Evaluating former Jayhawk great Darnell Valentine’s NBA legacy

Darnell Valentine was hailed for greatness early in his basketball career. Before his high school senior year, Five-Star director and basketball guru Howard Garfinkel simply said Valentine was the best guard he had ever seen in the camp history, even superior to stars Phil Sellers (Rutgers) and Butch Lee (Marquette).

The hosannas and rave reviews kept coming at Kansas, where he became a second-team All-American his senior year. Boston Celtics president Red Auerbach scouted Valentine during his sophomore year and thought he’d be a great pro, maybe even better than former KU and Celtic great Jo Jo White, who is enshrined in the Naismith Hall of Fame.

“Valentine is quicker than Jo Jo and he penetrates better,” Auerbach gushed to The Sporting News.

My dad and I, who were huge fans of D.V., were hoping Valentine could have an NBA career like White as soon as he was drafted with the No. 16 overall pick in the first round by the Portland Trail Blazers.

Blazers coach Jack Ramsay even thought Valentine was destined for stardom after his rookie season in 1982.

“Darnell Valentine may be the best point guard in the NBA, you’ll see,” Ramsay told Sports Illustrated.

Sadly, it never happened.

Valentine played well for Portland during his first four and half seasons, assuming the starting role in his second year. But Valentine’s skills didn’t ideally fit Ramsay’s extremely structured offense. Valentine didn’t have much freedom and Portland didn’t run the fast break enough, which was Valentine’s specialty.

He was also a below average outside shooter, although he could knock down the open jumper. Valentine, too, was not a great ballhandler, despite being a point guard, something then-KU coach Larry Brown talked about on his radio show.

But he was very quick with the ball and at his best penetrating the lane and either scoring a layup in traffic over big men or dishing to a teammate for an easy bucket.

And there were few better defensive guards than Valentine and any players who worked harder.

“He was a warrior,” Larry Drew told me years ago, who played against D.V. at Missouri and in the NBA, while also teammates with the Los Angeles Clippers.

"He's a fierce competitor," Ramsay added. “He never stops. He's never going to be outplayed."

Valentine was devoted to the game and also played selflessly in the pros, unlike at KU where he thought me-first and hurt the team at times by trying to do too much.

This all changed in the NBA, when Valentine likely had the revelation that he was no longer the best player on the team, and to have a long and successful career, he had to blend in as a role player, pass the ball and get his teammates involved like Jim Paxson, Calvin Natt, Mychal Thompson and later Clyde Drexler and Kiki Vandeweghe.

Ramsay paid Valentine the ultimate compliment when he said he “was perhaps the most self-disciplined player I ever dealt with ... (and) one of the best team players I ever coached.”

High praise, indeed, from the Hall of Fame coach.

Valentine had a rough break after four and half seasons with Portland when he played in obscurity for the futile Clippers for two and a half years before moving to Cleveland to finish his career. When he first became a Cav in 1988-89, I remember reading that Valentine — who was always known to have a big ego — said that he had never been around a guard and teammate in Mark Price who was so much better than him.

At that time, Valentine was in the twilight of his career, while Price made his first All-Star team in his third year. Price starred with averages of 18.9 points and 8.4 assists per game, while shooting 52.6 percent from the field and a scorching 44.1 percent from beyond the arc and 90.1 percent at the charity stripe.

Price’s career 40.2 percent marksmanship from three-point range ranks No. 37 all time, while his 6.7 assists per game ranks No. 30. Price was the far superior shooter to Valentine and also a better ballhandler. However, Valentine was quicker than Price, better at stealing the ball, and a more complete defensive player.

While he was no Mark Price and certainly no Jo Jo White — make no mistake — Valentine still had a solid NBA career during his nine seasons. To me, he ranks as the third-best former Jayhawk guard with the top NBA career behind White and Kirk Hinrich and the No. 11th-best former Jayhawk with the top NBA career overall (not countng current Jayhawks in the pros).

The 6-1 guard boasts career averages of 8.7 points (5,400), 5.0 assists (3,080), 2.1 rebounds (1,318), 1.5 steals (910), and 23.2 minutes in 620 games (345 starts). He shot 43.7 percent from the field, 26.1 percent from three-point range, and 78.7 percent at the free throw line. He always elevated his game in the playoffs with career averages during four postseasons of 12.0 points, 6.8 assists, 1.5 steals, 1.9 rebounds in 27.2 minutes per game over 26 contests. 

He shot 46.0 percent from the field, 50.0 percent from beyond the arc, and a sizzling 88.4 percent at the free throw line. His finest playoff performance came in 1984 in a five-game series loss to Phoenix in the first round, when Valentine starred with 18.4 points and 8.4 assists while shooting 50 percent from the field and and a blistering 91.4 percent at the free throw line in 35.6 minutes per game. He exploded for a game-high 29 points in a Game 3 loss to Phoenix and recorded 15 assists (tied for team playoff record) in a Game 2 loss to the Lakers in 1983. Valentine ranks No. 5  in Blazers history for career assists (161).

During the regular season, the former KU All-American scored a career-high 30 points versus Houston during the 1987-88 season with the Clippers, dished out a career-best 15 assists three times, had three games with eight steals, and four games with eight rebounds. He also posted a career-high 50 minutes in a triple overtime loss to Phoenix on Nov. 1, 1984 with the Blazers.

A tenacious defender with extremely quick feet and hands, Valentine ranks No. 90 all time in the NBA with 1.5 steals per game. He ranked No. 9 in the league in steals per game (1.9) during 1984-85 and No. 13 in total steals (143) that year. He also ranked No. 20 in total steals (122) in 1986-87. Valentine ranked in the top 20 in steal percentage during five seasons, including a career-best 3.6 (No. 5) in 1987-88.

Unlike at KU, he always thought pass first in the pros, ranking No. 15 in assists per game (7.0) during 1984-85 and No. 18 in total assists (522) that year. He ranked No. 17 in the NBA with 6.9 assists per game in 1986-87 and No. 20 in total assists (447) that season. He had three seasons where he ranked in the top 20 in assist percentage, including a career-best 37.3 (No. 6) in 1986-87.

I asked Valentine before his jersey retirement in Allen Fieldhouse on Jan. 1, 2005 how he felt about his NBA career. He was quite candid and didn’t seem to have regrets.

“I think it could have possibly been better, and it could have possibly been a lot worse,” Valentine replied. “I’m just thankful that it was what it was. I think I had some tough breaks. ... I’m proud of what I was able to accomplish.”

No, he never became an All-Star or averaged even 9.0 points per game over his career (career-high 12.5 ppg his second season), but Valentine made his mark with his outstanding defense and fierce work ethic, endearing himself to his coaches, teammates, and fans.

Lafayette Norwood, his close friend, mentor, high school coach and assistant at KU, thought Valentine caught a tough break by not catching on with the Chicago Bulls. Norwood actually told me several years ago that Chicago signed him to an offer sheet while Valentine was with the Clippers before the Clips matched it. But it was actually New Jersey which made the offer before the 1986-87 season. The Bulls, however, nearly traded for Valentine from Portland before the 1985-86 season, but the deal never happened.

“I thought that was the turning point in his life,” said Norwood, who added the Bulls didn’t have a point guard at the time. “I thought if the Bulls could have got him, he could have been able to experience some things I thought we had in mind at the beginning of his career. Chicago was in the process of beginning to evolve as far as being a championship final team. If he could have gone to Chicago, obviously with Michael (Jordan), he could have made that happen and become a critical (part to their success).”

As I wrote in a previous blog on D.V., Norwood thought Valentine could have elevated Jordan and his Bulls’ teammates’ games with his defense and become one of the best NBA point guards.

Still, like Valentine, Norwood was quite proud of what he was “able to accomplish” in the NBA.

“Oh, he had a great career,” Norwood said.

Former KU All-American Darnell Valentine finishes NBA career with Cleveland Cavaliers

After a productive year with the Los Angeles Clippers despite the team’s dismal struggles (12-70, worst record in NBA and lowest winning percentage in team history), Darnell Valentine entered the 1987-88 season looking to improve on both his own production and dramatically boost his team’s fortunes.

Unfortunately, Larry Drew, Valentine’s old rival from Missouri, beat him out for the starting point guard position, yet this former KU standout managed to start 32 of 72 games, including the last 27 contests. His statistics, though, slipped from the previous season. Valentine averaged 7.1 points, 4.8 assists, 2.0 rebounds and 1.5 steals in 20.7 minutes per game, while shooting 41.8 percent from the field, a career-high 45.5 percent beyond the arc (15-33) and 74.3 percent at the free throw line.

He scored in double figures 11 of 13 games from March 2 to March 25, including a stellar 25-points and 12 assists in 41 minutes against Sacramento on March 20.

Two weeks later on April 8, Valentine scored a season-high 27 points versus the Los Angeles Lakers, followed by a career-best 30-point outburst in a 122-105 win over Houston on April 10. Valentine added 11 assists and five steals in 33 minutes, shooting 14 of 19 from the field, 1 of 1 from three-point range, and 1 of 2 at the charity stripe. The former KU All-American was game-high scorer, even outscoring future Hall of Famer Hakeem Olajuwon (19) of the Rockets.

The Clippers were still woeful with a 17-65 record under head coach Gene Shue.

After the season, Valentine finally got his wish and was out of L.A. He was acquired by the Miami Heat in the June expansion draft and then promptly traded to the Cleveland Cavaliers for a second-round draft pick.

With now seven years in the NBA as a solid veteran, it appeared Valentine was in the twilight of his career. Cleveland and head coach Lenny Wilkins wanted Valentine as just a backup point guard to star Mark Price. Valentine played sparingly for the Cavs during 1988-89, averaging just 14.1 minutes in 77 games (four starts). He posted career lows in points (4.2), assists (2.3), steals (0.7) and rebounds (1.3) per game, while shooting 42.6 percent from the field, a career-low 21.4 percent from three-point range, and 81.3 percent at the charity stripe.

Valentine scored in double figures in just seven games all season, capped with a season-high 15 points against New Jersey on Feb 22, 1988. He also had a season-best 10 assists versus Milwaukee on March 23, 1989.

While his stats were down, Valentine was elated to be on a winning team after the dismal Clipper years. Cleveland finished at 57-25 in second place in the Central Division, but lost a heartbreaking 3-2 playoff series to Michael Jordan’s Chicago Bulls in the first round of the playoffs.

