Xavier McDaniel
Born: June 4, 1963
Position: Small Forward
Height: 6-7 (2.01 m)
In the NBA:
Nickname: "The X-man"
His Game:
Xavier McDaniel was a forward good in scoring and rebounding for more than a decade in the NBA. His trade-marks were the turnaround high-arc jumper, his shaved head (one of the first players who made it in fashion) and his strong, aggressive defense (ask Michael Jordan with whom he had a fight in the 1992 NBA Eastern Finals!).
His Career
McDaniel was picked up by the Seattle Supersonics in the 4th place of the 1985 draft. In his first year he averaged 17.1 points, 8 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 1.2 steals. His best season was the following, 1986-'87, when he had 23 ppg, 8.6 rpg, 1.4 spg and 50.9% in field goals, all career-highs and the Sonics advanced to the Western Finals. He kept his game on a high level for the next 3 years.
In the 1990-'91 mid-season he was traded to the Phoenix Suns. The Suns traded him to New York, where he played in 1991-'92. His numbers were down (13.7 ppg and 5.6 rpg) but during the playoffs he improved a lot, scoring 18.8 points. The New York Knicks advanced to the Eastern Finals, where they lost to the Chicago Bulls.
In 1992 McDaniel signed with the Boston Celtics, where he played for 3 years. His numbers were falling constantly as he wasn't a starter anymore. In 1994-'95 he averaged career lows: 8.6 points and 4.4 rebounds.
Coming back from Europe in 1996, he signed with the New Jersey Nets and helped as a reserve, averaging 5.6 points and 5.1 rebounds in 19 minutes played in 1996-'97. His last year in the league was 1997-'98 when he played only 20 games, scoring 1.3 ppg.
Honors:
McDaniel was a member of the 1986 NBA All-Rookie Team and played in the 1988 All-Star Game.
Statistics:
| YEAR |
Team |
Games |
Pts |
FT % |
FG % |
3PM |
3-pt % |
Reb. |
Trn |
Ast |
St |
Blk |
Min. |
Star? |
| 1986 |
Seattle |
82 |
17.1 |
.687 |
.490 |
2 |
.200 |
8.0 |
3.0 |
2.4 |
1.2 |
0.5 |
33.0 |
YES |
| 1987 |
Seattle |
82 |
23.0 |
.696 |
.509 |
3 |
.214 |
8.6 |
2.9 |
2.5 |
1.4 |
0.6 |
37.0 |
YES |
| 1988 |
Seattle |
78 |
21.4 |
.715 |
.488 |
14 |
.280 |
6.6 |
2.9 |
3.4 |
1.2 |
0.7 |
34.7 |
YES |
| 1989 |
Seattle |
82 |
20.5 |
.732 |
.489 |
11 |
.306 |
5.3 |
2.6 |
1.6 |
1.0 |
0.5 |
29.1 |
YES |
| 1990 |
Seattle |
69 |
21.3 |
.733 |
.496 |
5 |
.294 |
6.5 |
2.7 |
2.5 |
1.1 |
0.5 |
35.2 |
YES |
| 1991 |
Seattle / Phoenix |
81 |
17.0 |
.723 |
.497 |
0 |
.000 |
6.9 |
2.3 |
2.3 |
0.9 |
0.6 |
32.5 |
YES |
| 1992 |
New York |
82 |
13.7 |
.714 |
.478 |
12 |
.308 |
5.6 |
1.8 |
1.8 |
0.7 |
0.3 |
28.6 |
No |
| 1993 |
Boston |
82 |
13.5 |
.793 |
.495 |
6 |
.273 |
6.0 |
2.1 |
2.0 |
0.9 |
0.6 |
27.0 |
YES |
| 1994 |
Boston |
82 |
11.3 |
.676 |
.461 |
10 |
.244 |
4.9 |
1.4 |
1.5 |
0.6 |
0.5 |
24.0 |
No |
| 1995 |
Boston |
68 |
8.6 |
.712 |
.451 |
6 |
.286 |
4.4 |
1.3 |
1.6 |
0.4 |
0.3 |
21.0 |
No |
| 1997 |
New Jersey |
62 |
5.6 |
.730 |
.389 |
5 |
.200 |
5.1 |
1.1 |
1.0 |
0.6 |
0.3 |
18.9 |
No |
| 1998 |
New Jersey |
20 |
1.3 |
.625 |
.333 |
0 |
.000 |
1.6 |
0.4 |
0.5 |
0.2 |
0.1 |
9.0 |
No |
| Career |
Career |
870 |
15.6 |
.718 |
.485 |
74 |
.261 |
6.1 |
2.2 |
2.0 |
0.9 |
0.5 |
29.0 |
YES |
In Europe:
After a disappointing season in Boston, McDaniel signed with Greek team Iraklis for the 1995-'96 season. The team had high goals, participating in the European Championship for the first time in its history. That lack of experience made Iraklis one of the worse teams in the European Championship that season and the low moral of the players brought bad results in the Greek Championship too. Although the season was a failure, McDaniel did his best to carry the team and honor his $1 million contract, averaging in 24 games 18.5 points, 9.1 rebounds, 2 assists, 1.6 steals and shooting 76% in the free throws, 46% in the field goals and 32% behind the arc.