David Greenwood, a former basketball standout at UCLA, passed away on Sunday, June 8, in Riverside, California, after a battle with cancer. He was 68. Greenwood, who played forward for the Bruins, was selected as the No. 2 overall pick by the Chicago Bulls in the 1979 NBA Draft.
Greenwood first gained recognition at Verbum Dei High School in Los Angeles, California, before joining UCLA in 1975. He was recruited by the esteemed coach John Wooden before Wooden’s retirement. As a senior, Greenwood stood at 6 feet 9 inches tall and weighed 233 pounds, and his name remains prominent in UCLA’s record books.
He ranks 15th in school history with 1,721 career points and fourth with 1,022 rebounds. Greenwood was a starter throughout his college career from 1975-76 to 1978-79, averaging 14.8 points and 8.7 rebounds across 118 games. His teams recorded an impressive 102-17 record, reflecting a .857 winning percentage.
During his tenure at UCLA, Greenwood was named all-conference three times in 1977, 1978, and 1979, and earned team MVP honors as both a junior and senior. The Bruins secured the conference title in each of his four seasons at Westwood. He garnered first-team All-America accolades as a junior and senior, becoming UCLA’s first repeat first-team honoree since Bill Walton, who achieved this from 1972 to 1974.
Greenwood played alongside Hamilton and Holland at UCLA, with all three seniors finishing as top scorers during the 1978-79 season. He remained connected to his alma mater and attended UCLA’s final Pac-12 Conference game on March 9, 2024. The men’s basketball team hosted an alumni event before that evening’s game, which resulted in a 59-47 victory over Arizona State at Pauley Pavilion.
As a UCLA senior, Greenwood averaged a personal-best 19.0 points per game in the 1978-79 season. The Bruins completed that season with a 25-5 record, achieving a 15-3 mark in conference play to secure first place in the Pac-10, narrowly surpassing USC by one game. Greenwood shot an impressive 58.7 percent from the field and 81.0 percent on free throws. He played for conference champions in each of his four years, with his first three in the Pac-8 and his final season in the newly expanded Pac-10.
Greenwood also received conference Player of the Year honors in both 1978 and 1979. After spending 12 seasons in the NBA, Greenwood was inducted into the Pac-12 Hall of Honor in 2017 and later entered the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame in November 2021.
While at UCLA, Greenwood played under head coaches Gene Bartow and Gary Cunningham, sharing the court with fellow all-conference selections such as Marques Johnson, Richard Washington, Roy Hamilton, Raymond Townsend, Brad Holland, and Kiki Vandeweghe. His four-year stint at UCLA led the Bruins to the NCAA Tournament every season, including a trip to the 1976 Final Four.
In the 1977 and 1978 tournaments, UCLA went 1-1 in the West Regional each time. In 1979, the Bruins advanced to the Elite Eight as the region’s top seed. Following a 99-81 win over San Francisco in the regional semifinals, Greenwood scored a career-high 37 points in a 95-91 loss to DePaul in Provo, Utah, shooting 17-for-24 from the floor, with 10 rebounds and two assists while playing the full 40 minutes.
Greenwood was highly regarded for his professionalism and determination. He began his NBA career with the Chicago Bulls in the fall of 1979, averaging 16.3 points and 9.4 rebounds per game in his rookie season. After six seasons with the Bulls, he went on to play for the San Antonio Spurs, Denver Nuggets, and Detroit Pistons.
In his 11th season, Greenwood was part of the Pistons’ team that won its second consecutive NBA championship in 1990. He appeared in three of the Finals’ five games that year, as Detroit defeated the Portland Trail Blazers 4-1. Throughout his professional career, Greenwood dealt with various injuries but never missed an entire NBA season, playing in all 82 games in each of his first three seasons with Chicago and averaging 15.1 points and 9.3 rebounds over those years.
Greenwood’s younger brother, Al, described him as the embodiment of professionalism on the basketball court. Al recalled that his brother was determined to play for UCLA in 1975—even after Coach Wooden’s unexpected retirement—despite offers from other top college programs.
Earlier this year, the Los Angeles Times highlighted the 50th anniversary of one of Southern California’s notable all-region basketball teams, the 1974-75 Division AAAA All-CIF team. Greenwood had earned MVP honors before joining UCLA. Seven out of the ten first-team All-CIF members from that year reached the NBA, including Reggie Theus from Inglewood, California, Bill Laimbeer from Palos Verdes, California, Brad Holland from Crescenta Valley, California, Roy Hamilton from Verbum Dei, James Hardy from Long Beach Jordan, California, and Paul Mokeski from Crespi, California.
Greenwood is survived by his children, Jemil and Tiffany, his brother, Al, his sister, Laverne, and his former wife, Joyce.
