Sidney Wicks

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Sidney Wicks
Sidney Wicks 1971.jpg
Wicks being double-teamed in a 1971 game
Personal information
Born (1949-09-19) September 19, 1949 (age 72)
Los Angeles, California
NationalityAmerican
Listed height6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)
Listed weight225 lb (102 kg)
Career information
High schoolAlexander Hamilton
(Los Angeles, California)
College
  • Santa Monica (1967–1968)
  • UCLA (1968–1971)
NBA draft1971 / Round: 1 / Pick: 2nd overall
Selected by the Portland Trail Blazers
Playing career1971–1982
PositionPower forward
Number21, 12
Career history
19711976Portland Trail Blazers
19761978Boston Celtics
19781981San Diego Clippers
1981–1982Reyer Venezia Mestre
Career highlights and awards
Career NBA statistics
Points12,803 (16.8 ppg)
Rebounds6,620 (8.7 rpg)
Assists2,437 (3.2 apg)
Stats Edit this at Wikidata at NBA.com
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com
College Basketball Hall of Fame
Inducted in 2010

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.

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[]

Wicks in 1972

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[]

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[]

Legend
  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

Playoffs[]

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
1977 Boston 9 29.0 .519 .732 9.2 1.8 1.4 .3 13.1
Career 9 29.0 .519 .732 9.2 1.8 1.4 .3 13.1

References[]

  1. ^ a b c d e f g DatabaseBasketball.com Sidney Wicks page
  2. ^ "Sidney Wicks was born on September 19, 1949 in Contra Costa County, California". californiabirthindex.org. California Birth Index. Retrieved May 23, 2020.
  3. ^ "UCLA All -Time Academic All-Americans - UCLA Athletics - UCLA Official Athletic Site".
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Eggers, Kerry (February 17, 2006). "Wicks keeps NBA life in past". The Portland Tribune. Retrieved July 10, 2009.
  5. ^ Eggers, Kerry (March 25, 2008). "Star on home court". The Portland Tribune. Retrieved July 10, 2009.
  6. ^ JERRY CROWE, "In time of great change, Sidney Wicks helped UCLA stay the same", Los Angeles Times, March 2, 2009
  7. ^ "Archives". Los Angeles Times.
  8. ^ LePage, Andrew (May 6, 1989). "Wicks Is Seriously Injured When Truck Hits His Car". Los Angeles Times. p. SD_B1.
  9. ^ Smith, Sam (May 6, 1989). "NBA Notes". Chicago Tribune. p. A7.

External links[]

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