LOS ANGELES -- David Greenwood, a former star basketball player at UCLA who went on to win an NBA championship, has died. He was 68.
Greenwood died Sunday in Riverside, California, after a battle with cancer, UCLA announced in a [news release](https://uclabruins.com/news/2025/6/11/ucla-mbb-mourns-passing-of-david-greenwood).
Greenwood, a star player at Verbum Dei High School in Los Angeles, was one of the last UCLA players recruited by legendary head coach John Wooden. However, he never played for Wooden, who retired from coaching in March 1975. The 6-foot-9, 222-lb. Greenwood averaged 14.6 points, 8.7 rebounds and 2.5 blocks per game in four seasons at UCLA from 1975-79, earning First Team All-American honors as a junior and senior.
After UCLA, Greenwood was drafted by the Chicago Bulls with the second pick in the 1979 NBA Draft. He was drafted one selection after Magic Johnson, who went to the Lakers. The L.A. team won a coin flip with the Bulls for the rights to the No. 1 pick.
Greenwood played 12 seasons in the NBA from 1979-91, including his first six with the Bulls, and one season as Michael Jordan’s teammate during the 1984-85 season. He also played for the San Antonio Spurs, Denver Nuggets and Detroit Pistons, including winning the 1990 NBA championship with the “Bad Boy” era Pistons team.
For his 12-year NBA career, Greenwood averaged 12.6 points, 7.9 rebounds, 2 assists and 1.1 blocks in 28.4 minutes across 823 games.
Following retirement from the NBA, Greenwood coached at his high school alma mater and led Verbum Dei to consecutive state championships in 1998 and 1999. He was inducted into the Pac-12 Hall of Honor in 2017 and the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame in 2021.
Greenwood is survived by his son Jemil, daughter Tiffany, brother Al, sister Laverne and former wife Joyce.