Don Ford

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Donald J. (Don) Ford (born December 31, 1952, in Santa Barbara, California) is an American former professional basketball player in the NBA. He was a 6'8½", 215 lb. forward. In high school, he played at Santa Barbara High School and the other forward on his teams was future UCLA and NBA star Keith Wilkes (later Jamaal Wilkes). He played collegiately at the University of New Mexico before transferring to the University of California, Santa Barbara.

Ford was selected with the 2nd pick of the sixth round of the 1975 NBA Draft by the L.A. Lakers for whom he played for over four-and-a-half seasons before he was traded along with a 1980 first round draft pick to the Cleveland Cavaliers in exchange for Butch Lee and a 1982 first round draft pick, which ultimately became James Worthy.^[1]^[2] He retired in 1982 with averages of 6.4 points, 3.6 rebounds and 1.4 assists in 474 career games. After his playing days, Ford became a real estate agent and owns his own agency in the Santa Barbara area, and he serves as color commentator on UCSB basketball radio broadcasts. Ford is also an avid golfer.