David Greenwood, a former basketball standout from UCLA, passed away on Sunday, June 8, 2025, in Riverside, California, following a battle with cancer. He was 68. Greenwood, who played as a forward for the Bruins, concluded his college career as the Chicago Bulls’ No. 2 overall pick in the 1979 NBA Draft.
Greenwood began his basketball journey at Verbum Dei High School in Los Angeles before joining UCLA in 1975. He was recruited by the legendary coach John Wooden before Wooden’s retirement. As a senior, Greenwood stood 6 feet 9 inches tall and weighed 233 pounds, and his name remains significant in UCLA’s record books.
He ranks 15th in school history with 1,721 career points and is fourth with 1,022 rebounds. Greenwood was a starter throughout his college tenure from 1975-76 to 1978-79, averaging 14.8 points and 8.7 rebounds over 118 games. His teams achieved a 102-17 record, translating to a .857 winning percentage.
While at UCLA, Greenwood earned all-conference honors in 1977, 1978, and 1979, and was named team MVP both as a junior and senior. The Bruins won the conference title during all four of his seasons in Westwood. He was a first-team All-America honoree as a junior and senior, becoming UCLA’s first repeat first-team selection since Bill Walton from 1972 to 1974.
During his tenure at UCLA, he played under head coaches Gene Bartow and Gary Cunningham, sharing the court with all-conference selections such as Marques Johnson, Richard Washington, Roy Hamilton, Raymond Townsend, Brad Holland, and Kiki Vandeweghe. His four-year run saw the Bruins reach the NCAA Tournament every season, including a trip to the 1976 Final Four. Greenwood played alongside Hamilton and Holland at UCLA, with all three seniors ranking as the school’s top scorers during the 1978-79 season.
As a senior, Greenwood averaged a career-high 19.0 points per game in the 1978-79 season. The Bruins finished with a 25-5 record, going 15-3 in conference play to secure first place in the Pac-10, narrowly defeating USC by one game. Greenwood had a shooting accuracy of 58.7 percent from the field and 81.0 percent on free throws. He played for conference champions in each of his four years, transitioning from the Pac-8 to the Pac-10 in his final season.
Greenwood was named conference Player of the Year in both 1978 and 1979. After a 12-year NBA career, he was inducted into the Pac-12 Hall of Honor in 2017 and later entered the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame in November 2021.
In the 1977 and 1978 tournaments, UCLA went 1-1 in the West Regional each time. In 1979, the team advanced to the Elite Eight as the region’s top seed. Greenwood scored a career-high 37 points in a 95-91 loss to DePaul in Provo, Utah, after a 99-81 regional semifinals win over San Francisco, shooting 17-for-24 from the floor while adding 10 rebounds and two assists.
Known for his work ethic, Greenwood joined the NBA with the Chicago Bulls in 1979, averaging 16.3 points and 9.4 rebounds per game in his rookie season. After six seasons with the Bulls, he played for the San Antonio Spurs, Denver Nuggets, and Detroit Pistons.
In his 11th season, Greenwood was part of the Pistons’ squad that secured its second consecutive NBA championship in 1990. He played in three of the five Finals games that year, as Detroit defeated the Portland Trail Blazers 4-1. Throughout his professional career, Greenwood managed various injuries but never missed an entire NBA season, participating in all 82 games during each of his first three seasons with the Chicago Bulls, averaging 15.1 points and 9.3 rebounds.
Greenwood’s brother, Al, described him as the embodiment of professionalism on the basketball court. Al recalled his brother’s determination to play for UCLA in 1975—even after Coach Wooden’s unexpected retirement—despite having offers from other top college teams.
He maintained strong ties to UCLA, attending the final Pac-12 Conference game on March 9, 2024. The men’s basketball team hosted an alumni event before their victory over Arizona State, 59-47, at Pauley Pavilion.
Earlier this year, the Los Angeles Times highlighted the 50th anniversary of one of Southern California’s notable basketball groups, the 1974-75 Division AAAA All-CIF team. Greenwood earned MVP honors before joining UCLA. Seven of the ten first-team All-CIF members from that year eventually played in the NBA, including Reggie Theus from Inglewood, Bill Laimbeer from Palos Verdes, Brad Holland from Crescenta Valley, Roy Hamilton from Verbum Dei, James Hardy from Long Beach Jordan, and Paul Mokeski from Crespi.
Greenwood is survived by his children, Jemil and Tiffany, his brother, Al, his sister, Laverne, and his former wife, Joyce.
