Former Trail Blazer Walter Davis Passes Away

Former NBA star and Portland Trail Blazers guard Walter Davis has passed away at the age of 69. Davis played 15 years in the league, 11 with the Phoenix Suns. He was a six-time NBA All-Star, a two-time All-NBA award winner, and the 1977-78 Rookie of the Year.

Davis played for the Blazers during the 1990-91 season. Trying to make a push past their NBA Finals appearance in 1990 all the way to a title, Portland traded guard Drazen Petrovic to the New Jersey Nets in order to receive the 36-year-old Davis from the Denver Nuggets. Davis was averaging 18.7 points per game in Denver that year. He played in 32 regular-season games for the Blazers adding 13 more games in the playoffs.

Chip Alexander of The News & Observer, a Carolinas-based media outlet, reports that Davis died of natural causes. Davis played four years at the University of North Carolina before being selected fifth overall in the 1977 NBA Draft by the Suns.