Valentine had his best game of the postseason in a Game 1 95-88 loss, posting eight points, six assists and three steals in 33 minutes.

His stay in Cleveland didn’t last long. In July, the Cavs announced they had no interest in resigning Valentine. He couldn’t make another team. So suddenly, after eight years in the NBA, Valentine’s career seemed to be over.

He was out of the NBA in 1989-90 before the Cavs suddenly resigned him the following season in early December 1990 to replace Price, who suffered a season-ending knee injury. While this was heartbreak for Price and Cavs fans, Valentine was thrilled to be back in the NBA where he made his name with his relentless self-discipline and dedication all these years.

He had been working as an intern at a Portland TV station and also playing in a Mexican basketball league. Mexico was, indeed, light years away from the NBA.

"I'm in paradise. Being back in the NBA is like surviving a plane crash," Valentine said at the time. "In Mexico, our team bus had a huge hole in the floor. We traveled around in a donkey bus. It was like being in Fred Flintstone's car. It had no bottom. I couldn’t believe it, and it makes me appreciate (the NBA)."

With Price down, Valentine became the starter during the 1990-91 season and I celebrated by buying my prized Cavs starter jacket. I cherished this jacket and wore it everywhere. I also wrote a letter to the editor in the Lawrence Journal-World how Valentine was back in the NBA where he rightfully belonged. I paid tribute to my childhood hero in that letter, praising his defense as the master of his craft and also his tremendous work ethic.

The day the letter was published, Lafayette Norwood called me at 9:30 a.m. Norwood, a very close friend of Valentine and his high school coach and assistant at Kansas, wanted to thank me for my letter. I was overwhelmed with gratitude by him taking the time to call me. We had a great, happy 20-minute talk about my letter and I also asked Norwood how Darnell was doing in Cleveland.

While it wasn’t my fault, I apologized to him for the Journal-World spelling his first name “Darrell.” I was shocked by the paper’s blatant mistake. My legendary journalism professor at KU said in our second day of class that he would dock us 50 points by incorrectly spelling a name. I couldn’t fathom how the Journal-World could get Darnell’s name wrong.

Norwood was extremely gracious and wasn’t worried at all about the mistake.

“Those things happen,” he said, which made me feel at ease.

I finished our phone call on cloud nine and went to the KU-Missouri game in Allen Fieldhouse later that day on top of the world.

In Valentine’s first two games with Cleveland, he made quite the splash. He averaged 18.5 points, 7.5 assists and shot 58 percent from the field while scoring 24 points in his second game in 44 minutes against the Bucks. While he couldn’t keep those numbers up, he still had a solid season, averaging 9.4 points, 5.4 assists, 2.6 rebounds and 1.5 steals in 28.3 minutes per game. He started 60 of 65 contests, while shooting 46.4 percent from the field, 24.0 percent beyond the arc, and a career-high 83.1 percent at the free throw line.

He scored a season-high 28 points against Atlanta on Feb. 5, while adding eight assists and four steals, followed up with 10 points and 10 assists two nights later against Houston.

And then on April 21, while he didn’t know it at the time, Valentine played the final game of his nine-year NBA career against the Sixers. He finished strong in his swan song, posting 12 points, nine assists and two steals in a 123-110 victory, while shooting 5 of 8 from the field, 0 of 1 from beyond the arc and 2 of 2 at the free throw line.

Missing Price, who was averaging 16.9 points, 10.4 assists and 2.6 steals in 16 games before his season-ending injury, Cleveland stumbled to a 33-49 record and sixth place in the Central Division.

While Valentine tried to hook on with the Milwaukee Bucks the next season in training camp, former Kansas State star point guard Steve Henson beat him out. So Valentine’s NBA career was now over.

But he couldn’t give up the game he always loved growing up in Chicago and Wichita. Valentine next played two years in Italy before finally hanging up his jersey for good.

All for the love of the game.

Darnell Valentine resumes NBA career with futile Los Angeles Clippers

Little did Darnell Valentine or any of his loyal fans like myself know that after he was traded from Portland to the Los Angeles Clippers in January 1986, his NBA career would never be the same.

After being the starting point guard for his last three and and half years with the Blazers and averaging 9.8 points, 5.4 assists and 2.3 rebounds in 300 regular-season games during his Portland career, Valentine was demoted to a backup role his first season in L.A. behind Norm Nixon.

Valentine, the 6-1 point guard and former KU All-American, averaged career lows in points (5.9), assists (3.1) rebounds (1.6), steals (0.7), field goal percentage (38.9) and minutes (14.2) in 34 games (two starts) for the dismal Clippers, who finished at 32-50 and fourth place in the Pacific Division while ranked 21st out of 23 teams in attendance. 

One of Valentine’s few bright moments that season came against his former team, Portland, on Feb. 1, 1986, when he scored a season-high 21 points in just 21 minutes. For the year with both Portland and L.A., Valentine averaged 7.4 points, 4.0 assists and 1.2 steals in 62 games, while shooting just 41.5 percent from the field, 28.6 percent from beyond the arc, and 74.3 percent at the free throw line.

For Valentine, he seemed a long way from Portland, where he played in front of sellout, crazed home fans each night with sellouts of 12,666 in Memorial Coliseum.

Towards the start of next season in October 1986, Valentine received some good news when the New Jersey Nets signed him to a guaranteed three-year offer worth more than $900,000. But his happiness soon faded when the Clippers announced they planned to match the offer.

In an Oct. 18, 1986 article in the Los Angeles Times, it was reported that Valentine’s agent, David Falk of Pro-Serv “said, however, that Valentine will not report to the Clippers’ training camp.” Arn Tellem, Clipper general counsel said: “He’ll play for the Clippers or he’s not going to play.”

Then Tellem mocked Valentine: “I applaud Darnell Valentine’s courageous move to pass up a three-year guaranteed contract that totals close to $1 million and return to his home in Lawrence, Kan. I wish I had the privilege of making such career decisions. Unfortunately, I have to work for a living.”

Falk rebutted: “I’m surprised and disappointed that the Clippers would match the offer. I feel it is very unlikely that he will play for the Clippers this year. There was a lot of scar tissue and bad feeling created by the way the negotiations were handled.

“He doesn’t want to play for an organization that has made it clear that he doesn’t fit into their plans. And he will not report. I hope we can work with the team to have him moved somewhere else.”

Clipper general manager Elgin Baylor said: “We always intended to match the offer. We want to get Darnell here as soon as possible.”

It turned out Valentine reported with the Clippers and was in the team’s plans for the 1986-87 season. While his second and first full season in L.A. produced much better numbers, the Clippers struggled mightily with the worst record in the league at 12-70 and the lowest attendance in the NBA.

With Nixon gone, Valentine started 52 of 65 games while averaging 11.2 points, 6.9 assists (No. 2 best of career) and 1.8 steals in 27.1 minutes per contest, while shooting 41.0 percent from the floor, 23.2 percent from three-point range and a career-high 81.5 percent at the charity stripe. He also averaged a career high in field goal attempts per game (10.3.)

Valentine, who suffered an injury during the season, started the last 41 games of the season. He scored in double figures his first 10 games, including a season-high 24 points versus Golden State on Dec. 16 and then 23 points against Houston a week later. He had his best game in a 124-120 loss to San Antonio on Jan. 30, when he posted 24 points, 15 assists and five steals.

Despite becoming the starter and producing better numbers, Valentine was quite unhappy with the losing and the Clippers being the laughingstock of the NBA.

"Players have left the Clippers and done better, and it's not because they've suddenly become better players," Valentine told Sports Illustrated on March 23, 1987. "Some guys don't play well in difficult circumstances. You can take a good player and put him on this team, and things just get worse. He doesn't blossom. Some guys get traded here and they feel that because we're losing, they can just use this as a showcase to get traded to a better team. We have some players who play very intensely and others who don't put forth any effort at all. When you play for the Clippers, you feel like you're coming over on one of those boats from Cuba with all different kinds of people on it. There's just no pedigree with this team.”

SI’s Bruce Newman wrote this: “At 11-51 they are the worst team in the NBA this season; on a given night they may be the worst NBA team ever to play the game. If the Clippers had a credo—which they don't—it would probably be the one expressed by point guard Darnell Valentine: ‘You have to do as much as you can, as best you can, even if you can't.”

For Valentine, he did his “best,” but it wasn’t near enough to save the futile Clippers. He still couldn’t wait to move out of L.A.

Darnell Valentine left his mark on the Portland Trail Blazers

Darnell Valentine left his mark on the Portland Trail Blazers during his four and half seasons after being a first-round draft choice (No. 16 overall pick) in 1981. Valentine endeared himself to coach Jack Ramsay, his teammates, and fans with his non-stop hustle, tenacious defense, gritty determination, great playmaking and charming personality.

The 6-1 point guard and former KU All-American averaged 9.8 points, 5.4 assists, 2.3 rebounds and 1.6 steals while shooting 44.9 percent from the field in 300 regular-season games. Not great numbers, but his game simply transcended statistics.

Just listen to Ramsay, who wrote about Valentine in his 2004 book, Dr. Jack’s Leadership Lessons Learned From A Lifetime In Basketball. Under the caption, “Heart of a Champion,” Ramsay gushed over Valentine.

“Many of the players I coached who weren’t among the team’s most gifted players were the hardest workers and made maximum use of their skills. Darnell Valentine was perhaps the most self-disciplined player I ever dealt with.

“DV — who had watermelon-sized quads, a strong upper body and excellent quickness handling the ball and defending — worked fanatically on his conditioning. He was on the floor an hour before practice, working on his defensive footwork, pull-up jumpers, or full-court drives to the hoop. Then he would stretch for about 15 minutes before the team practice began. He was also extremely careful about his diet. He ate primarily foods high in carbohydrates and supplemented them with enough protein and fat to fuel his extraordinary energy level. Valentine even brought his own food blender with him on road trips and often boarded the team bus carrying large bags of fruit and veggies, which he offered to everyone. In addition to his fierce work ethic, relentless self-discipline and powerful will to win, he always wore a smile and was one of the best team players I ever coached.”

And just listen to Stu Inman, the Blazers longtime director of player personnel. Steve Duin of The Oregonian wrote on Jan. 31, 2007 after Inman died that “he understood what the Jerome Kerseys, Darnell Valentines and Terry Porters brought to a franchise...He had an eye for talent and a gift for labeling it in a manner you never forgot. 

