James Edwards (basketball)

James Franklin Edwards (born November 22, 1955) is an American retired professional basketball player. Nicknamed "Buddha" for his appearance (he often sported a Fu Manchu mustache) and stoic demeanor, the 7'1" Edwards, though he never appeared in an All-Star Game, was a reliable low-post scorer, averaging 12.7 points per game over his career.

James Edwards

Edwards in 1987
Personal information
Born	(1955-11-22) November 22, 1955 Seattle, Washington
Nationality	American
Listed height	7 ft 1 in (2.16 m)
Listed weight	252 lb (114 kg)
Career information
High school	Roosevelt (Seattle, Washington)
College	Washington (1973–1977)
NBA draft	1977 / Round: 3 / Pick: 46th overall
Selected by the Los Angeles Lakers
Playing career	1977–1996
Position	Center
Number	42, 40, 53
Career history
1977	Los Angeles Lakers
1977–1981	Indiana Pacers
1981–1983	Cleveland Cavaliers
1983–1988	Phoenix Suns
1988–1991	Detroit Pistons
1991–1992	Los Angeles Clippers
1992–1994	Los Angeles Lakers
1994–1995	Portland Trail Blazers
1995–1996	Chicago Bulls
Career highlights and awards
3× NBA champion (1989, 1990, 1996) 2× First-team All-Pac-8 (1976, 1977)
Career NBA statistics
Points	14,862 (12.7 ppg)
Rebounds	6,004 (5.1 rpg)
Blocks	867 (0.7 bpg)
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com

He retired with 14,862 career points and 6,004 career rebounds.

Early years

Born in Seattle, Washington, Edwards starred at Roosevelt High School, where he led the Roughriders to the state title in 1973. He went on to play for the hometown University of Washington Huskies under coach Marv Harshman. For his college career, between 1973 and 1977, Edwards averaged 14.6 points and 7.5 rebounds per game.[1]

NBA career

Edwards played 19 years (1977–1996) in the National Basketball Association, playing both the center and power forward positions.

Los Angeles Lakers

Edwards was drafted by the Los Angeles Lakers on June 10, 1977 and made his NBA debut on October 18. [2] He had a strong start to his rookie season, averaging 14.8 points and 7.2 rebounds before being traded later in the season.

Indiana Pacers

Edwards was then traded to the Indiana Pacers in 1977, where he enjoyed arguably his most productive statistical years. He averaged 15.9 points during his four years with the franchise.

Cleveland Cavaliers

Edwards spent parts of two seasons with the Cleveland Cavaliers, averaging 16.0 points and 7.4 rebounds during his brief time there.

Phoenix Suns

Edwards was then traded to the Phoenix Suns in 1983, where he played for parts of six seasons. With the Suns he continued to be a key contributor, averaging 14.7 points and 5.6 rebounds per game.

Drug investigation

In April of 1987, Edwards, along with Jay Humphries and Grant Gondrezick, was indicted by a Maricopa County, Arizona, grand jury investigating cocaine trafficking. Edwards was indicted on three counts, conspiracy to possess a narcotic drug, conspiracy to transfer a narcotic drug, and conspiracy to transfer or possess marijuana [3]. Former Suns player Walter Davis was involved and was offered immunity in exchange for testimony, but his testimony failed to reveal critical details. Edwards, along with all other defendants, never went to trial, but was required to undergo a drug counseling program as settlement [4].

Detroit Pistons

Edwards played four seasons with the Detroit Pistons. He was a key member of the 1989 and 1990 NBA champion Detroit Pistons' Bad Boys squads, starting most of the team's games in 1990. He averaged 11.2 points and 3.6 rebounds as a Piston.

Later career

After his title runs with the Pistons, Edwards was traded to the Los Angeles Clippers before the 1991-92 season, where he spent one season. He then signed with the Lakers for a second stint, spending two seasons with the team that drafted him. This was followed by one season each of limited action with the Portland Trail Blazers and the Chicago Bulls. With the Bulls, Edwards won a third championship in the 19th and final season of his career in 1996, where he saw limited playing time off the bench.

