks 1971.jpg
Wicks from 1971 UCLA yearbook
Personal information
Born (1949-09-19) September 19, 1949 (age 74)
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 Santa Monica CC (1967–1968)
UCLA (1968–1971)
NBA draft 1971 / Round: 1 / Pick: 2nd overall
Selected by the Portland Trail Blazers
Playing career 1971–1982
Position Power forward / Center
Number 21, 12
Career history
1971–1976 Portland Trail Blazers
1976–1978 Boston Celtics
1978–1981 San Diego Clippers
1981–1982 Reyer Venezia Mestre (Italy)
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 Basketball-Reference.com
College Basketball Hall of Fame
Inducted in 2010

Sidney Wicks (born September 19, 1949) is a retired American basketball player. A native of California, he played college basketball for the UCLA Bruins and played professionally in the National Basketball Association (NBA) from 1971 to 1981. In the NBA he played for the Portland Trail Blazers, Boston Celtics, and San Diego Clippers, earning NBA Rookie of the Year in 1972 as well as four all-star selections.

Early life

Sidney Wicks was born in Los Angeles, California, on September 19, 1949.[1] 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.[citation needed] He earned a degree in sociology from the school.[2]

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 Feb 1, 1996, his jersey #35 was retired in a halftime ceremony at UCLA's home court, Pauley Pavilion. Wicks was an 1985 inductee into the UCLA Athletic Hall of Fame and in 2010, was selected to the College Basketball Hall of Fame.

Professional career

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,[2] 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 holds the Blazer's franchise record for rebounds in a game with 27,[3] and averaged 22.3 points per game and 10.3 rebounds a game in his five years with the team.[2]

In October 1976 he was sold to the Boston Celtics, while Portland went on to win their only NBA championship the next season. Wicks played for the Celtics from 1976 to 1978.[2] 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.[2] Following his NBA career he played one season in Italy.[2]

Awards and honors

Later years and family

Following his playing career, he lived for a year in Italy before returning to the United States.[2] He served as an assistant coach at UCLA during Walt Hazzard's four years as head coach.[4] Following coaching he entered the real estate field, living in Atlanta, Florida, and Los Angeles.[2]

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 failed to stop at a red light and struck the driver's side door. Wicks had his ruptured spleen removed at Scripps Memorial Hospital in La Jolla, California. He also had facial lacerations and minor head injuries. Jeffrey Neal Brown, a 34-year-old Poway resident, was a passenger in Wicks' car, and suffered a mild concussion and facial injuries. He was also treated at Scripps Memorial Hospital. The cement truck was being driven by 30-year-old Harry Arthur Auman, who was not injured in the crash.[5][6]

Wicks was married from 1973 to 1979 and has one daughter, Sibahn Epps.[2] As of 2006, he lived in North Carolina and Los Angeles.[2]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 DatabaseBasketball.com Sidney Wicks page
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 2.8 2.9 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. ↑ JERRY CROWE, "In time of great change, Sidney Wicks helped UCLA stay the same", Los Angeles Times, March 2, 2009
  5. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

External links

  • Media related to Sidney Wicks at Wikimedia Commons
  • Career statistics and player information from NBA.comLua error in Module:EditAtWikidata at line 29: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value). and Basketball-Reference.com
  • Career statistics and player information from WNBA.comLua error in Module:EditAtWikidata at line 29: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value). and Basketball-Reference.comLua error in Module:EditAtWikidata at line 29: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value).

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