Danny Schayes

{{Infobox basketball biography

| name = Danny Schayes

| image = Danny Schayes 1993-94.jpg

| width =

| caption = Schayes in 1993

| height_ft = 6

| height_in = 11

| weight_lb = 235

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1959|05|10}}

| birth_place = Syracuse, New York, U.S.

| high_school = Jamesville-DeWitt
(DeWitt, New York)

| college = Syracuse (1977–1981)

| draft_year = 1981

| draft_round = 1

| draft_pick = 13

| draft_team = Utah Jazz

| career_start = 1981

| career_end = 1999

| career_number = 24, 34, 10, 26

| career_position = Center

| years1 = {{nbay|1981|start}}–{{nbay|1982|end}}

| team1 = Utah Jazz

| years2 = {{nbay|1982|end}}–{{nbay|1989|end}}

| team2 = Denver Nuggets

| years3 = {{nbay|1990|start}}–{{nbay|1993|end}}

| team3 = Milwaukee Bucks

| years4 = {{nbay|1993|end}}

| team4 = Los Angeles Lakers

| years5 = {{nbay|1994|full=y}}

| team5 = Phoenix Suns

| years6 = {{nbay|1995|full=y}}

| team6 = Miami Heat

| years7 = {{nbay|1996|start}}–{{nbay|1998|end}}

| team7 = Orlando Magic

| highlights =

First-team All-Big East (1981)

| stats_league = NBA

| stat1label = Points

| stat1value = 8,780 (7.7 ppg)

| stat2label = Rebounds

| stat2value = 5,671 (5.0 rpg)

| stat3label = Blocks/Assists

| stat3value = 840 (0.7 bpg)/1299 (1.1 apg)

| medal_templates = {{MedalCountry | {{USA}}}}

}}

Daniel Leslie Schayes (born May 10, 1959) is an American former professional basketball player who played for Syracuse University and played 18 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA), from 1981 until 1999. At 6' 11" and 235 pounds, he played at center. He is the son of the late Dolph Schayes, who was selected for the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. Since his retirement from the NBA, Schayes has served as co-host of Centers of Attention, a sports talk show on ESPN Radio Syracuse in Syracuse, New York. His co-host is Etan Thomas, also a retired American professional basketball player.

Early life

Schayes was born into a Jewish family in Syracuse, New York, the son of Naomi Eva (née Gross) and Dolph Schayes, who played professional basketball and was inducted in the Hall of Fame.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jJYYAAAAIAAJ|title=The Scribner encyclopedia of American lives Sports figures|author=Markoe, A.|date=2001|volume=2|publisher=C. Scribner's Sons|isbn=9780684312248|access-date=December 10, 2014}} His father's parents were born in Romania, and immigrated to the United States.Scribner Encyclopedia of American Lives, Thematic Series: Sports Figures. Page 338. {{ISBN|0-684-31225-5}}

Schayes grew up in DeWitt, New York.[https://books.google.com/books?id=bcRq0lt_eXcC&dq=Danny+Schayes&pg=PA83 Slices of Orange: Great Games and Performers in Syracuse University Sports ... - Sal Maiorana, Scott Pitoniak] He is an alum of Jamesville-Dewitt High School, where he scored 1,012 points for the basketball team. The team won the Onondaga League North title in 1977.

Schayes played on the US basketball team that won a gold medal at the 1977 Maccabiah Games in Tel Aviv, Israel; he also played for Team USA at the 1981 Maccabiah Games, which won a gold medal. He served as Head Coach of Team USA in basketball at the 2013 Maccabiah Games, which won another gold medal.[https://www.maccabiusa.com/danny-schayes-appointed-as-a-member-of-the-basketball-staff-for-the-2018-international-maccabi-youth-games/ "Danny Schayes Appointed As A Member of the Basketball Staff For The 2018 International Maccabi Youth Games" – Maccabi USA]

College

During his senior year at Syracuse University, the first year in which he started for the team, Schayes averaged nearly 14.6 points and 8.3 rebounds a game, and compiled 284 rebounds. He was named to the 1981 All-Big East first team and was both an All-American and an Academic All-American. He holds the record at the Carrier Dome for rebounds in a game (23).{{cite web|url=http://www.jewsinsports.org/profile.asp?sport=basketball&ID=2 |title=Schayes, Danny |publisher=Jews in Sports|access-date=January 11, 2011}}

Professional career

He was selected in the first round with the 13th overall pick by the Utah Jazz in the 1981 NBA draft out of Syracuse University. Schayes was the second center to be drafted that year, with Steve Johnson of Oregon State being the first.

After spending two seasons with the Jazz, he played for several different teams, notably with the Denver Nuggets, in which he spent his best years. The highlight of his NBA career was his performance in the 1987–88 season with the Nuggets when he averaged 13.9 points and 8.2 rebounds per game. In the playoffs that season he averaged 16.4 points and 7.2 rebounds per game. He was 4th in the NBA with a .640 true shooting percentage.

