Willie Wise

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Willie M. Wise (born March 3, 1947 in San Francisco, California) is an American former professional basketball player.

A 6'5" forward from Drake University, Wise earned a spot on the American Basketball Association's (ABA) Los Angeles (later Utah) Stars as a walk-on in 1969. He would prove to be one of the best all-around players in the league, as he was both a proficient scorer (19.2 points per game during his ABA career) and a highly-esteemed defender. Indeed, while playing for the Stars, who won the 1971 ABA Championship, Sports Illustrated described him as "the best two-way performer in pro basketball" [1]. One of the league's many interesting characters, "Wondrous Willie" was also a Jehovah's Witness for a period, and he refused to wear an American flag patch on his team uniform. (He is no longer a Jehovah's Witness, becoming a born-again Christian in the late seventies. Today, he is active in the Living Stream Ministry in Bellevue, Washington.)

After the ABA folded in 1976, Wise played two seasons in the National Basketball Association as a member of the Denver Nuggets and Seattle SuperSonics.