“Valentine? ‘He has a beautiful relationship with a loose ball,’” Inman once said.

Indeed, he did. Valentine never saw a loose ball or a steal he didn’t like. He carved his name as one of the best defensive guards in Blazer history. And his effort and dedication were second to none. Nobody worked any harder than Darnell Terrell Valentine.

The Oregonian ranked Valentine the No. 33 best player in franchise history in 2009. Jason Quick wrote that “whenever the playoffs rolled around for the Trail Blazers in the early 1980s, that usually meant it was time for Darnell Valentine to heat up...A point guard with tree-trunk sized thighs, Valentine had some of the most prolific passing nights in team history during the postseason. He shares the team record for assists in a playoff game with 15, set in a Game 2 loss at the Lakers in the 1983 Western Conference semifinals. In Game 3, an overtime loss, he had 14. The next season, in a first-round series with Phoenix, Valentine had 13 assists in a Game 4 win and scored 29 points in a Game 3 loss.

“In all three seasons he reached the playoffs, he raised his assists averages significantly and had a big series against Phoenix in 1984 when he averaged 18.4 points and 8.4 assists. He also ranks fifth all time in team history in playoff assists.

"I was never the greatest player during the season," Valentine said. "But when it got to playoffs, I think teams were so intent on stopping our strengths – (Jim) Paxson and (Calvin) Natt – that it allowed me to make things happen."

Quick called him “an old-school point guard, one who consumed himself with defense, passing and leadership.”

He continued:

“(Valentine) says he looks back fondly at his time with the Blazers, even though it was sprinkled with adversity and constant battles for the starting job. He was the 16th overall pick out of Kansas in the 1981 draft, and the team saw enough of him in his rookie season that they traded former starter Kelvin Ransey.

“But in the following years, Valentine battled a broken foot and a broken hand, and soon, it was Valentine who was the hunted. He eventually lost his starting role. A newcomer named Terry Porter and another upstart, Steve Colter, created a three-way battle for the starting job in the 1985-1986 season.

"It was an open competition in training camp, and I came out the starter," Valentine said. "I was playing well, but then they wanted to change directions."

A trade to Indiana “fell through.”

"Then I was a lame duck," Valentine said. "Everything was so abrupt. So I passed the baton to Terry."

Valentine, who has lived in Portland since being drafted by the franchise, loved his time as a player in Rip City, where he played in front of energized sellout home crowds of 12,666 every game at Memorial Coliseum. The Blazers were the only professional sports team in Portland, so fans were crazy about their team.

"Coming out of Kansas, I was afraid that the NBA would be an overwhelming challenge," Valentine said. "But the Blazers — the Stu Inmans, the Harry Glickmans — they embraced and cared about us, and I think that eventually was reflected in the community. And it's amazing how that regenerates itself. Portland is a special place. I could feel that right from the start.”

Valentine has a favorite story about his time in Portland.

"I had those big legs, which were probably my rite to passage,” he said. “Well, there was another player in the league who had big legs too – World B. Free – and Mychal Thompson would never let me hear the end of it. He always wondered why I couldn't jump like World B. Free. So he always called me 'Ground Jordan'."

Valentine was extremely proud of his “big legs.” John Chanson of The Oregonian wrote in 2014 about his yearly uniform fitting with Donna Millak, who had sewn Portland’s jerseys for over four decades.

"I had to shorten his shorts every year,” Millak said. “He'd say, 'I have beautiful legs. I can't hide these things.' So I'd shorten the shorts, and he'd try them on and have to go find a mirror in the back of the shop because I didn't have one at my station.

"Darnell would parade around the shop in those shorts until we got it right." 

While Valentine might have been vain about his legs, he was selfless on the court. Valentine certainly had a special relationship with Ramsay, who always emphasized team basketball. When I interviewed Valentine with a group of reporters before his jersey retirement ceremony at Allen Fieldhouse on Jan. 1, 2005, I relayed to him that Ramsay said he was “one of the best team players (he) ever coached.”

Valentine was extremely humbled by Ramsay’s words.

“Coming from him, that’s an incredible compliment. I appreciate that,” Valentine said. “We did a lot of things alike. We thought alike. Even when I was traded to the Clippers, I understand the business of basketball now, sometimes it’s not about the coach and it’s not about your playing. It’s a business. Sometimes, things are done by committee. Jack and I, we had a great relationship.”

Valentine and Ramsay were both fitness fanatics and once went on a long bike ride together. D.V. spoke more about Ramsay to Canzano on his 750 The Game radio show in 2014 after his former coach died.

“He was a great, great man,” Valentine said. “He just touched everybody in such a personable way that I had nothing but respect. I remember me being a player trying to find my way here and trying to find whatever advantages I could to compete because I wasn’t the fastest, I didn’t jump the highest, I wasn’t the biggest guy. He invited me to go on a bike ride. The bike ride was from Portland to Seaside (about 79 miles). He never stopped. I was on the sideline, I was on the side of the street hoping some wind would hit me because I was resting and he would never stop. He shared his conditioning and getting the most out of yourself is beyond just basketball condition. 

“He was a triathlete, he trained as a triathlete. He would swim, bike, his discipline, his consistency, doing it every day after practice, coaching. To this day, I bought into being a well-rounded conditioned person. I wouldn’t define myself as an athlete anymore, but just my quality of life and him touching me at that time has paid dividends for me today. I’m active and still doing the things that he indebted to me at that time. He’s way beyond just a basketball coach and I think the number of people he touched and changed their lives, just too many to number. He was like the father of Portland. 

“... He’s reverenced. It’s a sad day in Portland today.”

Valentine added that Ramsay had “a sense of humor, but he was disciplined. He wanted plays run the way he wanted them to be run.”

And Valentine was the consummate point guard to run Ramsay’s complex offensive system. Unlike at KU, he always thought pass and team first and getting the ball to scorers like Paxson, Natt, Clyde Drexler and Kiki Vandeweghe.

Blazers Edge’s Dave Deckard ranked Valentine No. 55 among Portland top’s players, executives and other influencers on April 12, 2020.

Under the headline: “The Invisible Point Guard,” Deckard wrote:

“Legendary Portland Trail Blazers Coach Jack Ramsay was a physical fitness buff. He encouraged players to run, develop endurance, and stay fit as part of their regimen. With point guard Darnell Valentine, he needn’t have bothered. The 1981 draftee was way ahead of the program.

“Valentine played with a chiseled body, massive legs, and a commitment to playing the game the way it was meant to be played. For a point guard that meant passing, defense, and having a head on swivel. Valentine seldom failed in any of those departments. He may not have been the best point guard on the roster at any given time. At various times Kelvin Ransey, Fat Lever, Steve Colter, and Terry Porter all shared a locker room with Darnell. Like BBQ chips and those colored wedding mints, the Blazers couldn’t stop themselves from going back for more Valentine.

"Efficiency typified Valentine’s game. He didn’t score a ton because he didn’t take a lot of shots. His 45% average from the field indicated not just shooting skill, but a sharp eye for when and how to get his looks. His per-minute assist and steals rates were equal to, sometimes above, Lever’s. And oh, what he did in the playoffs. The combination of stamina and smarts served him well when everybody else was playing their 92nd game of the season. 

“In 1983-84 against a STACKED Phoenix Suns team, Valentine would average 18.4 points, 8.4 assists, 1.8 steals, and 50% shooting...all above his regular-season numbers. He knew when, and how, to turn it on while still fitting in with all the higher-rotation players around him. Despite the constant swirl of point guards around him, Valentine’s playing time increased through 1985, but he battled injuries throughout. When Porter came on board, the writing was on the wall. The Blazers traded Valentine to the Los Angeles Clippers for a draft pick that would later become Arvydas Sabonis...one last assist on the way out the door. In the early Brandon Roy years, Valentine would return to the franchise, working with the young Blazers on personal development. He was also active with the NBA Players Association for many years.

“For being the right guy in so many different situations, providing an example of old-school point guard ethic, and the marvelous playoffs runs, Darnell Valentine earns the 55th spot in our Top 100 List of Trail Blazers players and influencers.”

Some readers and Blazer fans posted comments online after reading the article. One wrote: “I’m going to be happy with his ranking here. My memory of Darnell was of a dedicated worker. He worked hard on the court, and also worked hard as an athlete off the court. I think Jack Ramsay liked Darnell because they both shared similar work out ethics and approach. Darnell was a great athlete. If you were ranking ONLY that characteristic, he would be near the top.”

Another fan agreed:

“That’s exactly what I remember too. He was text book when it came to his shooting. Perfect form and great rotation on the ball. Everything he did was exactly how you would want to teach your kids how to play basketball.”

With his unwavering work ethic, tremendous self-discipline, great playoff performances and positive attitude, Valentine left his legacy in Portland and remains one of the franchise’s most popular players. And this Kansas native still feels the love in his adopted home while working as an employee specialist for Precision Castparts since 2007, a Fortune 500 company and worldwide manufacturer of complex metal components and products.

“Once you’ve played there, it’s like you’re always a member of the Portland Trail Blazers,” Valentine said in 2005 at Allen Fieldhouse.

“There's not a more supportive community for players in the NBA than Portland,” Valentine added to the Portland Tribune in 2017. “There are no better fans or people. That's the first thing that resonated with me. I love the positivity here. I'm a West Coast kind of guy, and I'm from Kansas, so I love Portland's weather. I love the city. My wife is from here. Portland has been an anchor for me. And I love what I do with Precision Castparts.”

Portland trades former Jayhawk great Darnell Valentine to Los Angeles Clippers

The Portland Trail Blazers had a habit of drafting point guards in the early 1980s. The franchise selected Kelvin Ransey (1980), Darnell Valentine (1981) and Fat Lever (1982) during the first round, and then Steve Colter (1984) in the second round.

With Valentine and Colter still in Portland, would the Blazers pull the trigger and select yet another point guard in the first round of the 1985 NBA Draft?

That’s exactly what they did when Portland picked Terry Porter from Wisconsin-Stevens Point, an NCAA Division III school, with the 24th overall selection and last pick in the first round. The Blazers saw something they liked out of this promising guard and future Portland great, despite playing forward at just 6-3 in college and at times guarding the opposing team’s center.

