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.

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 made his mark in the NBA

In my last blog entry, I wrote about Darnell Valentine’s jersey retirement in Allen Fieldhouse in 2005. Now, I feature him again with a story about his NBA career. I rank Valentine as the No. 3 former Jayhawk guard with the best NBA career behind Jo Jo White and Kirk Hinrich. And I have D.V. as the No. 11 ex-’Hawk overall with the top NBA career.

Like I did with Paul Mokeski, yet even more so, I followed Valentine’s pro career religiously as my fandom reached new heights. Every time he was on TV, it was like Hanukkah, a time to celebrate and rejoice with my dad in watching my childhood hero perform on basketball’s greatest stage. I remember getting so nervous when he was at the free throw line; I wanted so much for the ball to swish through the net. And when he missed, which wasn’t very often (78.7 percent career free throws), I felt badly for him. 

I would also listen to his games on the AM radio and chart his statistics for the season. Following Darnell in the NBA became a central part of my life in high school and college. The first thing I did when I got the paper was look at the box scores to see how Darnell performed the previous night. I cheered his successes and became saddened whenever he was injured. Once in college at KU, after he suffered an injury while playing for the Los Angeles Clippers, I took a break from studying in the stacks of Watson Library and wrote a long, heartfelt letter to him, closing with an inspirational poem about D.V. taking the ball coast to coast and scoring a layup over Moses Malone.

It was a letter I needed to write; I had to let my childhood hero know how important he was to me.

Several months later, Darnell wrote me back as I leaped for joy when the letter arrived in my mailbox. Oh, I’ll never forget that letter postmarked Dec. 17, 1986 written on stationary from the Holiday Inn Westwood Plaza Hotel in Los Angeles:

“Dear David: How are ya? I’ve spent a lot of time in Lawrence this summer and I’m surprised I didn’t meet you. But I received your letter, and it was really inspiring. I appreciate your support and loyalty. The amazing thing that may surprise you is fan support goes a long, long way and it makes the game of basketball that much more enjoyable. Kansas is truly a beautiful place with beautiful people and I’m proud to be a part of it. Thank you and take care. God Bless, Darnell.”

I’ve always appreciated Darnell for taking the time to write me back, and will forever cherish that letter. 

I ached for D.V. to reach the upper rank of NBA point guards, and while it never happened, I always admired his tenacious defense and how hard he worked and competed to become the best player possible.

...

Darnell Valentine first exploded on the national scene the summer after his junior year at Wichita Heights at Howard Garfinkel’s prestigious Five-Star camp in Wheeling, W.Va. After Valentine’s performance, Garfinkel simply gushed that he was the best guard in the history of the camp, even superior to Butch Lee of Marquette and Phil Sellers of Rutgers.

Scouts continued to rave over Valentine’s game as the phenom joined Kansas basketball. During his sophomore year in 1978 while scouting at the Big Eight Holiday Tournament in Kansas City, Boston Celtics general manager Red Auerbach was awed over Valentine’s skills.

“Valentine is quicker than Jo Jo (White) and he penetrates better,” Auerbach told The Sporting News in comparing him to the former Celtics’ star (1969-1979) who was inducted into the Naismith Hall of Fame last September.

As Valentine earned All-American honors his senior year in 1981 and prepared for the NBA Draft, Auerbach predicted the Wichita native was destined for stardom.

“He is,” Auerbach marveled, “going to be a great one.”

While Valentine never lived up to the hype, he had a very commendable nine-year NBA career and was a true defensive wizard with an unwavering work ethic. The 6-1 guard’s career all began with the Portland Trail Blazers, who chose him as the No. 16 pick in the first round of the draft.

After learning the ropes his rookie season under starter Kelvin Ransey and averaging 6.4 points per game, Valentine became the starting point guard in Year 2. Portland head coach Jack Ramsay was so high on Valentine that he raved about him to Sports Illustrated just before his second season.

"Darnell Valentine may be the best point guard in the NBA, you'll see," Ramsay said.

Valentine averaged a career-high 12.5 points and 2.1 steals per game in 1982-83, endearing himself to Ramsay and Blazers fans with his nonstop hustle, defensive prowess, and charming personality.

