Mel Daniels

Verified Timeline

Lore & Background

The son of Maceo and Bernice Daniels, Mel Daniels moved with his family back to his birthplace of Detroit, Michigan, from Lincoln, North Carolina, when Mel was a toddler. Mel had two sisters. Back in Detroit, the family first lived with Mel's grandfather, then in a tenement on 8 Mile Road and finally in a house on McDougall Street. Maceo Daniels worked in an automobile parts factory. Bernice read poetry to Mel. He began writing poems by age eight and continued to write them throughout the rest of his life, generally focusing on the lives of athletes, but wrote poems about non-sports topics as well. Daniels mostly did not share his poems with his teammates. Daniels attended Pershing High School in Detroit. Will Robinson, physical education teacher and basketball coach at Pershing High School, recalled Daniels being absent from PE class for a few weeks. Robinson went looking for the truant Daniels and finally found him in the hallway and ordered him to the gym. A few days later, Daniels still had not appeared in class, so Robinson went looking for him again. Daniels, then a sophomore, recalled being ordered by Coach Robinson to report to the gymnasium at 3:30 to join the basketball team. Daniels was slow to earn playing time in high school, playing sparingly in junior varsity games his first two seasons. After growing to 6'9", Daniels showed his potential as a senior and Robinson helped him secure a scholarship at Burlington Community College in Iowa. Daniels continued to improve in college. Playing the 1963–1964 season at Burlington Community College in Burlington, Iowa, Daniels averaged 25.2 points and 10.0 rebounds and was named a Junior College All-American. While at Burlington, Daniels was recruited to play for the New Mexico Lobos by coach Bob King. Daniels transferred, played for New Mexico from 1964 to 1967, averaged 20 points per game in his New Mexico Lobo career and was named an All-American. For his career, Daniels averaged 20.0 points and 11.1 rebounds in 77 games at New Mexico. He had 44 career double-doubles, still the most in school history. Daniels was the ninth pick of the 1967 NBA draft, selected by the Cincinnati Royals, and was also drafted by the Minnesota Muskies of the American Basketball Association (ABA). He chose to play in the fledgling ABA. After rejecting Cincinnati (with Oscar Robertson), Daniels became the first NBA first-round

In Their Own Story

The 1969-70 season saw Daniels lead the Pacers to their first ABA championship. After Hall of Fame Coach Slick Leonard took over early in the previous season, the team gelled around Daniels' interior presence. In the 1970 ABA Finals, Indiana defeated the Los Angeles Stars 4-2. Daniels averaged 18.7 points and 17.6 rebounds in the regular season, and 19.3 points and 17.7 rebounds in the playoffs. Teammates like Hall of Famer Roger Brown, Bob Netolicky, John Barnhill, and Freddie Lewis helped lead the Pacers to the title, but it was Daniels' dominance on the boards that provided the foundation.

Reader's Guide

Mel Daniels was a two-time ABA Most Valuable Player (1968–69 and 1970–71). He was a three-time ABA Champion (1970, 1972, 1973). He was a seven-time ABA All-Star. He led the ABA in rebounding average in three different seasons. He is the ABA's all-time leader in total rebounds. He was named the ABA Rookie of the Year in 1967–68. He was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2012.

Did You Know?

• Daniels was the first NBA first-round pick to snub the established league and go to the ABA.
• He wrote poetry from age eight, focusing on athletes' lives but also non-sports topics.
• He had 44 career double-doubles at New Mexico, still the most in school history.
• Daniels required 352 stitches after putting his arm through a glass door in college but missed only one game.