David Greenwood, a former UCLA basketball star, died on Sunday, June 8, in Riverside, California, after a fight with cancer. He was 68 years old. Greenwood, who played forward for the Bruins, ended his college career as the No. 2 overall pick by the Chicago Bulls in the 1979 NBA Draft.
Greenwood first made his mark at Verbum Dei High School in Los Angeles before joining UCLA in 1975, recruited by legendary coach John Wooden before he stepped down. Listed as a senior at 6-foot-9 and 233 pounds, Greenwood’s name still features prominently in UCLA’s record books.
He holds the 15th spot all-time in school history with 1,721 career points and ranks fourth with 1,022 rebounds. Greenwood was a starter for all four of his college seasons from 1975-76 to 1978-79, posting averages of 14.8 points and 8.7 rebounds over 118 games. His teams achieved a remarkable 102-17 record, translating to a .857 winning percentage.
During his time at UCLA, Greenwood was named all-conference three times in 1977, 1978, and 1979 and was awarded team MVP as both a junior and senior. The Bruins captured the conference title in all four of his seasons in Westwood. He earned first-team All-America honors as a junior and senior, making him UCLA’s first repeat first-team honoree since Bill Walton, who did so from 1972 to 1974.
Greenwood played alongside Hamilton and Holland at UCLA, with all three seniors finishing as the school’s top scorers during the 1978-79 season. Remaining deeply connected to his alma mater, Greenwood 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 matchup, which resulted in a 59-47 win over Arizona State at Pauley Pavilion.
As a UCLA senior, Greenwood averaged a career-high 19.0 points per game in the 1978-79 season. The Bruins finished that year with a 25-5 record, going 15-3 in conference play to take first place in the Pac-10. They edged out USC by one game in the regular season. Greenwood shot an impressive 58.7 percent from the floor 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 collected conference Player of the Year awards in both 1978 and 1979. After a dozen seasons in the NBA, Greenwood was inducted into the Pac-12 Hall of Honor in 2017 and was later welcomed into the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame in November 2021.
While at UCLA, Greenwood played under head coaches Gene Bartow and Gary Cunningham and shared the court with fellow all-conference selections like Marques Johnson, Richard Washington, Roy Hamilton, Raymond Townsend, Brad Holland, and Kiki Vandeweghe. His four-year tenure helped the Bruins reach 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, and in 1979, the Bruins advanced to the Elite Eight as the region’s top seed. After a 99-81 win over San Francisco in the regional semifinals, Greenwood scored a career-best 37 points in a close 95-91 defeat to DePaul in Provo, Utah, shooting 17-for-24 from the floor while adding 10 rebounds and two assists across all 40 minutes on the court.
Greenwood was widely respected for his work ethic and strong will. He entered the NBA with the Chicago Bulls in the fall of 1979, averaging 16.3 points and 9.4 rebounds per game as a rookie. After six seasons with the Bulls, he went on to play for the San Antonio Spurs, Denver Nuggets, and Detroit Pistons.
During his 11th season, Greenwood was part of the Pistons’ squad that won its second straight 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 pro career, Greenwood dealt with several injuries but never missed an entire NBA season, suiting up for 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 definition of professionalism on the basketball court. Al remembered that his brother was determined to play for UCLA in 1975—even after Coach Wooden’s unexpected retirement—despite having options to join other top college teams.
Earlier this year, the Los Angeles Times featured the 50th anniversary of one of Southern California’s most outstanding all-region basketball groups, the 1974-75 Division AAAA All-CIF team. Greenwood had earned MVP honors before heading to UCLA. Seven out of the ten first-team All-CIF members from that year made it to the NBA, including Reggie Theus from Inglewood, Bill Laimbeer from Palos Verdes, Brad Holland from Crescenta Valley, Roy Hamilton from Verbum Dei, James Hardy from Long Beach Jordan, and Paul Mokeski from Crespi.
Greenwood is survived by his children Jemil and Tiffany, brother Al, sister Laverne and former wife Joyce.