Now, with three point guards on the roster, it appeared someone had to go. With Colter’s emergence last season and Valentine entering the last year on his contract and becoming a free agent next year, he seemed to be a marked man. Portland was looking to trade him before the season began, with his most likely destination the Chicago Bulls, who had just selected budding superstar Michael Jordan in last year’s draft, the reigning Rookie of the Year who averaged 28.2 points per game in 1984-85.

In a Sept. 24, 1985 article in the Chicago Tribune, Bob Sakamoto wrote:

“If the Bulls have the heart, they may get their Valentine. The Bulls are looking to acquire the Portland Trail Blazers’ Darnell Valentine to fill a gaping hole at point guard. But the price for the four-year veteran could be power forward Sidney Green, which may be too steep.”

Sakamoto continued:

“Portland has three point guards and a shortage of power forwards. The Bulls have three power forwards and zero point guards. It’s a natural.”

But there were complications in the possible trade.

“A National Basketball Association source close to Portland said the Bulls are hesitant to part with Green,” Sakamoto wrote. “What Chicago is doing, he said, is waiting it out until Portland realizes it must move Valentine. Then the Bulls will offer the Blazers two second-round picks in the 1986 draft, their own and one they got from Dallas, for Valentine.

“But how long do the Bulls wait? There are indications Valentine will be traded before the season begins in late October.”

''There are only so many minutes for our point guards,'' Portland general manager Stu Inman said. ''We like all of them, but there is only room for two. If we were to make a trade, it would be for a player in the category of a Sidney Green. We would go that way. If we couldn't get a big forward, we would settle for draft choices.''

Sakamoto reported that “the Blazers like second-year playmaker Steve Colter and have big plans for first-round draft choice Terry Porter of Wisconsin-Stevens Point. That would seem to leave Valentine, who was born in Chicago, as the odd man out.”

''He is the kind of selfless guard who stands out defensively and can get the ball to the right people,'' Inman said. ''He has a decent outside shot. If you leave him wide open, he will hit it, absolutely.''

“Darnell Valentine is looking to move, and Chicago is his No. 1 choice,'' the NBA source said. ''He is just the player Chicago needs. Don’t let (Bulls’ vice president of operations) Jerry Krause fool you. They’re not going to play Jordan and (Quintin) Dailey together. That`s just what all the other teams in the NBA would love to see.''

Sakamoto wrote that with “new Bulls’ coach Stan Albeck emphasizing a fast-paced, transition offense, opening up the court for Jordan and forward Orlando Woolridge, Valentine would fit better than either (Jon) Paxson or (Kyle) Macy, with whom the Bulls have also talked.”

''He is more geared to an uptempo game,'' Inman said about Valentine.

However, the trade never happened with Valentine. The Bulls eventually acquired Paxson on Oct. 29 as a free agent with the San Antonio Spurs receiving cash as compensation.

So Valentine began his fifth season in Portland, while he didn’t know how long he’d still be a Blazer. He actually started the first 27 games before Portland coach Jack Ramsay replaced him in the starting lineup with Colter on Dec. 17. Ramsay said Valentine wouldn’t play anymore and the Blazers were looking to move him. Valentine requested not to accompany the team on road trips.

“I feel like a man without a country,” the former KU standout said while out of action for a month before playing one more game against New York on Jan. 11, 1986.

He played OK during those 28 games, but his game slipped. Valentine averaged career lows in points (9.1 ppg) and assists (5.0 apg) in 26.2 minutes per game, while also averaging 1.8 steals per game. He shot 44.7 percent from the field and a career low 71.0 percent at the charity stripe.

Valentine scored in double digits the first five of seven games of the season, and then scored in double figures six of his next eight games from Nov. 19 to Dec. 3, capping that stretch with a season-high 18 points against Washington. He also scored 16 points three times in 28 games. Suddenly, after Dec. 3, Valentine’s playing time diminished and he went seven games without scoring in double digits.

He then went from Dec. 13 without playing a game until Jan. 11 versus the Knicks, only because Jim Paxson was out with a minor injury. Valentine played just six minutes and scored two points.

Finally, on Jan. 14, 1986, Valentine and Portland got their wish; the Blazers traded the veteran point guard to the Los Angeles Clippers for L.A.’s first-round draft pick in 1986. The teams also swapped 1988 second-round picks.

At last, Valentine had a new home.

“'I wish it would have happened smoother,” Valentine told the UPI on Jan. 15. “But now I can continue with my career.”

“I'm happy for Darnell,” Portland coach Jack Ramsay said. “He's going to a team that wants him. We came out of it with about as much as we could have hoped for.”

Valentine loved his time in Portland, but wished this could have been dealt better.

“The organization has been great to me,” he said. “However, it was unfortunate the way things unwound. It wasn't handled as well as I would have liked, but I'm happy to be out. It was like I was a marked guy, everyone knew the situation. I'm happy it's done and I can go about my career.

“The only part about me leaving and going to a team that is struggling is that Portland is going to be a great team,” Valentine added.

Sam McManis of the Los Angeles Times reported that  Clippers general manager Carl Scheer said “it took him ‘no more than a second’ to complete Tuesday’s trade, which management and Coach Don Chaney agreed upon after a quick evaluation of the Clippers’ 1-6 record on the trip.”

“This franchise is not going to be successful until it gets good players,” said Scheer, “who had been talking to Portland about Valentine for three weeks.”

“Point guard is not our most pressing area, but we would not have gotten a player of Valentine’s quality with Boston’s pick (which figures to be either 22nd or 23rd),” Scheer added.

The Clippers already boasted All-Star point guard Norm Nixon. But, McManis wrote that “Nixon, 30, has been inconsistent after missing nearly a month of the season during his free-agent holdout and is not considered to be as good a defensive player as Valentine, 26.”

The Clippers also had Franklin Edwards, a third point guard, who was backing up Nixon.

McManis added that “Nixon and Valentine will have to co-exist. Nixon, when asked recently about the possibility of splitting playing time with Valentine, expressed concern.”

“If this team was 27-12 instead of 12-27 and was breaking up a good combination, I’d be concerned with the fact that Norm is concerned, if, in fact, he is. Nixon is concerned with winning, and, with Valentine, we’re improving our team,” Scheer said.

McManis wrote “there are several reasons why Valentine became expendable. Ramsay felt that second-year man Steve Colter and rookie Terry Porter fit into his plans more than Valentine, and the coach also has had recent success using the tandem of big guards Jim Paxson and Clyde Drexler. Another factor is that Valentine will become a free agent after this season and would have sought a more lucrative contract.”

Valentine’s salary was worth $265,000 ($175,000 cash).

He was eager for new beginnings in L.A, despite going from a perennial playoff team to a lowly franchise.

“I'm excited to be a part of the Clipper organization now,” Valentine said. “I'm looking forward to getting down to L.A. and having the opportunity to play.”

Darnell Valentine has another solid season with Portland in Year 4, but receives competition from rookie point guard Steve Colter

Darnell Valentine entered his fourth season in the NBA with a new lease on life and his career. For the second time in three years, Portland had traded a point guard (Kelvin Ransey in 1982 and Fat Lever in 1984) and kept Valentine.

This showed Valentine that Portland coach Jack Ramsay and Blazer management and ownership had faith in this former KU All-American.

“(Ramsay) did believe in me,” Valentine told The Oregonian’s John Canzano on 750 The Game radio show in 2014 after Ramsay died. “After they traded Kelvin Ransey the year after I got here, I was able to start those three years or so but then I kept getting hurt. But he did believe in me, absolutely he did.”

Valentine said Ramsay tried to shape his teams into Portland’s 1977 championship squad.

“The ‘77 team was very successful. It was like a basketball model that the team was trying to recreate. I think in some way shape or form, I was supposed to be Dave Twardzik,” Valentine said with a laugh to Canzano about the gritty point guard and playmaker. 

“We had Mychal Thompson, the passing center like Bill Walton. We had Calvin Natt (before he was traded to Denver after last season), he was Maurice Lucas. We had Jim Paxson, he was kind of like Bobby Gross.”

Now, with Lever gone, the question would be: Would Portland draft another point guard in the first round as Valentine’s backup? Portland had drafted point guards in the first round in 1980 (Ransey), 1981 (Valentine) and 1982 with Lever.

With the second pick in the famed 1984 NBA Draft, the Trail Blazers selected 7-foot center Sam Bowie from Kentucky, a choice which would be criticized for decades when a rising young star named Michael Jordan from North Carolina was still on the board. But Portland already had a future star in 6-6 swingman Clyde Drexler, and couldn’t pass up the chance to land a potential franchise big man in Bowie, despite his injury history at UK.

So Bowie went to Portland at No. 2 and Chicago picked Jordan with the next pick, who would become the NBA’s franchise player and later enshrined in the Naismith Hall of Fame.

With the 19th pick, Portland opted not for a point guard, but a relatively unknown 6-6 small forward from Fresno State named Bernard Thompson. In the second round, with the 33rd overall pick, the Blazers then selected another little known prospect — point guard Steve Colter from New Mexico State, a fast player and good outside shooter, something Valentine was not.

During the 1945-85 season, I became fascinated with KU coach Larry Brown’s Hawk Talk radio show. I listened every week to my idol Brown and taped all the shows. My first question I ever asked him is why he didn’t draft Valentine when he was the New Jersey Nets head coach. I only asked this because I heard reports before the 1981 NBA Draft that the Nets were interested in Valentine.

After I asked Brown this question, host of the show and voice of the Jayhawks Bob Davis said: 

“They never let you forget.”

I got a chuckle out of that.

After drafting power forward Buck Williams from Maryland with the third pick in 1981, Brown selected 6-6 forward Albert King at No. 10, also a Maryland product.

“I thought Albert at the time was one of the great college players in the country, and I was thrilled to death that we had the opportunity,” Brown told me. “We didn’t need Darnell Valentine. We had Ray Williams and Otis Birdsong in the backcourt with a kid named Darwin Cook and Foots Walker (as backups). Our needs were up front, and Albert King, to me, was a great player and played great for me and did a heck of a job. Had he not been available there, we had talked about drafting (Rolando, K-State big guard) Blackman as a possibility or Darnell. They were two of the better players.

