Sports
Mel Daniels
1944–2015 · basketball center
Hall of Fame center, born and raised in Detroit, who grew up on the city's east side before becoming the ABA's all-time leading rebounder and a three-time champion with the Indiana Pacers.
- Born
Detroit, Michigan- Died
Sheridan, Wyoming
aged 71- Birth name
- Melvin Joe Daniels
- Detroit years
- 1944–early 1960s
- Field
- Sports
01 / The Detroit story
The Detroit story
Daniels was born in Detroit, and his family moved back to the city from North Carolina while he was still a toddler, settling first with his grandfather, then in a tenement near 8 Mile Road, and eventually in a house on McDougall Street. He attended Pershing High School, where demanding coach Will Robinson, who later became the first Black head coach at a Division I program, pushed him toward discipline both on the court and off. Daniels went on to New Mexico and then a dominant ABA career, winning two MVP awards and three championships with the Indiana Pacers while becoming the league's all-time rebounding leader. After retiring he moved into coaching and scouting, at one point tutoring a young Larry Bird at Indiana State. He was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2012.
Highlights
- Born and raised in Detroit; attended Pershing High School
- ABA's all-time leading rebounder
- Two-time ABA Most Valuable Player, three-time ABA champion
- Inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2012
02 / Their Detroit places
Their Detroit places 1
Where they lived, worked, performed and liked to hang out. Closed and demolished places stay here too, because they are part of the city's history.
Studied here · late 1950s–early 1960s
Pershing High School
Where coach Will Robinson developed him, alongside future NBA player Kevin Willis a generation later.