Greenwood was selected No. 2 in the 1979 NBA Draft by the Chicago Bulls
Former UCLA standout forward David Greenwood passed away in Riverside, Calif., on Sunday, June 8, after a battle with cancer. He was 68. Greenwood concluded his four-year men’s basketball career at UCLA as the No. 2 overall pick by the Chicago Bulls in the 1979 NBA Draft.
After excelling at nearby Verbum Dei high school in Los Angeles, Greenwood enrolled with the Bruins in 1975, just months after longtime head coach John Wooden had retired. Listed at 6-foot-9 and 233 pounds as a senior, Greenwood continues to line the Bruins’ all-time record book in various categories. Most notably, he ranks in the top 15 on UCLA’s all-time scoring and rebounding lists – No. 15 in points (1,721) and No. 4 in rebounds (1,022).
Greenwood excelled as a four-year starter from 1975-76 through 1978-79, averaging 14.8 points and 8.7 rebounds per game in 118 career contests. He helped UCLA’s program compile a record of 102-17 (.857 winning percentage) and finished as a three-time all-conference selection in 1977, 1978 and 1979. He earned team MVP honors as a junior and senior. The Bruins won the league crown in each of his four seasons in Westwood.
Following his 12-year NBA career, Greenwood was inducted into the Pac-12 Hall of Honor in 2017 and was enshrined into the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame in November of 2021.
Greenwood enrolled at UCLA soon after Coach Wooden had retired, as the Bruins won the 1975 NCAA championship in Coach Wooden’s final season leading the program. In four seasons in Westwood, Greenwood played for head coaches Gene Bartow and Gary Cunningham. Along the way, he teamed with all-conference players such as Marques Johnson, Richard Washington, Roy Hamilton, Raymond Townsend, Brad Holland and Kiki Vandeweghe.
Through his four-year career, Greenwood helped the Bruins advance to four NCAA Tournaments with an appearance in the 1976 Final Four. UCLA went 1-1 in the NCAA West Regional in each of the 1977 and 1978 NCAA Tournaments and advanced to the Elite Eight as the No. 1 seed in the West Region in 1979. After a 99-81 win over San Francisco in the regional semifinal (Sweet 16), Greenwood scored a career-high 37 points as the Bruins lost to DePaul, 95-91, in Provo, Utah. Greenwood made 17 of 24 shots in the loss to DePaul, totaling 10 rebounds and two assists in all 40 minutes.
Known for his strong work ethic and fierce determination, Greenwood entered the NBA with the Chicago Bulls in the fall of 1979. During his rookie campaign (1979-80), he averaged 16.3 points and 9.4 rebounds per game with Chicago. He spent his first six NBA seasons with the Bulls before later competing for the San Antonio Spurs, Denver Nuggets and Detroit Pistons. In his 11th NBA season, Greenwood helped Detroit win its second consecutive NBA Finals in 1990. He played in three of the five NBA Finals contests that year, as Detroit upended the Portland Trail Blazers four games to one, in the best-of-seven game series.
As a professional player, Greenwood battled several injuries but never missed a full NBA season. He played in all 82 games in each of his first three years with Chicago, averaging 15.1 points and 9.3 rebounds per game over those three seasons (246 games from 1979-80 through 1981-82).
Described by his younger brother, Al Greenwood, as the “consummate professional when it came to basketball,” David Greenwood firmly intended to honor his commitment to play for UCLA in 1975 after Coach Wooden’s sudden announcement that he was retiring. Al Greenwood recalls that his older brother could have gone to play for other top college programs at the time, but “he committed to UCLA, and he wanted to be part of that.”
Earlier this year, the Los Angeles Times spotlighted the 50-year anniversary of one of Southern California’s most talented all-region basketball teams, the 1974-75 All-CIF team in Division “AAAA.” Greenwood had been selected as the Most Valuable Player before heading to UCLA. Seven of the 10 first-team selections from that All-CIF team played in the NBA, including Reggie Theus of Inglewood, Bill Laimbeer of Palos Verdes, Brad Holland of Crescenta Valley, Roy Hamilton of Verbum Dei, James Hardy of Long Beach Jordan and Paul Mokeski of Crespi.