“I think he’s terrific,” Brown added about Valentine. “I think he’s one of the better young players in the game. The thing that excites me about Darnell is he comes out every night and gives exactly 100 percent. I think he’s one of the better point guards. He doesn’t shoot the ball very well yet, but he’s worked extremely hard on it. He defends extremely well. I think he’s terrific. He’s not a first-team NBA All-Star, but I doubt there’s any team in the league that wouldn’t like to have him, and I think he’s capable of starting for just about anybody.”

Valentine had started the last two years in Portland and played well, always elevating his game in the playoffs when the games mattered most. That had to impress Ramsay and the Blazer brass.

But how would he perform in Year 4 with rookie Steve Colter now pushing him for playing time, just as Lever did the last two years?

Valentine started the first 59 games before becoming injured once again and missing two weeks. Colter replaced him in the starting lineup the remainder of the regular season and played very well, scoring in double figures in 12 of his first 13 starts. The rookie scored 25 points against Utah on March 3, 1985, 35 points versus Washington on March 6, and 25 points against Chicago on March 26.

Then Colter might have hit the rookie wall, scoring in double digits just once in his last nine games.

Valentine started 59 of 75 contests and had another solid season with a career-high 30.4 minutes per game, averaging 11.6 points (second highest of his career), a career-best 7.0 assists and 1.9 steals (No. 2 best of career) per contest, while shooting a career-high 47.3 percent from the field and 79.3 percent at the free throw line (tied for second best of his career). 

He scored a season-high 26 points in a Blazers 110-99 win over the Clippers on Feb. 26, 1985, shooting a sizzling 13 of 15 from the field. On Nov. 1, 1984, he played a season-high 50 minutes in a 139-131 triple overtime loss to the Suns.

Portland, whose depth was diminished by trading Natt, Lever and Wayne Cooper to Denver last offseason for Kiki Vandeweghe (team-high 22.4 ppg), finished just 42-40, a six-game slide from last year and 20 games behind the Lakers for second place in the Pacific Division.

In the playoffs, Valentine replaced Colter in the lineup and started all nine games but failed to match his postseason performance of last season, when he averaged 18.4 points and 8.7 assists in a five-game series loss against Phoenix. However, Valentine played very well, averaging 12.8 points, 6.4 assists and 1.8 steals in 27.1 minutes per contest, while shooting 48.9 percent from the field and a scorching 93.5 percent (29-31 FT) at the charity stripe. In Portland’s first game with Dallas (139-131 loss in double overtime), Valentine posted 24 points and 13 assists in 46 minutes. The Trail Blazers won that series 3-1, but were overmatched by the Lakers in the Western Conference semifinals, losing 4-1.

Valentine shined in the Game 5 139-120 loss to L.A., scoring 15 points and posting 10 assists. D.V. scored in double figures in seven of nine games in the playoffs.

Ramsay, who favored Valentine over Colter, appeared to feel pressure from ownership to play the rookie more during the latter part of the regular season. In Ramsay’s 2004 book, Dr. Jack’s Leadership Lessons Learned From A Lifetime In Basketball, the Portland coach wrote that (Larry) "Weinberg, the owner...had an assistant in his Beverly Hills office, Harley Frankel, who was a real ‘Basketball Benny,’ (a fanatical follower of the game). Frankel liked to dabble with computerized player statistics for minutes played in a game, comparing the team’s point production with various combination of players.

“He had taken a liking to a young Blazer point guard, Steve Colter, who as a rookie got in the game late or with a pressing team when the team needed a different look. I liked Steve, too. He was a free spirit who hustled on defense and had long-range shooting ability. I put him in some games when the Blazers were trailing, and he knocked down some three-pointers and sometimes he scored pretty well with the pressing group. But Colter lacked the playmaking and defensive skills of the starting point guard, Darnell Valentine. Frankel had compiled numbers that showed that the team was more productive with Colter in the game than with Valentine, and sent me dispatches by mail and called on the phone to talk with me about the matter.

“I didn’t have the time to explain to him that the numbers were deceptive. Colter played a lot of minutes in ‘garbage time,’ when games were already decided and opposing defenses loosened up, and he also benefited from playing with the pressing team, whose job it was to force the action for short segments of the game. When I turned Frankel off, he pursued the matter with Rick Adelman, my assistant. I assumed that all of this was done with Weinberg’s approval.”

Ramsay, who admitted to feeling heat and “discontent” from Weinberg, wrote that “the winds of change were blowing (Stu Inman, Blazers’ outstanding director of player personnel since the team’s “inception,” was forced to resign) and I sensed that my name was next on the list (to be fired).”

With Ramsay’s future in Portland uncertain heading into the offseason, so was Valentine. With the emergence and potential of Colter, along with Valentine entering the fifth and final year of his contract next season and pressure on Ramsay to play Colter, D.V’s future in Portland remained in question.

It would be an intriguing summer in Portland.

Darnell Valentine shines in playoffs during Year 3 of NBA with Portland Trail Blazers

Darnell Valentine can’t stop pushing. He can’t stop running. Valentine can’t stop wanting to be the best. Not now, not after realizing his lifetime NBA dream, not after winning the starting point guard battle over Fat Lever last season, not after painfully missing 35 games with a broken foot, and certainly not after rebounding from that injury by playing the best basketball of his pro career in the playoffs.

Valentine, now entering his third NBA season with the Portland Trail Blazers, wants more. 

Much more. 

That’s why he’s been sweating and running all offseason while knowing he’ll have to beat out Lever again for the starting job and help the Blazers build on their playoff success last year, where they lost in the Western Conference semifinals to the Los Angeles Lakers.

“Darnell will run all day; you run with him or you’re left out,” Portland teammate Calvin Natt said. “He’s been running six or seven miles each morning (all summer). If Darnell starts, we’ll run more with more fast breaks.”

Valentine was rewarded with his hard work by earning the starting point guard spot. But he was not the clear winner. Lever was a great player in own right, and the two guards couldn’t really separate much between each other.

Valentine started the first 34 games before being injured at the start of the New Year, missing 14 games. He resumed play on Feb. 5 as Lever continued to start for eight more games before Valentine replaced him in the starting lineup for the remainder of the season.

Valentine started 60 of 68 games, averaging 10.2 points (down from 12.5 ppg last season), 5.8 assists (decrease from 6.2 apg), 1.9 rebounds (down from 2.5 rpg) and 1.6 steals (2.1 spg in 1982-83) in 27.8 minutes per game (27.6 mpg last year). His shooting percentage also decreased from 45.4 percent to 44.7 percent and Valentine’s free throw percentage was slightly down, too, from 79.3 to 78.9.

Lever, meanwhile, started 22 of 81 games and averaged 9.7 points, 4.6 assists, 2.7 rebounds and 1.7 steals in 24.8 minutes per contest.

I remember once reading that Portland center Mychal Thompson said Valentine kept worrying about Lever and looking over his shoulder at him, while Lever didn’t mind splitting time with D.V.

In any case, the two point guards made a great tandem to pair with star shooting guard Jim Paxson (team-high 21.3 ppg) with rising rookie and first-round draft choice Clyde Drexler backing him up. Valentine marveled at Paxson’s skills, a great, creative shooter who was a master of moving without the ball.

“He surprises me. Some of the shots he’s able to make are incredible,” Valentine told The Sporting News. “He’s always looking for ways to catch you off guard. Even in practice, he’s looking for ways to invent his own plays.” 

My dad and I used to lament how Valentine would dribble the ball upcourt, then pass the ball and stand in the corner while the other players ran set plays. Portland coach Jack Ramsay ran a very complex and sophisticated offense. He was very structured in games and also practices.

“It’s so complicated, even some of the veterans don’t know the plays,” Lever said about the offense. “With Ramsay, you either have to know what you are doing and be great at faking it.”

Valentine tied his career high with 24 points in a win over Houston on Nov. 8, 1983, while adding five steals in 39 minutes. He also dished a career-high 15 assists during a loss to Denver on March 11, 1984, while recording a career-high 43 minutes in a thrilling 156-155 four overtime defeat to Chicago five days later.

Portland improved its record for the second straight year (48-34) and finished in second place in the Pacific Division.

Valentine saved his best for the playoffs, just like last season, but even better this time. He averaged 18.4 points and 8.4 assists in 35.6 minutes during a five-game first-round series to Phoenix (Suns won 3-2). Valentine, who shot 50 percent from the field and a blistering 91.4 percent at the free throw line (32-35), exploded for a game-high 29 points in a Game 3 loss, including making 15 of 16 free throws, while adding 10 assists in 36 minutes. He followed that game by posting 16 points and 13 assists in 41 minutes while helping Portland win and tie the series at 2-2.

I remember jumping out of my chair in my parents’ family room watching Game 3, seeing Valentine on fire dominating the game. Not known as a scorer, Valentine seemingly scored and penetrated the lane at will. I kept yelling at the TV, “Get the ball to Darnell, get the ball to Darnell.” And his teammates did. And then I recall how heartbroken I was when the Blazers lost 106-103. But I was still thrilled that D.V. had his coming out party in the playoffs.

Unfortunately, the Suns (41-41 in regular season and fourth place in Pacific Division) upset the Blazers in Game 5, forcing Ramsay and Blazer management to reevaluate their franchise.

Portland then made a very controversial and blockbuster trade, sending Lever, rugged 6-6 star forward Natt, 6-10 center Wayne Cooper and two draft picks to Denver for 6-8 scoring machine Kiki Vandeweghe, who was third in the NBA in scoring last season at 29.4 points per game.

Blazer’s Edge wrote on April 11, 2020, that “it was the most audacious move the franchise had ever made.” 

Ramsay and general manager Stu Inman defended the trade. The UPI reported that Ramsay said Vandeweghe “will give the Blazers perimeter shooting from the front line, a quality Portland lacked last year.”

“To complement the players we have now, there was no better player available than Vandeweghe,” Ramsay said.

“Maybe along with Bernard King of New York he is the best offensive forward in basketball,” Ramsay added. “We are getting a player who can score from the outside, who can drive for the basket, who can run the floor well and who is a good passer, all of which are qualities we really need in our front line, and it has been very difficult for us because we lacked them.”

Inman called Vandeweghe “as consummate a small forward as there is in the league at the offensive end of the court.”

“As we are seeing in the playoffs, there is so much double-teaming that kicking the ball back to people who can flat-out drill it is helpful.”

With Lever gone, Valentine was the only point guard on the Portland roster. Ramsay said the Blazers need a backup “who can run the break well, maybe a little better than Fat could, and give us some outside shooting.”