"He's a fierce competitor," Ramsay told "The Complete Handbook of Pro Basketball." "He never stops. He's never going to be outplayed."

Unfortunately, Valentine never rose to NBA stardom despite his outstanding defense and great playmaking and penetration ability. He was a questionable outside shooter, battled injuries, and was constantly fighting for minutes with fellow point guards Lafayette Lever and Steve Colter in Portland. He also played in a complex halfcourt offense under Ramsay, which restricted his freedom.

Then with the arrival of rookie and future All-Star Terry Porter in 1985-86, the Blazers dealt Valentine to NBA purgatory with the woeful Los Angeles Clippers for a first-round draft pick, where he played in obscurity for two and a half seasons before finishing his career with the Cleveland Cavaliers (two seasons) at age 31 in 1991.

Valentine talked about that trade to Los Angeles to the Oregonian in 2009.

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

Before the Clippers’ deal, a trade to Indiana fell apart as Valentine became “a lame duck.”

"Everything was so abrupt. So I passed the baton to Terry,” Valentine said of Porter, who became an All-Star and one of the top assist men in NBA annals.

Valentine, who was ranked the No. 33 best player in Trail Blazers' history by the Oregonian in 2009, always elevated his game in the playoffs for Portland. He averaged 12.0 points, 6.8 assists, and shot a scorching 88.4 percent from free throw line during the postseason, and is tied for the team record for most assists in a playoff game with 15. Valentine, who averaged 18.4 points and 8.4 assists in a playoff series with Phoenix in 1984, also ranks fifth all time in Blazer 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."

Valentine, whose trademark was his tree-trunk thighs, has a favorite story about his time in Rip City.

"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'."

While he wasn’t a leaper, Valentine was the consummate and unselfish point guard for Ramsay. The Hall of Famer and late Portland head man loved coaching Valentine and greatly admired his work ethic.

Under the caption, “Heart of a Champion,” here’s what Ramsay wrote in his 2004 book, “Dr. Jack’s Leadership Lessons learned from a Lifetime in Basketball”:

“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.”

Valentine was overwhelmed with gratitude when I relayed Ramsay’s statement to him before his jersey retirement at KU on Jan. 1, 2005. The two were good friends and fellow fitness addicts; they used to take bike rides together.

“Coming from him, that’s an incredible compliment,” Valentine said. “I appreciate that. We did a lot of things alike. We thought alike. Even when I was traded to the Clippers, I know that 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, who has lived in Portland since he retired from basketball and worked for Precision Castparts (a Fortune 500 manufacturing company) as employee engagement leader since 2007, richly enjoyed his time with the Blazers.

"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 boasts career averages of 8.7 points (5,400), 5.0 assists, 2.1 rebounds and 1.5 steals in 23.2 minutes per game. He started 345 of 620 contests, while shooting 43.7 percent from the field, 26.1 percent from beyond the arc, and 78.7 percent at the free throw line.

I asked my childhood hero when he returned to Allen Fieldhouse for his jersey retirement in 2005 how he felt about his pro career.

“I think it could have possibly been better, and it could have possibly been a lot worse,” he 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.”

Lafayette Norwood, Valentine’s close friend, mentor and coach at Wichita Heights and assistant at Kansas, believed he caught a tough break by never catching on with the Chicago Bulls and superstar Michael Jordan. The Bulls were close to trading for Valentine after the 1984-85 season (his fourth year with Portland), 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, he could have made that happen and become a critical (part to their success).”

Norwood thought Valentine could have elevated Jordan and his Bulls’ teammates’ games with his tenacious defense and become one of the best NBA point guards. Despite not getting with the Bulls, Norwood was proud of what D.V. accomplished during his nine NBA seasons.

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

Like many others, Norwood was deeply impressed with Valentine’s competitive fire.

“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.

David Magley, Valentine’s teammate at KU, also greatly admired his work ethic. Magley saw Valentine compete in the NBA when he played briefly for the Cleveland Cavaliers as a rookie in 1982-83.

“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.”

“He was a warrior,” former Missouri guard and NBA rival Larry Drew told me several years ago.

Valentine credits his mother, Rose, for his superior drive.

“My mother instilled in me was the fact I had a real strong work ethic,” he said. “I was dedicated to the game and I respected the game.” 

And Valentine, of course, loved the game.