T. R. Dunn

T. R. Dunn
Personal information
Born	February 1, 1955 (age 71); Birmingham, Alabama, U.S.
Listed height	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)
Listed weight	192 lb (87 kg)
Career information
High school	West End (Birmingham, Alabama)
College	Alabama (1973–1977)
NBA draft	1977: 2nd round, 41st overall pick
Drafted by	Portland Trail Blazers
Playing career	1977–1991
Position	Shooting guard / small forward
Number	23, 25
Career history
Playing
1977–1980	Portland Trail Blazers
1980–1988	Denver Nuggets
1988–1989	Phoenix Suns
1989–1991	Denver Nuggets
Coaching
1991–1997	Charlotte Hornets (assistant)
1997–1998	Denver Nuggets (assistant)
1999	Charlotte Sting (assistant)
2000	Charlotte Sting
2001–2002	Alabama (assistant)
2002–2004	Denver Nuggets (assistant)
2004–2007	Sacramento Kings (assistant)
2007–2011	Houston Rockets (assistant)
2011–2014	Minnesota Timberwolves (assistant)
2014–2016	Houston Rockets (assistant)
Career highlights
	3× NBA All-Defensive Second Team (1983–1985); Second-team All-SEC (1977); First-team Parade All-American (1973);
Career NBA statistics
Points	5,033 (5.1 ppg)
Rebounds	4,371 (4.4 rpg)
Steal	1,316 (1.3 spg)
	Stats at NBA.com
	Stats at Basketball Reference

Theodore Roosevelt Dunn (born February 1, 1955) is an American former professional basketball player who was most recently an assistant coach for the Houston Rockets of the National Basketball Association (NBA).

A star at the University of Alabama, Dunn played for coach CM Newton, who would start five black players in a time of racial turbulence and progress. Center Leon Douglas said, "We knew Coach Newton (signed us) because he wanted to win. He wasn't trying to be a trailblazer. You have to respect a man for putting five black starters on the court when others said it was a no-no." On December 28, 1973, in a 65–55 win over the University of Louisville Cardinals, Newton started Douglas, Charles "Boonie" Russell, Charles Cleveland, Dunn and Ray Odums for the first all-black starting line-up in SEC history, and a team that would win the SEC season title.^[1]^[2]^[3]^[4]

The 6'4" Dunn was selected by the Portland Trail Blazers in the second round of the 1977 NBA draft. He went on to have a productive 14-year career with three teams: the Blazers (1977–1980), the Denver Nuggets (1980–1988;1989–1991), and the Phoenix Suns (1988–1989). Dunn was named to the NBA's All-Defensive Second Team three times during his career, and he was widely regarded as one of the best rebounding guards of the 1980s.^[5]

After retiring in 1991 with 5,033 career points and 4,371 career rebounds, Dunn served six seasons (1991–1997) as an assistant coach for the Charlotte Hornets. He later served brief tenures as head coach of the WNBA's Charlotte Sting and as an assistant coach at the University of Alabama, and in 2004 he was hired as an assistant coach for the NBA's Sacramento Kings. In 2007, he became an assistant coach for the Houston Rockets. On December 6, 2011, he was hired as an assistant coach by the Minnesota Timberwolves to work under Rick Adelman.^[6]

Career playing 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

NBA

Regular season


Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
1977-78	Portland	63	—	12.2	.417	—	.661	2.3	0.7	0.7	0.1	3.8
1978-79	Portland	80	—	22.9	.448	—	.772	4.3	1.3	1.1	0.3	7.7
1979–80	Portland	82	—	22.5	.436	.000	.757	4.0	1.8	1.2	0.4	6.9
1980-81	Denver	82	—	17.4	.412	.000	.653	3.7	1.0	0.8	0.4	4.5
1981–82	Denver	82	80	30.7	.512	.000	.712	6.8	2.3	1.6	0.4	8.2
1982–83	Denver	82	80	32.2	.482	.000	.730	7.5	2.3	1.8	0.3	7.6
1983–84	Denver	82	74	33.8	.512	.000	.731	7.2	2.9	2.2	0.4	5.7
1984–85	Denver	81	81	28.3	.489	.000	.724	4.8	1.9	1.7	0.2	5.4
1985–86	Denver	82	82	29.3	.454	.000	.773	4.6	2.1	1.9	0.2	5.0
1986–87	Denver	81	53	23.9	.428	.000	.655	3.3	1.8	1.2	0.3	3.4
1987–88	Denver	82	1	18.7	.449	.000	.769	2.9	1.1	1.2	0.1	2.2
1988–89	Phoenix	34	1	9.4	.343	—	.750	1.8	0.7	0.4	0.0	1.0
1989–90	Denver	65	2	10.1	.454	.000	.667	2.1	0.7	0.6	0.1	1.8
1990-91	Denver	17	3	12.8	.447	.250	.900	2.5	1.4	0.7	0.1	3.1
Career		993	457	23.2	.457	.059	.725	4.4	1.6	1.3	0.3	5.1