While it remained to be seen if the Blazers would make another trade for a point guard or select one in the 1984 NBA Draft, one matter now remained certain: Darnell Valentine had to be feeling pretty good that he no longer had to look over his shoulder at Fat Lever.

Little, though, did Valentine, Portland and anyone in the league know at the time that Lever would emerge as an All-Star with the Nuggets and one of the best all-around point guards in the NBA.

Darnell Valentine emerged as starting point guard in second season with Portland Trail Blazers

Red Auerbach, the legendary Hall of Fame coach of the Boston Celtics and then-Celtics president, thought Darnell Valentine was destined for greatness in the NBA.

Auerbach scouted Valentine at Kansas, and was deeply impressed.

In the Feb. 3, 1979 issue of The Reporter, an Akron, Ohio, newspaper, Josh Watson wrote the following:

“Every pro coach in the NBA knows you got to have a playmaker--without one you don't go too far in the NBA. Kansas Darnell Valentine is not only a great playmaker, he's also a 20 point per game scorer. Red Auerbach likes what he saw of Valentine and thinks Valentine will have a great future in the NBA.

“Auerbach also would like to see Valentine wearing a Boston uniform. Keep your eyes on Darnell Valentine; you are going to hear a lot about this great playmaker out of Kansas.”

Now, entering his second season in the NBA with the Portland Trail Blazers, Valentine was also drawing rave reviews from Portland coach Jack Ramsay. Despite playing limited minutes his rookie year backing up Kelvin Ransey at point guard and averaging just 6.4 points per game on only 41.3 percent shooting (worst percentage on team), Ramsay thought Valentine showed great potential and deemed this former KU All-American for stardom.

"Darnell Valentine may be the best point guard in the NBA, you'll see," Ramsay told Sports Illustrated on Nov. 1, 1982.

With Ransey traded to Dallas after last season for 6-10 center Wayne Cooper and a first-round draft pick in 1985, Valentine had now emerged as the starting point guard for the Blazers. But he had competition from 1982 first-round draft pick Lafayette Lever (11th overall) from Arizona State.

Valentine and Lever had actually battled each other twice in college with Valentine bettering him both times. Valentine scored 16 points to Lever’s 10 in Arizona State’s 73-65 overtime victory over KU on Dec. 29, 1979, while Valentine had 16 points again to Lever’s 9 in KU’s 88-71 upset win over the No. 3 Sun Devils on March 15, 1981 in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

The Lawrence Journal-World’s Chuck Woodling wrote about the competition between Valentine and Lever while also addressing why Portland dealt Ransey to the Mavericks.

“We traded Ransey because we were 17th in the league in rebounding last year and we needed help on the boards,” a Blazers’ spokesman said. “Mychal Thompson was our leading rebounder last year and Cooper averaged more rebounds per minute than Thompson did.

“We had the 11th pick in the draft and we didn't think there'd be a big guy available then. The reason we traded Ransey--and we really didn't want to--is because we think Lever is better than Kelvin was when he came into the league."

Tony Guy, Valentine’s teammate at KU, was also high on Lever. The two guarded each other last season on Nov. 30, 1981, a 63-62 Jayhawk victory. Lever scored 17, while Guy had 16.

“I think he is a complete ballplayer,” Guy told Woodling. “His strongest asset is he's more conscious of the team than he is of himself, and I think the people in the NBA were impressed by that. In guarding him, I had to be conscious of not relaxing because he has a real good jump shot. And I thought he was a great defensive player."

Despite drafting Lever, the Portland spokesman said the starting point guard position was for Valentine to lose.

“Really, it's up to him,” he said. “Last year Darnell started well, then tailed off. He had foul problems and maybe shot too much. But we think he'll have a better understanding next season. We're still high on Darnell, and the other kid will have to beat him out."

Valentine won the point guard battle and played great before breaking his foot in early January during a game against Indiana. The UPI reported on Jan. 6, 1983:

“The Portland Trail Blazers were clicking on 411 cylinders until point guard Darnell Valentine, sparkplug of their fast break, went down with a foot injury. Valentine, averaging 14.4 points and the third-leading ball thief in the NBA entering Tuesday night's game against Indiana, suffered a stress fracture of the left foot in a second-quarter collision. The second-year dynamo out of Kansas, Valentine who moved into the starting lineup when the Trail Blazers traded away Kelvin Ransey, will be out at least six weeks - at least until Valentine's Day."

"We're going to miss his intensity and his hustle. He seems to fire up the whole team when he makes a steal or lays it up 'through five guys," Thompson said.

Lever replaced Valentine as starter and played very well. According to the 1984 Pro Basketball Handbook, “Played good defense and showed he’s a future leader by running the offense.”

Lever played in 81 games with 45 starts, averaging 7.8 points, a team-high 426 assists (5.3 apg), 1.9 steals and 2.8 rebounds in 24.9 minutes per game, while shooting 43.1 percent from the field.

As for Valentine?

He nearly doubled his scoring average from his rookie season to 12.5 points while third on the team with 293 assists (team-high 6.2 per game), first with 2.1 steals, and 2.5 rebounds in just 47 games (36 starts), while shooting 45.4 percent from the floor and 79.3 percent at the charity stripe, also improvements on his rookie year.

The Pro Basketball Handbook reported that Valentine “became the No. 1 point guard when Kelvin Ransey was traded to Dallas. Promptly spent 35 games on the shelf with a foot injury...Is not a real offensive threat and his jumper could use a lot of work. But plays defense like he means it.

“He’s a fierce competitor,” Ramsay said. “He never stops. He’s never going to be outplayed.”

Portland finished the season at 46-36 — a four-game improvement over last season — and fourth place in the Pacific Division.

Entering the playoffs, Valentine started over Lever and raised his game to another level, helping the Blazers beat Seattle 2-0 in the first round before the Lakers and Magic Johnson beat Portland 4-1 in the Western Conference semifinals.

Valentine played seven games in the playoffs, averaging 12.1`points, 8.7 assists and 1.4 steals in 29.3 minutes per game, while shooting 42.5 percent from the field and 76.2 percent at the free throw line. He set a franchise-tying record with 15 assists in a Game 2 loss to the Lakers, while dishing 14 assists in a Game 3 OT loss to L.A. He also recorded game highs in the playoffs of 18 points, four steals and 38 minutes.

Lever, meanwhile, averaged 6.0 points, 4.4 assists and 1.0 steals in 19.1 minutes per game in the playoffs, while shooting 45.2 percent from the field and 80.0 percent at the charity stripe.

But with Lever’s emergence when Valentine was injured, it looked like a heated competition for the starting point guard spot entering the offseason.

The Pro Basketball Handbook thought Lever might have the edge:

“Lafayette Lever is one of the best young point guards in the league, leaping into the void as a rookie when Darnell Valentine went down with a leg injury. Lever may actually have stepped ahead of Valentine now on the depth chart.”

While that remained to be seen, Valentine was already drawing great praise from Ramsay, Thompson and others around the league for his outstanding defense and tenacious work ethic.

Just listen to David Magley, Valentine’s former teammate at Kansas who played briefly in his rookie season in 1982-83 with the Cleveland Cavaliers.

“I gained even greater respect for Darnell,” Magley told the Journal-World after the Cavs released him. “I respected Darnell at KU because he worked so hard. He’s kept it up in the NBA. Darnell is so devoted. A lot of NBA players just don’t show the intensity he does.”

Darnell Valentine realizes lifetime NBA dream

After ending his memorable KU career as an All-American and the only four-time first-team All-Big Eight selection in league history and the all-time school leader in assists, steals and free throws made, Darnell Valentine was a lock to be selected in the first round of the June 9, 1981 NBA Draft. 

It was just a matter of how high the point guard would go.

I had heard on the news the previous night of the draft that head coach Larry Brown’s New Jersey Nets were considering drafting Valentine. The Nets held the No. 3 and No. 10 picks in the first round. Of course, he wouldn’t be selected with the third pick, but I thought he had a chance to go as high as No. 10.

I was giddy with anticipation of where my all-time favorite Jayhawk would be selected and had waited for months until draft day. I remember calling my best friend and being so upset that he didn’t know the day of the draft. Clearly, he wasn’t near the Valentine fan that I was, but that was OK in retrospect. At the time, however, I just couldn’t understand how my friend, who was a big Jayhawk fan, wasn’t as interested in Valentine’s NBA fortunes as I was.

While there was no doubt Valentine was a tremendous defensive player, NBA scouts still questioned his shooting.

In the June 8, 1981 Sports Illustrated issue, Dallas Mavericks scout Richie O’Çonnor broke down Valentine’s game:

“Great body, but can't shoot a lick. Plays solid defense, knows how to run a team, but too often lapses into a runaway style, meaning that he'll penetrate the middle, leave his feet and, like Washington's Kevin Porter, will throw the ball away. But if he can be controlled, he can play.”

The Portland Trail Blazers, led by general manager Stu Inman and head coach Jack Ramsay, certainly thought Valentine could play at the top level. The Blazers made the former KU standout their No. 16 pick in the first round, just after selecting ex-Virginia star swingman Jeff Lamp with their 15th pick. Valentine was the third point guard taken in the draft behind Isiah Thomas (No. 2 pick) and Frank Johnson (No. 11).

And just like that, Valentine’s lifetime NBA dream came true. From his early days in Wichita playing Biddy Basketball to all those extra sprints and drills in high school and at KU, his hard work had finally paid off. 

He was now in the NBA as a Portland Trail Blazer. Lafayette Norwood, Valentine’s high school coach and KU assistant and close friend, felt nobody was more deserving.

“I've never been around a young man so obsessed to be a professional athlete,” Norwood told the Lawrence Journal-World on Jan. 17, 1986.

The Blazers envisioned Valentine backing up starting point guard Kelvin Ransey, who had a great rookie season last year after being the No. 4 overall pick, averaging 15.2 points and 6.9 assists per game while just one vote from tying Utah’s Darrell Griffith for Rookie of the Year. 

"I felt I should have won Rookie of the Year, but I probably didn't have the exposure," Ransey told The Oregonian in 2009. "Our team went to playoffs and (Utah) didn't. I feel I got robbed on that one."

While Ransey was a scorer, Valentine was more of a playmaker and better defensively. The pair could potentially be a formidable point guard combination with rising star Jim Paxson at shooting guard.

