- Walter Dukes
Walter F. Dukes (born
June 23 ,1930 inRochester, New York , died February 2001 inDetroit ,Michigan ) was a center for theNew York Knickerbockers (1955-56),Minneapolis Lakers (1956-57) andDetroit Pistons (1957-63).Dukes played
high school basketball atSeton Hall Preparatory School , and attendedSeton Hall University . He graduated fromNew York Law School in 1960. [Goldstein, Richard. [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9903E2DF143DF935A25750C0A9679C8B63 "Walter Dukes, 70, a Standout At Seton Hall and in the N.B.A."] , "The New York Times ",March 16 ,2001 . AccessedNovember 2 ,2007 . "A native of Rochester, Dukes moved to South Orange, N.J., in 1948 to attend Seton Hall Prep."]Dukes helped the Lakers win the 1956-57 NBA Western Division in his second season. While with the Pistons, he was named to the 1960 and 1961 NBA All-Star West Teams. Dukes averaged double figures in rebounds in six of his eight seasons in the NBA, and had career averages of 11.3 rebounds per game and 10.4 points per game.
Dukes led the NBA in Personal Fouls in 1958 (311) and 1959 (332) and led the NBA in disqualifications four consecutive seasons between 1958-59 and 1961-62cite book | title = The Official NBA Basketball Encyclopedia, | publisher = Villard Books | date = 1994 | pages = p. 379 | isbn = 0-679-43293-8] — still an NBA record. His 121 career disqualifications (in only eight seasons) rank second in the NBA to
Vern Mikkelsen , and he holds the record for the highest career percentage of games fouled out (21.9%) for any player with over 400 games played.cite web | title=nba.com: Regular Season Records: Miscellaneous - Series|url=http://www.nba.com/history/records/regular_miscellaneous.html| accessdate=2008-04-20]On
March 14 ,2001 , Dukes was found dead in his apartment. According to a police spokesman, he had been dead for about a month when his body was found. He died of natural causes, aged 70. [cite web | title=ESPN: Dukes remembered as Seton Hall's best|url=http://espn.go.com/classic/obit/dukes_walter_obit.html| accessdate=2007-08-26 ]References
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