Anthony Roberts (basketball)

{{Infobox basketball biography

| name = Anthony Roberts

| image =

| width =

| caption =

| height_ft = 6

| height_in = 5

| weight_lb = 185

| birth_date = {{birth date|1955|04|15}}

| birth_place = Chattanooga, Tennessee, U.S.

| death_date = {{death date and age|1997|03|29|1955|04|15}}

| death_place = Tulsa, Oklahoma, U.S.

| high_school = {{nowrap|Riverside (Chattanooga, Tennessee)}}

| college = Oral Roberts (1973–1977)

| draft_year = 1977

| draft_round = 1

| draft_pick = 21

| draft_team = Denver Nuggets

| career_start = 1977

| career_end = 1984

| career_number = 21, 20, 30

| career_position = Small forward / shooting guard

| years1 = {{nbay|1977|start}}–{{nbay|1979|start}}

| team1 = Denver Nuggets

| years2 = 1980

| team2 = Scranton Aces

| years3 = {{nbay|1980|full=y}}

| team3 = Washington Bullets

| years4 = 1981–1982

| team4 = Atlantic City Hi-Rollers

| years5 = 1982–1984

| team5 = Wyoming Wildcatters

| years6 = {{nbay|1983|end}}

| team6 = Denver Nuggets

| stats_league = NBA

| stat1label = Points

| stat1value = 1,658 (7.8 ppg)

| stat2label = Rebounds

| stat2value = 837 (3.9 rpg)

| stat3label = Assists

| stat3value = 265 (1.2 apg)

| highlights =

CBA All-Star Game MVP (1984)
No. 15 retired by Oral Roberts Golden Eagles

| bbr = roberan01

}}

Anthony Jerome Roberts (April 15, 1955 – March 29, 1997) was an American professional basketball player for the Denver Nuggets and Washington Bullets in the National Basketball Association (NBA).{{Cite web| title = Anthony Roberts| work = basketball-reference.com| year= 2010| url = https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/r/roberan01.html| accessdate = 30 August 2010}} He was selected in the first round as the 21st pick in the 1977 NBA draft by the Nuggets and spent five seasons playing the NBA.

Early life

Roberts was born in Chattanooga, Tennessee. He attended Riverside High School in his hometown.

Basketball career

=High school=

Roberts played at Riverside High School in Chattanooga and was the MVP of the Tennessee state championship team in 1972.

=College=

Anthony Roberts attended Oral Roberts University (ORU) from 1973–74 to 1976–77.{{Cite web| title = ORU Hall of Fame| work = ORUGoldenEagles.com| publisher = Oral Roberts University| date = 17 July 2007| url = http://www.orugoldeneagles.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=17000&ATCLID=1104124| accessdate = 30 August 2010| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110930085611/http://www.orugoldeneagles.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=17000&ATCLID=1104124| archive-date = 30 September 2011| url-status = dead}} During his four-year career, he averaged 21.7 points and 7.4 rebounds per game, including a senior season in which he averaged 34.0 points and 9.2 rebounds. He is only one of two players in National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I history, along with Hall of Famer Pete Maravich, to score 60 or more points in a single game versus a Division I opponent more than once.{{Cite web | title = 2009–10 NCAA Men's Basketball Records | work = 2009–10 NCAA Men's Basketball Media Guide | publisher = National Collegiate Athletic Association | year = 2009 | url = http://web1.ncaa.org/web_files/stats/m_basketball_RB/2010/D1.pdf

| accessdate = 30 August 2010}} Roberts scored 66 points on February 19, 1977, against North Carolina A&T and 65 against Oregon on March 9, 1977. His total against Oregon came in the first round of the National Invitation Tournament (NIT), setting the still-standing tournament record.

In 108 career games, Roberts made 1,006 of 2,007 field goal attempts while finishing with 2,341 points and exactly 800 rebounds. He earned honorable mention All-American honors for his final three years as a Titan. Later on, Roberts would become enshrined in the ORU athletics hall of fame as a member of their inaugural class.

=Professional=

On June 10, 1977, Roberts was selected in the first round of that year's NBA draft.{{cite web|url=https://www.basketball-reference.com/draft/NBA_1977.html|title=1977 NBA Draft|work=basketball-reference.com|accessdate=30 August 2010| archiveurl= https://web.archive.org/web/20100906075506/http://www.basketball-reference.com/draft/NBA_1977.html| archivedate= 6 September 2010 | url-status= live}} The Denver Nuggets selected him with the 21st overall pick.

He spent his first three NBA seasons with Denver. He was eventually waived by the Nuggets and then signed by the Washington Bullets for the 1980–81 season. On September 2, 1981, the Bullets also waived Roberts, and he would not re-join another NBA team until February 16, 1984, when the Nuggets signed him to a 10-day contract. Nine days later he was signed for the rest of the season, where he would finish out his NBA career. The Nuggets waived him once again on July 25, 1984, and no other NBA team ever signed him. For his NBA career, Roberts scored 1,658 points, grabbed 837 rebounds and recorded 265 assists in 213 games.

Roberts played in the Continental Basketball Association for the Scranton Aces, Atlantic City Hi-Rollers and Wyoming Wildcatters from 1980 to 1984. He was selected as the CBA All-Star Game Most Valuable Player in 1984.{{cite web |title=Anthony Roberts minor league basketball statistics |url=/minorbasketball/stats/p-roberant002 |website=Stats Crew |access-date=February 21, 2025}}

Death

Anthony Roberts was shot and killed while arguing with two men in the parking lot outside his apartment complex on March 29, 1997. Brent Alan Kilby, 19, was charged with his murder. Kilby was sentenced to life in prison in 1998. Roberts was 41 at the time.{{Cite web | last = Brown | first = Mike| title = ORU great Roberts Remembered|publisher = Tulsa World| date = 23 February 2011

| url = http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/article.aspx?subjectid=95&articleid=20110223_95_B5_CUTLIN498184 | accessdate = 23 February 2011}}