A few months after the draft on August 12, I turned 15 years old, still a very bright-eyed and impressionable teenager who idolized Valentine and other Jayhawks. I put Valentine on a pedestal; to me, he could simply do no wrong. My dad soon spotted Valentine at Rusty’s grocery store near our home in Lawrence and approached D.V. and asked for his autograph for me on a little brown paper bag.

Darnell wrote: “From No. 14 (his jersey number) to No. 15, then signed his name.

I still have this prized autograph somewhere in my home, which I was thrilled to get at the time. I appreciate my dad thinking of me; he clearly knew how much I worshipped D.V.

Valentine impressed the Portland brass immediately after signing his contract, which he inked late and missed rookie and summer camp. Ramsay, Ransey and assistant coach Bucky Buckwalter raved over Valentine’s play and tenacious work ethic in a UPI story on Oct. 5, 1981.

The headline in The Bulletin (a newspaper in Bend, Oregon) read: 

“Rookie winning Ramsay’s heart.”

The reporter wrote in his lead that “Darnell Valentine has stretched himself into the heart of Portland Trail Blazer coach Jack Ramsay because the rookie from Kansas has shown extra effort along with his talent.”

“...Valentine was making up for lost time by putting in working out when others have left the court. The first-round draft choice was noted during the first sessions of fall practice to be still on the court, running lines or pushing himself through slide-and-glide defensive drills.”

Asked by Ramsay if Valentine’s “desire was unusual,” the coach replied:

“He’s the only up there, isn’t he?"

“I thought before this week that he’d have problems offensively. Now I don’t think he will at all. He’s already at the point where he doesn't try to force offensive plays. He’s not a big scorer, but he won’t create any problems. He’s always balanced. And he’s a defender.”

Buckwalter took note of Valentine’s long arm length and his lateral movement.

“He doesn’t give you any breathing room,” Buckwalter said. “He’s so quick that he's right up at you before you can gain an advantage on him.”

Ransey was also deeply impressed.

“From what I’ve seen he bodies up well and he’s always reaching for the ball,” he said. “He’s a pest defender, and a lot of guards don’t like to play against that."

“Darnell played a lot of lead guard at Kansas so it (coming to the NBA) shouldn’t be a tough transition. He’ll have to go through what I did. There are quicker hands in the NBA than in college as far as passes are concerned. I’d think I could make a pass and I couldn’t. He‘s gonna have problems with that. But it shouldn’t last long.”

So why was Valentine “running lines after two hour practices?”

“You have to get in shape,” he answered. “You have to condition yourself. As a guard, I have to go 100 percent every night. You don’t do that by saying you're going to; you gotta work toward it.”

Valentine was always stretching at any break in practice in preparation for the long season.

“I try to keep my legs loose and stretched out so I can move quicker,” he said. “No matter how good a shape you’re in, if you play hard, your muscles are gonna get tight. I try to combat that by stretching. The longer you can go without getting tight the better.”

While Valentine was prepping hard for his rookie season, he was already feeling comfortable and welcome in Portland and with Blazer management. However, he admits he had a sour taste at first  about being drafted by the Trail Blazers since Valentine had bad memories of KU losing to UCLA in the first round of the 1978 NCAA Tournament in Eugene, 111 miles from Portland.

That was the only time he had been in Oregon.

“We just felt were weren’t treated very kindly,” Valentine told John Canzano of The Oregonian on his 750 The Game radio show in 2012 about the UCLA game.

“The game wasn’t officiated (well), so it always taints your view of wherever that happened. You have this bad experience, and Oregon was a bad experience, so coming out here, I wasn’t real happy. But once I got here, Stu Inman picked me up at the airport. We went over to the offices and met Harry (Glickman, president) and Larry Weinberg (owner) was there, and had a chance to meet everyone. There wasn’t a great deal of distance between me as a first-round draft choice and going right in and being introduced to the general manager and the management and the leadership of the company. I just felt like I was welcomed, I was wanted, and immediately, I felt this was the place for me.

“I haven’t left.”

Valentine, who has made his home in Portland ever since, wound up playing all 82 games that rookie season with 14 starts. He played solid, averaging 6.4 points, 3.3 assists, 1.8 rebounds and 1.1 steals in 16.9 minutes per game, while shooting 41.3 percent from the field and 76.0 percent at the free throw line.

He had a seven-game stretch (all starts) from Nov. 15 to Dec. 2 where he scored in double figures, averaging 15.0 points capped off with a career-high 19 points at Kansas City. He spoke candidly then to the Journal-World about how much he enjoyed playing in Portland.

“We had more attitudes and egos on KU’s team during my four years there,” Valentine said. “No one is ever bickering here. It’s a good atmosphere. It’s like a family.”

Darnell Valentine was, in some ways, a part of my family and how I bonded with my dad. My dad, who was also a big Valentine fan, always talked with me about how Valentine was doing in the NBA. We regularly checked his box scores in the newspaper. My dad thought Darnell could have a career like Jo Jo White, the former KU All-American who starred for the Boston Celtics and is enshrined in the Naismith Hall of Fame.

My dad and I decided to see Valentine and Portland play the Kansas City Kings at Kemper Arena in K.C. on Feb. 24, 1982. We had talked about the possibility beforehand of writing Ramsay and asking him to play Valentine more since he was coming home in front of his fans. But we decided Ramsay probably wouldn’t agree to this request, so we nixed the idea.

 I still remember part of that game from nearly 40 years ago. Valentine subbed for Ransey and scored seven points in 17 minutes, while connecting on 2 of 3 shots, one from about 18 to 20 feet. He also was 3 of 3 at the charity stripe while adding four assists. It was pure joy watching my childhood hero and all-time favorite Jayhawk playing in the NBA, although I wished he had received more minutes.

Portland finished that season at 42-40 and fifth place in the Pacific Division, while failing to make the playoffs. But things would soon get better for Portland and Darnell Valentine. After the season on June 28, 1982, the Trail Blazers traded Ransey (career-high 16.1 points and 7.1 assists per game with 555 assists tying his franchise record that season) to Dallas for 6-10 center Wayne Cooper and a first-round draft pick in 1985.

As Jason Quick of The Oregonian reported in 2009, “Ramsay wanted a more pass-first point guard, and the team began to favor its new rookie, Darnell Valentine.”

There was also concerns about Ransey’s defense.

"They started drafting point guards, and somebody had to go," Paxson recalled.

While Ransey’s career was never the same after the trade (he lasted just six years in the NBA and retired at age 27), Valentine’s best days in Portland were just beginning as the new starting point guard in Rip City.

Darnell Valentine left his mark as one of KU’s all-time greats

Darnell Valentine culminated his magical and tremendous career in 1981 as KU’s No. 2 all-time leading scorer (1,821 points) behind Clyde Lovellete, the school’s all-time assist leader with 609, while also ranking first in steals with 336 and free throws made (541).

Thirty-nine years later, his steals and free throws made still rank No. 1, while he is No. 7 in scoring and No. 6 in assists.

Valentine’s records, indeed, have stood the test of time.

“I didn’t realize they kept records back in those days. I think that a lot of these records would certainly have been broken if guys would have stayed for the whole four years of college,” Valentine said on Jan. 1, 2005 before the KU-Georgia Tech game and his jersey retirement ceremony in Allen Fieldhouse.  

“I look at the Paul Pierces and the Drew Goodens and those guys, they had phenomenal careers. They probably would have shattered everything. The way the climate is now, guys opt to go to the big leagues and play.”

Valentine, a second-team AP All-American his senior year in 1981, averaged 15.4 points, 5.2 assists, 2.8 steals and 3.6 rebounds in 33.1 minutes per game over 118 contests during his career, while shooting 47.6 percent from the field and 71.8 percent at the free throw line.

He is the only player in Big Eight history to be named first-team All-League four years, while also selected as a three-time Academic All-American. He achieved a 3.3 GPA in pre-law.

Former KU coach Ted Owens marveled at Valentine’s contributions — on and off the hardwood.

“He was a complete person. He did it all,” Owens gushed.

But more than all the records was Valentine’s extreme dedication to his craft. Nobody who ever  donned a Jayhawk uniform ever worked harder or played better defense.

That was 100 percent effort each time in practice and games.

“It was a passion of mine,” Valentine said.

Owens was asked about his favorite memory of Valentine on the Jayhawk Network Crimson and Blue pregame show that special day on Jan. 1, 2005.

He didn’t hesitate with his reply.

“I think just working with him every day,” Owens said. “We’ve had some great players, some hard working players, but in four years, he never failed one day to come to the court without great motivation. He wasn’t good by accident. He was good because he worked at it every single day. Just the opportunity to work with someone with that kind of attitude really was a highlight.”

Valentine has many fond memories of his KU career.

“Coach Owens, he just created a platform for me to perform well, there were so many good memories,” he said. “I really couldn’t pick one of them. I really used to enjoy going up to Kemper Arena and having those holiday tournaments. That was jut the cat’s meow for me. I think we had a lot of success. My senior year, we were able to go up and win at the end of the year, the Big Eight Tournament there, so that was a crowning moment that really stands out.

“... I think that it’s just unreal, every day, we played so hard, we practiced so hard, that was just so much fun knowing that everyone had the same agenda, same motive to improve. Coach Owens and his direction and guidance, he just kept us growing as players. As I’m  reflecting, I just tried to do it all, and coach provided me the platform to do it.”

Valentine, a Wichita Heights prep phenom who was one of the first players in Kansas to be recruited nationally, was now asked about his legacy.

“I’m not real sure, I haven’t really though about my legacy. I’m not old enough to think about a legacy,” said Valentine, who was 45 years old at the time of his jersey retirement. “But I think one thing that was instilled in me, my mother instilled in me was the fact I had a real strong work ethic. I was dedicated to the game and I respected the game. Coming from Wichita, Kansas, a small community, just being able to blaze a trail so to speak, put a spotlight on the players that were there was a tremendous accomplishment I think, and I cherished it. Providing other opportunities for other players from the city, and then coming here and making a contribution and feeling like I did make a contribution.”

Indeed, Valentine “blazed a trail” for future high school standouts and college stars from Wichita like Ricky Ross, Antoine Carr, Greg Dreiling and Aubrey Sherrod, who were also recruited nationally.

