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New York Knicks NBA Draft History: 1980

By Rob Wolkenbrod

INGLEWOOD - 1987: Kurt Rambis #31 of the Los Angeles Lakers and team doctor Stephen Lombardo are seen before a game circa 1987 at the Great Western Forum in Inglewood, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 1987 NBAE (Photo by Andrew D. Bernstein/NBAE via Getty Images)
INGLEWOOD - 1987: Kurt Rambis #31 of the Los Angeles Lakers and team doctor Stephen Lombardo are seen before a game circa 1987 at the Great Western Forum in Inglewood, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 1987 NBAE (Photo by Andrew D. Bernstein/NBAE via Getty Images) /
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The New York Knicks draft series continues with the 1980 selection show, when two future head coaches were chosen.

The third part of this New York Knicks draft history series looks at 1980. 10 rounds was still normal for the draft process, as the NBA had teams choose talents from deep into the collegiate system, most of whom did not play a regular season minute.

The draft look-back has already featured the following classes:

Did the 1980 class top either of these with more high picks? Let’s take a look:

. SG. Indiana. Mike Woodson. 12. player. 27

Slash Line (with Knicks): .442/.000/.766
Career Averages (with Knicks): 4.7 PPG, 1.2 RPG, 0.9 APG, 0.4 SPG, 0.1 BPG

The New York Knicks made Mike Woodson the 12th pick of the 1980 NBA Draft. A star at Indiana, he averaged nearly 20 points per game in four collegiate seasons and 5.6 rebounds.

Despite this, Woodson played just 11.7 minutes per game as a rookie, averaging 4.7 points and 1.2 rebounds. Michael Ray Richardson and Ray Williams played ahead of him in the backcourt, and after one season, the Knicks traded their most recent first-round pick to the New Jersey Nets for Mike Newlin.

Woodson had 10 more years left, however. He went from the Nets to Kansas City, the Los Angeles Clippers, Houston Rockets and Cleveland Cavaliers.

Modern-day NBA fans will know Woodson best as a head coach. He led the Atlanta Hawks for six seasons and helmed the Knicks after Mike D’Antonio’s departure in 2012 to 2014, earning a career record of 315-365.

player. 27. . PF. LSU. DeWayne Scales. 36

Slash Line (with Knicks): .413/.167/.628
Career Averages (with Knicks): 4.6 PPG, 2.9 RPG, 0.2 APG, 0.3 SPG, 0.1 BPG

The Knicks made Dewayne Scales, a top player at LSU over three seasons, their second-round pick. He played 44 games as a rookie in 1980-81, with 4.9 points and 3.0 rebounds per contest.

Unfortunately for Scales, he played just five more NBA games the next two seasons he appeared in. Three were with the Knicks. Two were with the Washington Bullets.

Aside from a CBA run, this ended Scales’ basketball career.

27. . PF. Santa Clara. Kurt Rambis. 58. player

Slash Line: .534/.000/.689
Career Averages: 5.2 PPG, 5.6 RPG, 1.1 APG, 0.9 SPG, 0.5 BPG

Kurt Rambis had a long, successful NBA career. Spanning 13 seasons, he won championships with the Los Angeles Lakers throughout the 1980s as a main contributor off Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and James Worthy.

However, Rambis was the Knicks’ third-round pick in 1980, except he never played for them. that led to a 1981 arrival to Los Angeles via free agency, and even though 1988-95 were journeyman years, this was a successful, late selection when few of these happened this deep into the old drafts.

Rambis also went on to become an assistant coach with the Lakers, winning championships in 2000, 2001 and 2002. That led to a head coach stint in Minnesota, where he had just 32 wins in two seasons, with the next chance not arriving until the Santa Clara product was an interim coach with the Knicks after Derek Fisher‘s firing.

No other Knicks pick played in the NBA, but this group featured the following:

  • Joseph Chmelich (Round 4, Pick 82)
  • William Carey (Round 5,  Pick 104)
  • Kelvin Hicks (Round 6, Pick 128)
  • Bobby Turner (Round 7, Pick 150)
  • James Salters (Round 8, Pick 171)
  • Don Wiley (Round 9, Pick 190)
  • Gerald Ross (Round 10, Pick 208)

Next. 25 greatest players in NYK history. dark

The next New York Knicks look-back is the 1981 NBA Draft. Their 1980 class produced two recognizable names, but their run with the organization was minimal at best,

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