James Frederick Saunders (born June 13, 1951) is an American former professional basketball player in the National Basketball Association (NBA).
Collegiate career
Fred Saunders began his collegiate career at University of Louisiana at Lafayette in 1970; in his three years there, he averaged 6.5 points per game. Saunders transferred to Syracuse University for his senior year. At Syracuse University, Saunders averaged 9.8 points per game as a power forward for the Orangemen. The Orangemen finished the season with a record of 17-9 and went on to the NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship tournament. At Syracuse, he acquired the nickname "Chocolate Thunder" due to his unique
Hook shot.
Collegiate Stats
NBA
Saunders was selected by the
Phoenix Suns in the second round of the 1974 NBA draft with the 31st overall pick. He played power forward for the Suns and the
Boston Celtics during the 1970s.
Career statistics
NBA
Source
Regular season
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="font-size:95%; text-align:right;"
!Year
!Team
!GP
!MPG
!FG%
!FT%
!RPG
!APG
!SPG
!BPG
!PPG
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"| Phoenix
|
69 || 15.3 || .433 || .695 ||
3.7 || 1.2 ||
.6 || .2 ||
6.1
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"| Phoenix
| 17 || 8.6 || .438 || .545 || 2.2 || .8 || .3 || .1 || 3.6
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"| Boston
| 68 ||
15.5 || .466 || .660 || 3.3 ||
1.3 || .4 || .1 || 5.9
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"| Boston
| 26|| 9.3 || .330 ||
.824 || 1.4 || .4 || .3 || .2 || 2.8
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"| New Orleans
| 30 || 13.3 ||
.483 || .632 || 2.5 || 1.2 || .5 ||
.3 || 5.0
|- class="sortbottom"
| style="text-align:center;" colspan="2"| Career
| 210 || 13.8 || .443 || .682 || 3.0 || 1.1 || .4 || .2 || 5.3
Playoffs
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="font-size:95%; text-align:right;"
!Year
!Team
!GP
!MPG
!FG%
!FT%
!RPG
!APG
!SPG
!BPG
!PPG
|-
| style="text-align:left;"| 1977
| style="text-align:left;"| Boston
| 9 || 7.3 || .364 || .833 || 1.0 || .6 || .1 || .0 || 3.2
See also
-
University of Southwestern Louisiana basketball scandal
