Walter Berry (basketball)

Walter Berry

Berry, with Atlético Madrid Villalba
Personal information
Born	(1964-05-14) May 14, 1964 New York City, New York
Nationality	American
Listed height	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)
Listed weight	215 lb (98 kg)
Career information
High school	Benjamin Franklin (New York City, New York)
College	San Jacinto (1983–1984) St. John's (1984–1986)
NBA draft	1986 / Round: 1 / Pick: 14th overall
Selected by the Portland Trail Blazers
Playing career	1986–2002
Position	Power forward
Number	21, 6
Career history
1986	Portland Trail Blazers
1986–1988	San Antonio Spurs
1988	New Jersey Nets
1988	Houston Rockets
1989–1990	Paini Napoli
1990–1991	Atlético de Madrid Villalba
1991	Aris
1992	Napoli
1992–1993	Olympiacos
1993–1994	PAOK
1994–1995	Iraklis
1995–1996	Olympiacos
1996–1997	Aris
1997–1998	Polti Cantù
1998–1999	PAOK
1999	Union Olimpija
2000	Makedonikos
2000–2001	Aurora Basket Jesi
2001–2002	Panteras de Miranda
Career highlights and awards
Greek Cup MVP (1999) Greek League Top Scorer (1995) Spanish League Top Scorer (1991) John R. Wooden Award (1986) Oscar Robertson Trophy (1986) NABC Player of the Year (1986) AP Player of the Year (1986) UPI Player of the Year (1986) Adolph Rupp Trophy (1986) Sporting News Player of the Year (1986) Consensus first-team All-American (1986) Big East Player of the Year (1986)
Career NBA statistics
Points	2,882
Rebounds	971
Assists	292
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com
Medals Men’s basketball Representing  United States FIBA U19 World Championship 1983 Palma de Mallorca National team

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 and was known for his very effective left-hand sky hook. Out of New York, Berry was originally nicknamed "The Truth."

College career

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

Berry played college basketball for his hometown college, St. John's University, with the St. John's Red Storm. 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

NBA

Berry was selected by the Portland Trail Blazers with the 14th overall pick in the 1986 NBA Draft. However, he did not want to play for the Blazers, and soon after being drafted, 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 Larry Brown, while with the San Antonio Spurs.^[1] He was released by the New Jersey Nets, after failure to conform to team policy.^[2] He holds NBA career averages of 14.1 points and 4.7 rebounds per game.

Europe

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

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.

References

External links

• FIBA Euroleague Profile
• Berry's NBA stats @ Basketball-Reference.com
• Italian League Profile (Italian)
• Spanish League Profile (Spanish)
• Greek League Profile (Greek)
• 1986 Oscar Robertson Trophy