Playoffs


Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
1978	Portland	10	—	8.8	.500	—	—	1.3	0.8	0.3	0.0	1.0
1979	Portland	3	—	17.3	.686	—	—	2.0	1.3	0.3	0.0	3.3
1980	Portland	3	—	8.0	.250	—	1.000	1.3	1.3	0.3	0.0	2.0
1982	Denver	3	—	27.0	.462	—	.875	6.0	3.3	2.7	0.3	6.3
1983	Denver	8	—	37.5	.439	—	.625	9.8	2.5	1.5	0.4	5.1
1984	Denver	5	—	35.6	.560	—	.714	7.8	1.6	2.0	0.8	6.6
1985	Denver	15	15	24.7	.415	—	.737	4.0	2.3	1.6	0.2	4.5
1986	Denver	10	10	27.6	.435	—	.643	5.3	1.3	1.6	0.0	4.9
1987	Denver	3	0	7.3	.250	—	—	1.0	0.8	0.3	0.3	0.7
1988	Denver	11	3	16.8	.550	—	.500	2.6	0.3	0.7	0.0	2.4
1989	Phoenix	8	0	9.9	.429	—	.500	1.9	0.1	0.6	0.0	0.9
1990	Denver	3	0	10.3	—	—	—	2.3	0.7	1.3	0.3	0.0
Career		76	28	21.5	.447	—	.691	4.2	1.4	1.3	0.2	3.5

Head coaching record

Legend
Regular season	G	Games coached	W	Games won	L	Games lost	W–L %	Win–loss %
Playoffs	PG	Playoff games	PW	Playoff wins	PL	Playoff losses	PW–L %	Playoff win–loss %

WNBA


Team	Year	G	W	L	W–L%	Finish	PG	PW	PL	PW–L%	Result
Charlotte^[7]	2000	32	8	24	.250	8th in Eastern	—	—	—	—	Missed playoffs

References

↑ "1973-74 Southeastern Conference Season Summary". Sports Reference. Retrieved April 2, 2022.
↑ "1973-1974 Men's Basketball Archive". University of Alabama. Archived from the original on April 2, 2022. Retrieved April 2, 2022.
↑ Pierce, Matthew (October 1, 2015). "The Story Of How The SEC's First All-Black Lineup Changed Hoops Forever". Uproxx. Archived from the original on March 18, 2022. Retrieved April 2, 2022.
↑ Scarbinsky, Kevin (October 16, 2013). "The University of Alabama basketball program made a stand of its own for civil rights". AL.com. Advance Publications, Inc. Archived from the original on March 18, 2022. Retrieved April 2, 2022.
↑ "Kings Hire T.R. Dunn As Assistant Coach". Sacramento Kings. June 30, 2004. Archived from the original on June 22, 2011. Retrieved April 2, 2002.
↑ "Wolves Announce Basketball and Coaching Staffs". Minnesota Timberwolves. December 6, 2011. Archived from the original on January 9, 2012. Retrieved April 2, 2022.
↑ "T.R. Dunn WNBA Head Coaching Record". Basketball Reference. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved January 21, 2026.

External links

Career statistics from NBA.com · Basketball Reference

[1] "1973-74 Southeastern Conference Season Summary". Sports Reference. Retrieved April 2, 2022.

[2] "1973-1974 Men's Basketball Archive". University of Alabama. Archived from the original on April 2, 2022. Retrieved April 2, 2022.

[3] Pierce, Matthew (October 1, 2015). "The Story Of How The SEC's First All-Black Lineup Changed Hoops Forever". Uproxx. Archived from the original on March 18, 2022. Retrieved April 2, 2022.

[4] Scarbinsky, Kevin (October 16, 2013). "The University of Alabama basketball program made a stand of its own for civil rights". AL.com. Advance Publications, Inc. Archived from the original on March 18, 2022. Retrieved April 2, 2022.

[5] "Kings Hire T.R. Dunn As Assistant Coach". Sacramento Kings. June 30, 2004. Archived from the original on June 22, 2011. Retrieved April 2, 2002.

[wolves-6] "Wolves Announce Basketball and Coaching Staffs". Minnesota Timberwolves. December 6, 2011. Archived from the original on January 9, 2012. Retrieved April 2, 2022.

[7] "T.R. Dunn WNBA Head Coaching Record". Basketball Reference. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved January 21, 2026.

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v t e 1977 NBA draft
First round	Kent Benson Otis Birdsong Marques Johnson Greg Ballard Walter Davis Kenny Carr Bernard King Jack Sikma Tom LaGarde Ray Williams Ernie Grunfeld Cedric Maxwell Tate Armstrong Tree Rollins Brad Davis Rickey Green Bo Ellis Wesley Cox Rich Laurel Glenn Mosley Anthony Roberts Norm Nixon
Second round	Mike Glenn Larry Johnson Wilson Washington Glen Gondrezick Glen Williams Kim Anderson Alonzo Bradley Steve Sheppard Eddie Owens Toby Knight Eddie Jordan Larry Moffett Mark Landsberger Ben Poquette Jeff Wilkins Ricky Love Phil Walker Robert Reid T. R. Dunn Bob Elliott Herman Harris Essie Hollis