Walter Davis, the former NBA standout and Portland Trail Blazers guard, died at the age of 69. Davis spent 15 years in the league, 11 of which were with the Phoenix Suns. He was a six-time NBA All-Star, two-time All-NBA selection, and 1977-78 Rookie of the Year.
Davis played for the Blazers in the 1990-91 season. Portland dealt guard Drazen Petrovic to the New Jersey Nets in exchange for the 36-year-old Davis from the Denver Nuggets, hoping to advance beyond their NBA Finals appearance in 1990 and win a championship. Davis averaged 18.7 points per game at Denver that season. He appeared in 32 regular-season games for the Blazers and 13 more in the playoffs.
According to Chip Alexander of The News & Observer, a media source based in the Carolinas, Davis died naturally. Davis attended the University of North Carolina for four years before being taken fifth overall in the 1977 NBA Draft by the Suns.
