Walter Berry (basketball)

Walter Berry

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 (Italy)
1990–1991	Atlético de Madrid Villalba (Spain)
1991	Aris (Greece)
1992	Napoli (Italy)
1992–1993	Olympiacos (Greece)
1993–1994	PAOK (Greece)
1994–1995	Iraklis (Greece)
1995–1996	Olympiacos (Greece)
1996–1997	Aris (Greece)
1997–1998	Polti Cantù (Italy)
1998–1999	PAOK (Greece)
1999	Union Olimpija (Slovenia)
2000	Makedonikos (Greece)
2000–2001	Aurora Basket Jesi (Italy)
2001–2002	Panteras de Miranda (Venezuela)
Career highlights and awards
Greek Cup MVP (1999) 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 NBA, he had a very successful career in various leagues around Europe and the Euroleague. Out of New York was originally nicknamed "The Truth", a nickname subsequently used by current NBA player Paul Pierce.

College career

Walter Berry's retired number

He played basketball for his hometown college, St. John's University, and won the John Wooden Award and the Big East Men's Basketball Player of the Year award plus USBWA College Player of the Year in 1986, 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

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 was traded to the Spurs in exchange for Kevin Duckworth. He spent three seasons in the NBA, from 1986 to 1989 with the Trail Blazers, San Antonio 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. He was released by the New Jersey Nets after failure to conform to team policy. Berry played the power forward position and was known for his very effective left-hand sky hook. He holds NBA career averages of 14.1 points and 4.7 rebounds per game.

In 1989 Walter went to Italy where he played for Paini Napoli. After that he spent much of his career playing in the Greek A1 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

He 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.

External links

• NBA.com historical player file
• Fibaeurope.com profile
• Basketpedya.com
• 1986 Oscar Robertson Trophy
• Berry's NBA stats @ Basketball-Reference.com