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
†	Won an NBA championship

Regular season

Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
1977–78	L.A. Lakers	25	–	28.9	.459	–	.640	7.2	1.2	0.6	1.1	14.8
1977–78	Indiana	58	–	29.0	.450	–	.649	7.5	1.0	0.6	0.9	15.4
1978–79	Indiana	82	–	31.0	.501	–	.676	8.5	1.1	0.7	1.3	16.7
1979–80	Indiana	82	–	28.2	.512	.000	.681	7.0	1.5	0.7	1.3	15.7
1980–81	Indiana	81	–	29.3	.509	.000	.703	7.0	2.6	0.4	1.6	15.6
1981–82	Cleveland	77	75	33.0	.511	.000	.684	7.5	1.6	0.3	1.5	16.7
1982–83	Cleveland	15	8	25.5	.487	–	.623	6.4	0.9	0.5	0.9	12.3
1982–83	Phoenix	16	1	17.8	.487	–	.660	3.7	1.7	0.3	0.3	8.8
1983–84	Phoenix	72	67	26.3	.536	.000	.720	4.8	2.6	0.3	0.4	14.7
1984–85	Phoenix	70	58	25.5	.501	.000	.746	5.5	2.2	0.4	0.7	14.9
1985–86	Phoenix	52	51	25.3	.542	–	.702	5.8	1.4	0.4	0.6	16.3
1986–87	Phoenix	14	9	21.7	.518	–	.771	4.3	1.4	0.4	0.5	12.0
1987–88	Phoenix	43	42	32.0	.469	.000	.635	7.8	1.7	0.3	0.7	15.7
1987–88	Detroit	26	2	12.6	.475	–	.738	3.0	0.2	0.1	0.2	5.4
1988–89†	Detroit	76	1	16.5	.500	.000	.686	3.0	0.6	0.1	0.4	7.3
1989–90†	Detroit	82	70	27.8	.498	.000	.749	4.2	0.8	0.3	0.5	14.5
1990–91	Detroit	72	70	26.4	.484	.500	.729	3.8	0.9	0.2	0.4	13.6
1991–92	L.A. Clippers	72	11	20.0	.465	.000	.731	2.8	0.7	0.3	0.5	9.7
1992–93	L.A. Lakers	52	0	11.9	.452	–	.712	1.9	0.8	0.2	0.1	6.3
1993–94	L.A. Lakers	45	2	10.4	.464	–	.684	1.4	0.5	0.1	0.1	4.7
1994–95	Portland	28	0	9.5	.386	–	.647	1.5	0.3	0.2	0.3	2.7
1995–96†	Chicago	28	0	9.8	.373	–	.615	1.4	0.4	0.0	0.3	3.5
Career		1,168	467	24.3	.495	.048	.698	5.1	1.3	0.4	0.7	12.7

Playoffs

Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
1981	Indiana	2	–	28.0	.292	–	–	7.0	2.5	0.5	0.5	7.0
1983	Phoenix	3	–	18.0	.423	–	1.000	6.0	1.3	0.3	0.3	9.3
1984	Phoenix	17	–	27.2	.492	–	.706	5.4	1.6	0.2	0.6	13.8
1988	Detroit	22	2	14.0	.509	.000	.659	3.1	0.5	0.1	0.5	6.3
1989†	Detroit	17	0	18.6	.471	.000	.784	2.1	0.7	0.1	0.5	7.1
1990†	Detroit	20	20	26.8	.494	.000	.604	3.6	0.7	0.3	0.6	14.3
1991	Detroit	15	11	23.0	.407	–	.691	2.5	0.6	0.1	0.2	10.7
1992	L.A. Clippers	5	0	17.4	.417	–	.632	2.6	0.6	0.2	0.2	6.4
1993	L.A. Lakers	3	0	4.7	.750	–	–	0.7	0.0	0.0	0.0	2.0
1995	Portland	1	0	4.0	.000	–	–	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
1996†	Chicago	6	0	4.7	.444	–	.750	0.7	0.0	0.0	0.0	1.8
Career		111	33	19.9	.468	.000	.682	3.2	0.8	0.2	0.4	9.3

See also

• List of National Basketball Association players with 1000 games played
• List of National Basketball Association seasons played leaders
• List of oldest and youngest National Basketball Association players

References

1. "James Edwards". Sports Reference. Retrieved April 6, 2020.
2. https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/e/edwarja01.html
3. https://www.nytimes.com/1987/04/18/sports/3-suns-players-are-indicted-in-drug-investigation.html
4. http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1066773/1/index.htm

External links

• Career Stats