Greenwood teamed with Hamilton and Holland during his UCLA career, as all three seniors finished the 1978-79 college season as UCLA’s top three scorers.
Loyal to his alma mater and always proud to represent UCLA, Greenwood attended the Bruins’ final Pac-12 Conference game on March 9, 2024. The men’s basketball program hosted an alumni reunion prior to that evening’s game, as UCLA defeated Arizona State, 59-47, in Pauley Pavilion.
Among his brother Al Greenwood’s most favorite memories from David’s college career took place at the end of a one-point UCLA win over Washington State. The visiting Cougars had entered Los Angeles riding a nine-game winning streak. Ranked No. 4 in the nation, the Bruins needed every second to overcome a late deficit against the visiting Cougars. Washington State had never before won in Pauley Pavilion, in 19 previous tries.
“The Bruins were down with about a minute to go, and you know how L.A. fans are, they will be leaving the game early and it doesn’t matter what the score is,” Al Greenwood recalled. “But UCLA put on the press and didn’t let them get out of the backcourt like three times. UCLA pulled to within a point. And with something like 10 seconds left, the Bruins get the ball from the backcourt up to the front. Roy Hamilton gets the ball, races up the court, and David had been getting double-teamed. Gig Sims took the shot, he misses it, and the ball rattles off the rim, and David comes flying on through and dunked it. We’re up by a point, something like three seconds left, and the other team is so stunned that they lost. They didn’t even get another play off.”
UCLA’s 60-59 win over Washington State (on Feb. 17, 1978) pushed the Bruins’ overall record to 19-2 with five games left in the regular-season schedule.
As a senior at UCLA, Greenwood registered a career-best 19.0 points per game in 1978-79. The Bruins went 25-5 that season with a 15-3 mark and a first-place finish in the Pac-10 Conference. UCLA edged second-place USC in the regular-season standings by one game. Greenwood shot 58.7 percent from the field and 81.0 percent at the free throw line.
Greenwood’s teams won the conference crown all four seasons – his first three years in the Pac-8 and his final season as the newly-expanded Pac-10 Conference. He twice registered 23 rebounds in one game, once as a sophomore and again as a junior. At the conclusion of his college career, he ranked third all-time in rebounds at UCLA behind Bill Walton and Lew Alcindor (now Kareem Abdul-Jabbar). Thomas Welsh moved into the No. 3 spot in 2018, bumping Greenwood down to the No. 4 position. Greenwood averaged 8.7 career rebounds per game, a figure that ranks No. 9 on UCLA’s career rebounding list (with at least 60 games played to qualify).
A double-double machine as an upperclassman, Greenwood finished his junior and senior years as UCLA’s team leader in both scoring in rebounding. He averaged double figures in scoring and rebounding each season – 17.5 ppg, 11.4 rpg as a junior (1977-78) and 19.9 ppg and 10.3 rpg as a senior (1978-79).
Greenwood is tied for 10th place in UCLA history on the career 20-point games list, with 31. In addition, he scored at least 10 points in 89 career contests, tied with Reggie Miller for the 13th-highest total in program history. Greenwood’s 52 games with at least 10 rebounds rank No. 3 in program history, trailing only Alcindor (78) and Walton (75). Likewise, his career total of 49 double-doubles is third in the Bruins’ record book.
One of UCLA’s most talented scorers, Greenwood ranks No. 5 on UCLA’s all-time field goals made list, having made 707 shots through four seasons.
Greenwood later coached at his high school, Verbum Dei, leading the Eagles’ basketball program to CIF State Division IV championships in 1998 and 1999.
Greenwood is survived by his brother, Al; his sister, Laverne; his son, Jemil; and his daughter, Tiffany, along with his former wife, Joyce. Services are pending.