Melvin Joe Daniels was an American professional basketball player.
33 Facts About Mel Daniels
2.
Mel Daniels played in the American Basketball Association for the Minnesota Muskies, Indiana Pacers, and Memphis Sounds, and in the National Basketball Association for the New York Nets.
3.
Mel Daniels was the All-time ABA rebounding leader, and in 1997 was named a unanimous selection to the ABA All-Time Team.
4.
Mel Daniels was enshrined into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2012.
5.
The son of Maceo and Bernice Daniels, Mel Daniels moved with his family back to his birthplace of Detroit, Michigan from Lincoln, North Carolina when Mel was a toddler.
6.
Mel Daniels began writing poems by age eight and continued to write them throughout the rest of his life, generally focusing on the lives of athletes, but wrote poems about non-sports topics as well.
7.
Will Robinson, physical education teacher and basketball coach at Pershing High School, recalled Mel Daniels being absent from PE class for a few weeks.
8.
Mel Daniels was slow to earn playing time in high school, playing sparingly in junior varsity games his first two seasons.
9.
Mel Daniels was slow in running fitness laps under Coach Robinson's direction.
10.
Mel Daniels tried all the time after he found out the swing of things.
11.
Mel Daniels kept coming back and Will made him work, work, work.
12.
Mel Daniels transferred, played for New Mexico from 1964 to 1967, averaged 20 points per game in his New Mexico Lobo career and was named an All-American.
13.
Mel Daniels had 44 career double-doubles, still the most in school history.
14.
Mel Daniels was the ninth pick of the 1967 NBA draft, selected by the Cincinnati Royals, and was drafted by the Minnesota Muskies of the American Basketball Association.
15.
Mel Daniels won three ABA championships, was a two-time ABA Most Valuable Player, a seven time ABA All-star and led the ABA in rebounding average in three different seasons.
16.
Mel Daniels is the ABA's all-time leader in total rebounds and second in ABA career average rebounds behind only fellow Hall of Famer Artis Gilmore of the Kentucky Colonels.
17.
Minnesota lost to the eventual ABA champion Pittsburgh Pipers with Connie Hawkins in the 1968 ABA Playoffs, as Mel Daniels averaged 25.3 points and 16.1 rebounds in 10 playoff games.
18.
Mel Daniels averaged 19.3 points and 17.7 rebounds in the playoffs.
19.
Mel Daniels averaged 21.0 points, a league leading 18.0 rebounds and 2.2 assists.
20.
Mel Daniels averaged 21.4 points and 19.2 rebounds in the playoffs.
21.
Mel Daniels averaged 15.3 points and 15.1 rebounds in the playoffs.
22.
Mel Daniels averaged 15.9 points and 13.8 rebounds in the playoffs.
23.
In 479 career games with the Indiana Pacers, Mel Daniels averaged 19.0 points and 16.4 rebounds.
24.
Early in the season, Mel Daniels suffered pulled stomach muscles and missed a month.
25.
The 31-year-old Mel Daniels was passed over in the resulting dispersal draft, as other teams were likely wary of assuming the contract he had with Baltimore.
26.
Mel Daniels decided to retire from the league rather than play for another ABA team.
27.
On October 19,1976, Mel Daniels signed as a free agent with the New York Nets and on December 13,1976 he was waived by the Nets and retired.
28.
Mel Daniels is the ABA's all-time leader with 9,494 rebounds and is second in ABA history with an average of 15.1 rebounds per game.
29.
Mel Daniels is fourth in ABA total points, with 11,739, ninth with 628 games, fourth with 22,340 minutes and 10th with 351 ABA blocked shots.
30.
Mel Daniels died on October 30,2015, at the age of 71, from complications after heart surgery.
31.
Mel Daniels was survived by his wife, CeCe Daniels, son Mel Daniels Jr.
32.
Mel Daniels was longtime friends with Ira Harge, a teammate at New Mexico and was very close with Bob Netolicky, his Pacers teammate.
33.
Mel Daniels appeared in 30 for 30 Winning Time: Reggie Miller vs The New York Knicks, Magic vs Bird: The 1979 NCAA Championship Game and Undefeated: The Roger Brown Story.