David Thirdkill

David Thirdkill (born April 12, 1960) is an American former professional basketball player. He played in the NBA, and was the 1993 Israeli Basketball Premier League MVP.

David Thirdkill

Personal information
Born	(1960-04-12) April 12, 1960 (age 65) St. Louis, Missouri, U.S.
Listed height	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)
Listed weight	196 lb (89 kg)
Career information
High school	Soldan (St. Louis, Missouri)
College	College of Southern Idaho (1978–1979) Bradley (1979–1982)
NBA draft	1982: 1st round, 15th overall pick
Drafted by	Phoenix Suns
Playing career	1982–1996
Position	Small forward / shooting guard
Number	40, 22, 21, 45
Career history
1982–1983	Phoenix Suns
1983–1984	Detroit Pistons
1985	Milwaukee Bucks
1985	San Antonio Spurs
1985–1986	Boston Celtics
1986–1987	Tanduay Rhum Masters
1988	Purefoods TJ Hotdogs
1987–1988	Rochester Flyers
1989	Virtus Roma
1989–1990	Chorale Roanne Basket
1991–1994	Hapoel Tel Aviv
1994–1995	Hapoel Holon
1995–1996	Bnei Herzelia
Career highlights
CBA All-Star (1988)[1] NBA champion (1986) Israeli Basketball Premier League MVP (1993) Israeli Cup Champion (1993) PBA Champion (1987 Open) PBA Best Import of the Conference (1987 Open) 2× Second-team All-MVC (1981, 1982)
Stats at NBA.com
Stats at Basketball Reference

NBA career

He was selected by the Phoenix Suns in the first round (15th overall) of the 1982 NBA draft.^[2] A 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) small forward from the College of Southern Idaho and Bradley University, Thirdkill played in five NBA seasons from 1982 to 1987.^[3]

Born in St. Louis, Missouri and nicknamed "The Sheriff",^[2][4] he played for the Suns, Detroit Pistons, Milwaukee Bucks, San Antonio Spurs and Boston Celtics.^[5] On January 24, 1986, he scored a career-high 20 points and grabbed a career-high 8 rebounds in a 135–114 win over the Golden State Warriors.^[6] He earned a championship ring with the 1985–86 Celtics.

In his NBA career, Thirdkill played in 179 games and scored a total of 510 points.^[7][8] Thirdkill made one 3 point shot as a rookie with Phoenix, then never made another three pointer. He finished his career one for 11 from three point land.^[9]

NBA career statistics

Legend

GP	Games played	GS	Games started	MPG	Minutes per game
FG%	Field goal percentage	3P%	3-point field goal percentage	FT%	Free throw percentage
RPG	Rebounds per game	APG	Assists per game	SPG	Steals per game
BPG	Blocks per game	PPG	Points per game	Bold	Career high
†	Won an NBA championship

Regular season

Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
1982–83	Phoenix	49	2	10.6	.435	.143	.577	1.5	0.7	0.4	0.1	4.0
1983–84	Detroit	46	0	6.3	.431	.000	.484	0.7	0.6	0.2	0.1	1.7
1984–85	Detroit	10	1	11.5	.522	.000	.455	0.8	0.1	0.3	0.2	2.9
1984–85	Milwaukee	6	0	2.7	.750	.000	.500	0.3	0.0	0.0	0.0	1.2
1984–85	San Antonio	2	2	26.0	.455	.000	.833	3.5	1.5	1.0	0.5	7.5
1985–86†	Boston	49	0	7.9	.491	.000	.625	1.4	0.3	0.2	0.1	3.3
1986–87	Boston	17	0	5.2	.417	.000	.313	1.1	0.1	0.1	0.0	1.5
Career		179	5	8.2	.457	.091	.565	1.2	0.5	0.3	0.1	2.8

Playoffs

Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
1984–85	San Antonio	5	0	4.4	.250	.000	.500	0.4	0.4	0.0	0.0	0.8
1985–86†	Boston	13	0	3.6	.333	.000	.455	0.6	0.2	0.2	0.0	1.3
Career		18	0	3.8	.318	.000	.467	0.6	0.3	0.1	0.0	1.2

International career

In 1987, Thirdkill played in a tournament (Open Conference) for the Tanduay Rhum Masters team in the Philippine Basketball Association and won the championship aside from being named "Best Import" of the conference.^[10] He returned for another conference in 1988, this time for the newly formed Purefoods team, which he led to another finals appearance.^[10] Thereafter, he played in Italy for Virtus Roma, in France for Chorale Roanne Basket and Saint-Quentin Basket-Ball.

He then played most notably in Israel for a spell of five years, mainly for Hapoel Tel Aviv, finally retiring in 1996. He was the 1993 Israeli Basketball Premier League MVP.