Danny Thomas Roundfield (May 26, 1953 – August 6, 2012) was an American professional basketball player. The 6'8" power forward/center graduated from Detroit's Chadsey Senior High School in 1971. On the collegiate scene, Roundfield was twice selected to the All-Mid-American Conference Team for Central Michigan University; he was also the 1975 MAC Player of the Year.
Roundfield spent 12 seasons in the American Basketball Association and National Basketball Association, playing for the Indiana Pacers (1975–1978), Atlanta Hawks (1978–1984), Detroit Pistons (1984–1985), and Washington Bullets (1985–1987). He then moved to Turin, Italy, and played a season for Auxilium Torino.
Roundfield earned a reputation as a strong rebounder and tenacious defender, and during his career he was named to five NBA All-Defensive teams and three All-Star teams. His nickname was Dr. Rounds.
Professional career
Roundfield was selected in the 2nd round of the 1975 NBA draft by the Cleveland Cavaliers, but opted to play for the
Indiana Pacers in the last season of the ABA. After an undistinguished rookie season, Roundfield was suddenly pressed into duty as starting power forward and jumped center in his second season because the Pacers had traded away
Mel Daniels, and
Tom Owens went to the
Houston Rockets. He was signed by the
Atlanta Hawks as a free agent before the 1978–79 season; the Pacers received the Hawks' first-round pick as compensation, which they used to select
Dudley Bradley.
On November 21, 1978, Roundfield scored a career best 38 points, along with grabbing 10 rebounds, in a 113–107 win over the .
On June 18, 1984, Roundfield was traded by the Hawks to the Detroit Pistons for Antoine Carr, Cliff Levingston, a 1986 2nd-round draft pick, and a 1987 2nd-round draft pick. A year later, he was traded by the Pistons to the Washington Bullets for Rick Mahorn and Mike Gibson.[ Dan Roundfield Transactions] After a season playing for Auxilium Torino in Italy, Roundfield retired in 1988.[ Dan Roundfield: The "Backbone" of Early 80s Hawks Teams]
NBA career statistics
Regular season
|-
| align="left" | 1975–76
| align="left" | Indiana (ABA)
| 67 || – || 11.4 || .424 || .000 || .631 || 3.9 || 0.5 || 0.5 || 0.6 || 5.1
|-
| align="left" | 1976–77
| align="left" | Indiana
| 61 || – || 27.0 || .466 || – || .686 || 8.5 || 1.1 || 1.0 || 2.1 || 13.9
|-
| align="left" | 1977–78
| align="left" | Indiana
| 79 || – || 30.7 || .489 || – || .727 || 10.2 || 2.5 || 1.0 || 1.9 || 13.4
|-
| align="left" | 1978–79
| align="left" | Atlanta
| 80 || – || 31.7 || .504 || – || .714 || 10.8 || 1.6 || 1.1 ||
2.2 || 15.3
|-
| align="left" | 1979–80
| align="left" | Atlanta
| 81 || – || 32.0 || .499 || .000 || .710 || 10.3 || 2.3 ||
1.2 || 1.7 || 16.5
|-
| align="left" | 1980–81
| align="left" | Atlanta
| 63 || – || 33.8 ||
.527 || .000 || .721 || 10.1 || 2.6 ||
1.2 || 1.9 || 17.6
|-
| align="left" | 1981–82
| align="left" | Atlanta
| 61 || 58 || 36.3 || .466 ||
.200 || .760 ||
11.8 || 2.7 || 1.0 || 1.5 || 18.6
|-
| align="left" | 1982–83
| align="left" | Atlanta
|
77 ||
76 ||
36.5 || .470 || .185 || .749 || 11.4 ||
2.9 || 0.8 || 1.5 ||
19.0
|-
| align="left" | 1983–84
| align="left" | Atlanta
| 73 || 72 || 35.8 || .485 || .000 || .770 || 9.9 || 2.5 || 0.8 || 1.0 || 18.9
|-
| align="left" | 1984–85
| align="left" | Detroit
| 56 || 43 || 26.6 || .467 || .000 || .781 || 8.1 || 1.8 || 0.5 || 1.0 || 10.9
|-
| align="left" | 1985–86
| align="left" | Washington
| 79 || 21 || 29.4 || .488 || .000 || .754 || 8.1 || 1.8 || 0.5 || 0.6 || 11.6
|-
| align="left" | 1986–87
| align="left" | Washington
| 36 || 0 || 18.6 || .409 ||
.200 ||
.792 || 4.7 || 1.1 || 0.3 || 0.4 || 6.6
|- class="sortbottom"
| style="text-align:center;" colspan="2"| Career
| 813 || 270 || 29.7 || .482 || .111 || .735 || 9.2 || 2.0 || 0.9 || 1.4 || 14.3
|- class="sortbottom"
| style="text-align:center;" colspan="2"| All-Star
| 1 || 0 || 27.0 || .467 || – || .444 || 13.0 || 0.0 || 1.0 || 2.0 || 18.0
Playoffs
|-
| style="text-align:left;"| 1976
| style="text-align:left;"| Indiana (ABA)
| 2 || – || 12.5 ||
.583 || – || .889 || 5.0 || 0.0 || 1.0 || 2.0 || 11.0
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|1979
| style="text-align:left;"| Atlanta (NBA)
|
9 || – || 37.6 || .459 || – || .800 || 11.8 || 2.8 || 0.9 ||
2.6 || 17.6
|-
| style="text-align:left;"| 1980
| style="text-align:left;"| Atlanta (NBA)
| 5 || – || 34.8 || .464 || .000 || .629 || 11.6 || 2.2 || 0.8 || 1.6 || 17.2
|-
| style="text-align:left"| 1982
| style="text-align:left;"| Atlanta (NBA)
| 2 || – ||
42.5 || .472 || – || .571 || 11.0 || 1.0 || 1.0 || 2.0 ||
21.0
|-
| style="text-align:left;"| 1983
| style="text-align:left;"| Atlanta (NBA)
| 3 || – || 41.3 || .480 || .000 || .455 ||
14.0 ||
3.3 ||
1.3 || 1.3 || 17.7
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|1984
| style="text-align:left;"| Atlanta (NBA)
| 5 || – || 38.2 || .435 ||
1.000 || .714 || 8.8 || 1.7 || 0.4 || 1.4 || 17.2
|-
| style="text-align:left;"| 1985
| style="text-align:left;"| Detroit (NBA)
|
9 ||
8 || 23.9 || .485 || – ||
.941 || 6.7 || 1.7 || 0.4 || 0.7 || 9.1
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|1986
| style="text-align:left;"| Washington (NBA)
| 5 || 0 || 35.4 || .528 || .000 || .824 || 9.2 || 2.0 || 0.4 || 0.8 || 14.0
|-class="sortbottom"
|style="text-align:center;" colspan=2| Career
| 40 || 8 || 33.2 || .473 || .250|| .732 || 9.7 || 2.0 || 0.7 || 1.5 || 15.0
Personal life
Roundfield lived in
Atlanta, where he worked for Camp Dresser & McKee Inc.
Roundfield died at Baby Beach in San Nicolas Zuid, Aruba in August 2012, drowning after helping his wife, Bernadine, to safety.
External links
