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Walter Berry (basketball)

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Walter Berry
Personal information
Born (1964-05-14) May 14, 1964 (age 60)
New York City, New York, U.S.
Listed height6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)
Listed weight215 lb (98 kg)
Career information
High schoolBenjamin Franklin
(New York City, New York)
College
NBA draft1986: 1st round, 14th overall pick
Selected by the Portland Trail Blazers
Playing career1986–2002
PositionPower forward
Number21, 6, 15, 14, 12, 9, 8
Career history
1986Portland Trail Blazers
19861988San Antonio Spurs
1988–1989New Jersey Nets
1989Houston Rockets
1989–1990Basket Napoli
1990–1991Atlético Madrid Villalba
1991Aris
1992Basket Napoli
1992–1993Olympiacos
1993–1994PAOK
1994–1995Iraklis
1995–1996Olympiacos
1997Aris
1997–1998Polti Cantù
1998–1999PAOK
1999–2000Union Olimpija
2000Makedonikos
2000–2001Aurora Basket Jesi
2001–2002Panteras de Miranda
Career highlights and awards
Career NBA statistics
Points2,882
Rebounds971
Assists292
Stats at NBA.com Edit this at Wikidata
Stats at Basketball Reference
Medals
Men's basketball
Representing  United States
FIBA U19 World Cup
Gold medal – first place 1983 Palma de Mallorca Under-19

Walter Berry (born May 14, 1964) is an American former professional basketball player. After spending three seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA), he had a very successful career in various leagues around Europe and the EuroLeague. Berry played the power forward position. Berry, who originated from New York City, New York, was nicknamed "The Truth", early in his playing career. He was inducted into the Greek Basket League Hall of Fame in 2022.[1]

College career

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Berry's retired St. John's # 21 jersey.

Berry played college basketball for his hometown college, St. John's University, with the then called St. John's Redmen. At St. John's he won the John Wooden Award, the Big East Men's Basketball Player of the Year award, plus the USBWA College Player of the Year award in 1986, after averaging 23 points and 11.1 rebounds per game. Berry, nicknamed, "The Truth", was also the second leading scorer on St. John's 1985 Final Four team.

Professional career

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NBA

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Berry was selected by the Portland Trail Blazers with the 14th overall pick in the 1986 NBA draft. He only played 7 games for the Blazers before he was traded to the San Antonio Spurs in exchange for Kevin Duckworth. He spent three seasons in the NBA, from 1986 to 1989, with the Trail Blazers, Spurs, New Jersey Nets, and Houston Rockets. However, he did not get along with some of his coaches, including Mike Schuler while with the Portland Trail Blazers, Larry Brown (San Antonio Spurs) and Willis Reed (Nets).[2] He was released by the New Jersey Nets, after failure to conform to team policy.[3] He holds NBA career averages of 14.1 points and 4.7 rebounds per game.

Europe

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In 1989, Berry went to Italy, where he played for Italian LBA League club Paini Napoli. After that, he spent much of his career playing in Greece, in the Greek Basket League and the EuroLeague, where he forged a reputation as one of the most savvy scorers, with a wide variety of shots and ways of scoring.

Later career

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Berry would continue to play basketball for Jayson Williams' NBA Charity Team. He joined Jayson Williams at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, where Williams' NBA charity team played exhibition games.[citation needed]

NBA career statistics

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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

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Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
1986–87 Portland 7 0 2.7 .750 1.000 1.0 0.1 0.3 0.0 1.9
1986–87 San Antonio 56 45 28.0 .529 .000 .648 5.4 1.9 0.6 0.7 17.6
1987–88 San Antonio 73 56 26.3 .563 .600 5.4 1.5 0.8 0.9 17.4
1988–89 New Jersey 29 17 19.2 .468 .683 4.0 0.7 0.3 0.4 8.9
1988–89 Houston 40 14 20.0 .541 .500 .713 3.8 1.4 0.5 0.9 8.8
Career 205 132 23.7 .539 .200 .638 4.7 1.4 0.6 0.7 14.1

Playoffs

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Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
1988 San Antonio 3 0 31.3 .540 .000 .800 7.0 2.0 1.7 0.7 22.0
1989 Houston 4 0 14.3 .500 .875 2.3 1.3 0.5 0.3 8.3
Career 7 0 21.6 .526 .000 .826 4.3 1.6 1.0 0.4 14.1

References

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