Happy 81st Birthday, Louie Dampier
- Jake C
- 1 hour ago
- 4 min read
Cover photo: Louie Dampier of the Kentucky Colonels drives the ball against the Carolina Cougars’ Tom Owen on Nov. 14, 1973. Photo credit: Michael Coers, The Courier-Journal.
An ABA legend celebrates a birthday on Nov. 20 as Hall of Fame guard Louie Dampier turns 81.
Dampier, born in Indianapolis, Ind., was a graduate of Southport High School. A member of the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame, Dampier led Southport to the 1963 County and Sectional Championships. He holds the records for both points in a game (40) and for a single tournament (114).
At the University of Kentucky, Dampier was All-SEC in each of his three seasons (17.0, 21.1, and 20.7 points per game). In his junior and senior seasons, he was a consensus 2nd team All-American. The Wildcats in 1966 made the NCAA title game, losing to the University of Texas-El Paso by a score of 72-65. Dampier shot 7-of-19 from the field in the game for 19 points and 9 rebounds, while teammate Pat Riley also scored 19 (8-of-22 shooting).
In the 1967 NBA Draft, Dampier was drafted 38th overall by the Cincinnati Royals. He chose to suit up for the ABA’s Colonels, close to where he attended college.
Dampier, a 6 foot, 170-pound guard, was an All-Star in his first three ABA seasons, putting up 20.7 points as a rookie, 24.8 points in his second season, and 26.0 points per game (career-high) in his third season. He played 72, 78, and 82 games in that span, and averaged 41.1, 42.6, and 40.9 minutes per game. His 42.6 minutes per game in his second season led the ABA. Dampier was also a capable 3-point marksman in his career, leading the ABA in 3-point makes per game in his second season (2.6) and third season (2.4). He also led the ABA in 3-pointers attempted in 1969-70, taking 6.7 per game. Later in his career, in 1973-74, he would lead the ABA in 3-point percentage (38.7%). In 1968-69, Dampier finished eighth in MVP voting, and finished sixth in that category in 1969-70.
In 1970-71, Dampier did not make the All-Star team, but averaged 18.5 points (41.8% on 16.1 attempts) and 5.5 assists per game. Dampier was, however, an All-Star each season from 1971-72 to 1974-75.
Louie Dampier’s Last Four All-Star Seasons
1971-72: 15.9 points (44.2% FG, 13.0 FGA), 6.2 assists, 38.7 minutes, 83 games
1972-73: 16.8 points (45.1% FG, 14.3 FGA), 6.5 assists, 38.0 minutes, 80 games
1973-74: 17.8 points (46.5% FG, 15.4 FGA), 5.6 assists, 35.0 minutes, 84 games
1974-75: 16.8 points (50.0% FG, 14.4 FGA), 5.4 assists, 34.7 minutes, 83 games
Dampier averaged 13.0 points per game on 47.9% shooting (11.6 shots per game) in 34.7 minutes (82 games) in 1975-76, which was his last season with the Colonels. In the 1976 ABA Dispersal Draft, he was taken by the San Antonio Spurs, for whom he played three seasons. Dampier averaged 6.6 points in 1976-77, 9.1 points in 1977-78 (50.9% shooting in 82 games), and 3.9 points in his final NBA season.
In his nine ABA seasons, Dampier averaged 18.9 points and 5.6 assists per game in 38.1 minutes per game, shooting 43.9% from the field on 16.5 shots per game. He was also a 35.8% shooter from beyond the arc in the ABA. Over his 12 seasons in both the ABA and NBA, he averaged 15.9 points per game on 44.4% shooting (14.0 shots, 33.5 minutes per game. He played 728 of his 960 career games in the ABA.
Dampier was a one-time ABA champion, winning the title in 1975, though the Colonels made the Finals in both 1971 and 1973. The 1970-71 Colonels lost in seven games to the Utah Stars, a series in which Dampier averaged 17.4 points, 8.6 assists, and 5.0 rebounds. The 56-win 1972-73 Colonels lost in seven games in the Finals to the Indiana Pacers - Dampier in that series averaged 15.9 points per game. In 1975, the Colonels defeated the Pacers in five games in the Final. For that series, Dampier averaged 14.0 points and 6.0 assists per game.
The guard scored 30 or more points four times in his playoff career, with two of the outings (32 and 33 points) coming in Game 3 and Game 5 of the 1968 Colonels’ Eastern Division Semifinal series against the Minnesota Muskies. He scored 31 points in Game 2 of the playoffs in the same round in 1969 against the Pacers, and in Game 4 of the 1971 Finals put up 33 points (12-of-23 from the field, 3-of-6 from downtown, 6-of-8 from the line), 7 rebounds, and 5 assists in 53 minutes. He recorded one playoff triple-double, in Game 3 of the 1969 ABA Eastern Division Semifinal, registering 26 points (9-of-17 from the field, 2-of-5 from 3-point range, and 6-of-7 from the line), 11 rebounds, and 10 assists.
Dampier was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2015.
In 2017, Dampier’s fellow Hall of Fame Colonel teammate Artis Gilmore said that he would put his teammate on a hypothetical all-time ABA starting five. “The other guard would be Louie Dampier,” Gilmore told the Florida Times-Union of a team that included Julius Erving, David Thompson, and Dan Issel. “A smart guard, who handled the ball up front and made things happen.''
Happy 81st birthday, Louie Dampier.
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