Willie Wise
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Willie M. Wise (born March 3, 1947 in San Francisco, California) is an American former professional basketball player.
A 6'6" 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]. Wise later played with the Virginia Squires.
"Wondrous Willie" also studied the Bible with the Jehovah's Witness for a period and refused to wear an American flag patch on his team uniform. (He stopped studying the Bible with Jehovah's Witness, becoming a born-again Christian in the late seventies. Today, he is active in the Church in Bellevue located in Bellevue, Washington.)[citation needed]
After the ABA merged with the NBA in 1976, Wise played one full season, and part of another in the National Basketball Association as a member of the Denver Nuggets and Seattle SuperSonics.
[edit] External links
 |
This biographical article relating to a U.S. basketball player, coach, or other figure born in the 1940s is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