“That was really a special time. But they’ve always had good players, even before my time,” Valentine said. “But on the national scene, it was difficult for people to believe, or have the confidence that Wichita could produce quality players that could perform on the national stage. With myself coming through there and creating so much exposure, and that was only because I went outside the system and I got exposure by going to a high school camp that was national (Howard Garfinkel’s prestigious Five-Star camp in Wheeling, West Virginia), and I did very well.”

Valentine, a muscular 6-1, 180-pound point guard with tree-trunk legs, cherished his high school days starring for Heights, where they went 23-0 his senior year in 1976-77, blowing teams out with a margin of 40 points per game in what is considered the best prep team in Kansas history. Valentine led Heights with 26.0 points per game and simply dominated on defense, just like he did at KU.

“I had the question posed to me the other day, what was the best time I had playing basketball, and I said when I played high school basketball that year,” Valentine said. “That was incredible year we had. That team was fantastic. You look at the time. I think I was the first All-American out of Wichita. And then after that, we had Antoine Carr, he and I both had reasonably good (NBA careers). I think Antoine played 17 or 18 years in the NBA (16 years). Then, we had Calvin Alexander, who was a top 10 heavyweight boxer. 

“... That was a phenomenal team. That was a family. Coach Lafayette (Norwood) was the father of the family, and the head. He gave us a lot of incredible instructions and life lessons. I think it all made a difference in our lives, his presence and that whole experience. That was a great experience.

“We were quite fortunate,” Valentine added. “I had the chance to play with Antoine Carr, Calvin Alexander, Doc Holden. I think we were a little ahead of our time. That was really a special time for us. I think that what we accomplished was pretty remarkable.”

Every KU fan knew how great Valentine was in high school and college. And they also marveled about his muscular legs, which also became his trademark in his nine-year NBA career.

David Lawrence of the Jayhawk Radio Network talked to Valentine about his legs before the KU-Georgia Tech game and his jersey retirement in 2005 on the Crimson and Blue show. Lawrence played football at Kansas during the same years that Valentine created his magic at Kansas.

“You were everyone’s favorite player, including ours,” Lawrence said, “but a lot of the guys had a hard time with you because anytime we were out on dates, our coeds would always remind us, no mater how much we lifted weights, we didn’t quite match up with Darnell Valentine.”

Valentine just smiled.

“My mom gave me these big old legs,” he said. “That’s my only forte. People don’t remember that I played a little bit. They call you the guy with the big legs. So that was my mark.”

“That was long before weights were really in vogue with basketball players,” Owens added.

Tim Jankovich, a KU assistant coach at the time, who battled against Valentine as a K-State point guard for two years, admits he was "scared" of Valentine's big legs.

Jankovich truly admired Valentine.

“I’m just glad that I’m not having to play today and he’s not guarding me,” Jankovich said. “I thought he was one of the best defensive players that I’ve ever played against. We came out the same year in high school, he was in Wichita and I was from Manhattan. We never played in high school, but I was well aware of him. Of course, playing against each other, I had a great deal of respect for him. He was a tremendous player. I though the was an even better defensive player than offensive player. He was an awfully good offensive player, and certainly well deserving of having his jersey retired.

“Darnell was way ahead of his time,” Jankovich added. “At KU, we’ve had some guys ahead of our time. We’ve had Wilt Chamberlain, who was about 50 years ahead of his time. Darnell was probably a good 20 years ahead of his time. He was rock solid. He had the biggest legs I’ve ever seen. His legs frightened me. I was scared of his legs. I didn’t want him to put a knee in my mine and break it off. He was so strong and athletic and explosive. 

“He was a heck of a player.”

Indeed, he was. Especially on defense, where he he locked up opposing team’s point guards and seemingly stole the ball at will.

“He was the very heart of our defense,” Owens said. “When you had to fight Darnell coming up the court and you couldn’t break him down, then the rest of us could get out and over play our men. He was incredible. I’ll never forget one night at Oklahoma, everyone got tired of him stealing the ball, so finally Oklahoma just decked him on the other end of the court. Then I did a stupid thing, got into a little conversations with (OU coach) Dave Bliss. Darnell’s mother, Rose, called me and she said, ‘I’m proud of you coach even though the Big Eight conference is after you.’”

Valentine also had few peers when it came to penetrating the lane. He was extremely quick with the dribble and could easily blow by his man and get into the paint. Valentine was often compared to Jo Jo White when he played at KU. White was also an All-American at KU and is enshrined in the Naismith Hall of Fame after spending most of his NBA career starring for the Boston Celtics.

“Darnell and Jo Jo have a lot of likeness. Both have a great attitude towards work and both are complete players,” Owens told The Sporting News during Valentine’s sophomore season in 1978-79. 

“But Jo Jo never penetrated like Darnell. Darnell does that better than anyone I’ve ever seen.” 

“Valentine is quicker than Jo Jo and penetrates better,” Red Auerbach, who was general manager of the Celtics at the time who drafted White out of Kansas and one of the most respected minds in basketball history, told The Sporting News after watching Valentine earn MVP honors in the 1978 Big Eight Holiday Tournament.

Opposing coaches would devise schemes to stop Valentine from penetrating. In his biography in the Wichita Sports Hall of Fame, it noted that “he was such a force as a penetrating point guard that he forced KU nemesis Coach Jack Hartman of Kansas State to create a 3-2 zone defense specially designed  just to try to stop Valentine.”

Twenty-four years after he led KU to the Sweet 16 and became an All-American, Valentine was thrilled that his No. 14 jersey was being retired and hanging in the rafters for all time. A great honor for someone who did so much for Kansas. Dressed dapper in a maroon suit and looking svelte like he could play today — “I’m still playing weight, baby” — Valentine talked before the KU-Georgia Tech game on New Year’s Day, 2005 about what an honor it was.

“This is large, this is an incredible opportunity for me just to come back,” Valentine said. “This is like the crowning moment for me. I don’t know how involved, or what my presence will be from this point forward, other than another time for them to recognize me. This is the crowning of my adult life right now.”

Asked about it taking 24 years since he left KU for his jersey to be retired, Valentine gave an eloquent reply.

“I was just looking at the media guide. There was a gentleman in 1927 whose jersey was retired in 2002. I forget this name,” Valentine said. “That was a great era. ... Jo Jo, he left here in ‘69. His jersey wasn’t retired until 2001. It seems like 24 years is a nice place. I can certainly appreciate it and I can relish that it is happening now and come back and be excited about it and fully appreciate what it means.”

However, Valentine felt slighted about it taking so long to have his jersey retired when talking previously to a Portland newspaper, his hometown where he’s lived since retiring from the NBA.

“I am excited, no question,”  Valentine said. “But they retired the numbers of so many of their recent players — Raef LaFrentz, Nick Collison, Jacque Vaughn — within a year or two after they left Kansas. I think the timing for me is a little bit off, to say the least.”

Even the great players, leaders, and tremendous people have their faults and imperfections. Valentine certainly did. He had a big ego and hurt KU basketball at times during his career. When former KU assistant and then-Knicks assistant coach Bob Hill spoke to my class at KU in 1985, I asked him who the best player he’s ever coached.

Without hesitation, Hill replied:

“Darnell Valentine.”

Hill, though, quickly added that Valentine wasn’t the most coachable player. He said that Valentine would break down plays at the end of the game and KU would lose. Hill added that everyone blamed Owens when it was Valentine’s fault.

This is painful to write, because I truly idolized Valentine growing up and he meant so much to me and I followed his NBA career so religiously and had pictures of him all over my wall as true inspiration. I put him on a pedestal; to me, he could do no wrong. He used to be my all-time favorite Jayhawk before Tony Guy replaced him in my heart.

But Guy — Valentine’s teammate for three years — told me in 1999 that Valentine was a very selfish player that was only concerned about furthering his career, instead of winning.

Guy gave an example of Ricky Ross, Valentine’s teammate in 1979-80 who was well-known to be extremely selfish with a big ego. One game, Guy told told me, Ross had a big scoring night but KU lost. Everyone was despondent in the locker room except Ross. Ricky couldn’t understand why his teammates were down after his high scoring game.

“That’s how Darnell was,” Guy said.

However, Guy greatly admired Valentine’s defense and work ethic.

“I wouldn’t say we were friends,” he said. “I had a great deal of respect for that guy. The guy was an incredible athlete, his work ethic was phenomenal.”

But?

“He was very selfish and it cost us dearly,” Guy said. “He wanted to get his. When I played, Darnell was basically allowed to do whatever he wanted and whenever he wanted to do it. And it cost us. We weren’t nearly the teams we could have been under Darnell. A tremendous basketball player, but he used all of his skills to enhance his own career. That’s all he was about.

“Darnell could have made it possible for two or three other guys to have gone to the NBA,” Guy added. “That’s how good Darnell was. That’s what Magic (Johnson) did (for Michigan State). Jay Vincent (he played nine years in the NBA) and Gregory Kelser (No. 4 overall pick in 1979 by Dick Vitale's-coached Detroit Pistons who played five years in the NBA) weren’t great basketball players. But every time time you saw them, they were dunking it. That was Magic. They were just average basketball players. Magic was about winning championships. How do you measure a great player? You measure a great player by his ability to make those around him better than they actually are. It’s about winning. Team sports is about winning

“... Darnell was a phenomenal player,” Guy continued. “Trust me, I had to play with him every day and against. The guy was incredible. There was not a guy that I played against that I had to worry about another team’s point guard. Other than one--Larry Drew (Missouri star). One of the best players that we played against. He could shoot, but more important, he used his skills to help his team win. He could have shot more than he actually shot.”

Despite these critical comments about Valentine, Guy admitted that “Darnell was a lot of fun to play with. We had a lot of laughs. Had a great time with him. But we had a lot of disappointments, too.”

Max Falkenstien was also negative of Valentine in his 1996 book, Max and the Jayhawks:

“Darnell was a fabulous player for KU, but I felt that often he tried to do too much at the expense of the team.”

While these are critical remarks, there is no question that Darnell Terrell Valentine is one of KU’s all-time greats and certainly left his mark at Kansas.

No. 14 definitely has a special place in Owens’ heart. He couldn’t have been more elated to see his jersey retired 15 years ago.

“Darnell Valentine is one of the greatest players we’ve ever had here,” Owens told the Jayhawk Radio Network on Jan. 1, 2005. 

“It’s a wonderful day. To see him honored is a blessing for all of us.”