He retired after the NBA lockout-shortened 1999 season, after averaging 1.5 points in an injury-plagued 19-game stint with the Orlando Magic. Schayes was briefly a member of the Minnesota Timberwolves after signing as a free agent before the start of the 1999–00 season. However, he made no appearances for them due to his injuries, and was waived.{{cite web|url=http://www.nba.com/timberwolves/history/roster_9900.html |title=Timberwolves: Roster 1999–2000 |work=NBA.com |access-date=January 11, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130111213335/http://www.nba.com/timberwolves/history/roster_9900.html |archive-date=January 11, 2013 }} He had an 18-year career in the NBA, in which he averaged 7.7 points and 5.0 rebounds in 1,138 games.

NBA career statistics

=Regular season=

| align="left" | 1981-82

| align="left" | Utah

| 82 || 20 || 19.8 ||.481 ||.000 ||.757 ||5.2 ||1.8 ||0.6 ||0.9 ||7.9

| align="left" | 1982-83

| align="left" | Utah

| 50 ||50 ||32.8 || .449|| .000||.805|| 9.0 ||3.3 || 0.8 || 1.4 || 12.4

| align="left" | 1982-83

| align="left" | Denver

| 32 || 0||20.2 || .472 ||.000||.710||5.8 ||1.3 ||0.5 ||0.9 ||9.2

| align="left" | 1983-84

| align="left" | Denver

| 82||15 || 17.3 ||.493 || .000 ||.790 ||5.3 ||1.1 ||0.4 || 0.7 || 7.1

| align="left" | 1984-85

| align="left" | Denver

| 56||0 || 9.7 ||.465 ||.000 || .814 || 2.6 ||0.7 ||0.4 || 0.4 || 3.6

| align="left" | 1985-86

| align="left" | Denver

|80 ||13 ||20.7 ||.502 ||.000 || .777 ||5.5 ||1.0 ||0.5 || 0.8 || 8.2

| align="left" | 1986-87

| align="left" | Denver

|76 ||41 ||20.5 ||.519 ||.000 || .779 ||5.0 ||1.1 ||0.3 || 1.0 || 8.5

| align="left" | 1987-88

| align="left" | Denver

|81 ||74 ||26.7 ||.540 ||.000 || .836 ||8.2 ||1.3 ||0.8 || 1.1 || 13.9

| align="left" | 1988-89

| align="left" | Denver

|76 ||64 ||25.2 ||.522 ||.333 || .826 ||6.6 ||1.4 ||0.6 || 1.1 || 12.8

| align="left" | 1989-90

| align="left" | Denver

|53 ||22 ||22.5 ||.494 ||.000 || .852 ||6.5 ||1.2 ||0.8 || 0.8|| 10.4

| align="left" | 1990-91

| align="left" | Milwaukee

|82||38 ||27.2 ||.499 ||.000 || .835 ||6.5 ||1.2 ||0.7 || 0.7 || 10.8

| align="left" | 1991-92

| align="left" | Milwaukee

|43 ||4 ||16.9 ||.417 ||.000 || .771 ||3.9 ||0.8 ||0.4 || 0.4 || 5.6

| align="left" | 1992-93

| align="left" | Milwaukee

|70||7 ||16.1 ||.399 ||.000 || .818 ||3.6 ||1.1 ||0.5 || 0.5 || 4.6

| align="left" | 1993-94

| align="left" | Milwaukee

|23 ||6 ||10.0 ||.304 ||.000 || .955 ||2.0 ||0.2 ||0.2 || 0.3 || 2.1

| align="left" | 1993-94

| align="left" | L.A. Lakers

|13 ||0 ||10.2 ||.368 ||.000 || .800 ||2.6 ||0.6 ||0.4 || 0.2 || 2.8

| align="left" | 1994-95

| align="left" | Phoenix

|69 ||27 ||11.9 ||.508 ||1.000 || .725 ||3.0 ||1.3 ||0.3 || 0.5 || 4.4

| align="left" | 1995-96

| align="left" | Miami

|32 ||6 ||12.5 ||.340 ||.000 || .804 ||2.8 ||0.3 ||0.3 || 0.5 || 3.2

| align="left" | 1996-97

| align="left" | Orlando

|45 ||6 ||12.0 ||.392 ||.000 || .750 ||2.8 ||0.3 ||0.3 || 0.4 || 3.0

| align="left" | 1997-98

| align="left" | Orlando

|74 ||33 ||17.2 ||.418 ||.000 || .807 ||3.3 ||0.6 ||0.5 || 0.4 || 5.5

| align="left" | 1998-99

| align="left" | Orlando

|19 ||1 ||7.5 ||.379 ||.000 || .750 ||0.7 ||0.2 ||0.1 || 0.1 || 1.5

|- class="sortbottom"

| style="text-align:center;" colspan="2"| Career

| 1138|| 427 ||19.3 ||.481 ||.133 ||.806 ||5.0 ||1.1 || 0.5 || 0.7 ||7.7