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. Berry, who originated from New York City, New York, was nicknamed "The Truth", early in his playing career. He was inducted into the Greek Basket League Hall of Fame in 2022.[1]
College career
Berry played college basketball for his hometown college, St. John's University, with the then called St. John's Redmen. 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. He only played 7 games for the Blazers before 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 Mike Schuler while with the Portland Trail Blazers, Larry Brown (San Antonio Spurs) and Willis Reed (Nets).[2] He was released by the New Jersey Nets, after failure to conform to team policy.[3] 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.[citation needed]
NBA career statistics
| 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 |
Regular season
| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1986–87 | Portland | 7 | 0 | 2.7 | .750 | – | 1.000 | 1.0 | 0.1 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 1.9 |
| 1986–87 | San Antonio | 56 | 45 | 28.0 | .529 | .000 | .648 | 5.4 | 1.9 | 0.6 | 0.7 | 17.6 |
| 1987–88 | San Antonio | 73 | 56 | 26.3 | .563 | – | .600 | 5.4 | 1.5 | 0.8 | 0.9 | 17.4 |
| 1988–89 | New Jersey | 29 | 17 | 19.2 | .468 | – | .683 | 4.0 | 0.7 | 0.3 | 0.4 | 8.9 |
| 1988–89 | Houston | 40 | 14 | 20.0 | .541 | .500 | .713 | 3.8 | 1.4 | 0.5 | 0.9 | 8.8 |
| Career | 205 | 132 | 23.7 | .539 | .200 | .638 | 4.7 | 1.4 | 0.6 | 0.7 | 14.1 | |
Playoffs
| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1988 | San Antonio | 3 | 0 | 31.3 | .540 | .000 | .800 | 7.0 | 2.0 | 1.7 | 0.7 | 22.0 |
| 1989 | Houston | 4 | 0 | 14.3 | .500 | – | .875 | 2.3 | 1.3 | 0.5 | 0.3 | 8.3 |
| Career | 7 | 0 | 21.6 | .526 | .000 | .826 | 4.3 | 1.6 | 1.0 | 0.4 | 14.1 | |
References
External links
- Career statistics from NBA.com and Basketball Reference
- FIBA EuroLeague Profile
- Italian League Profile (in Italian)
- Spanish League Profile (in Spanish)
- Greek League Profile (in Greek)
- 1986 Oscar Robertson Trophy
- Walter Berry at FIBA.basketball
- Walter Berry at FIBA.com (archived)
- Walter Berry at NBA
- Walter Berry at ACB.com (in Spanish)
- Walter Berry at Eurobasket.com
- Walter Berry at RealGM
- Walter Berry at Proballers
- Walter Berry – Basketball-Reference.com NBA player profile
- Walter Berry – Basketball-Reference.com international player profile
- Walter Berry – Sports-Reference.com college basketball player profile
