Don Kojis

Don Kojis
	Kojis from the 1960 "Hilltop"
Personal information
Born	July 15, 1939; Milwaukee, Wisconsin, U.S.
Died	November 19, 2021 (aged 82); San Diego, California, U.S.
Listed height	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)
Listed weight	215 lb (98 kg)
Career information
High school	Notre Dame; (Milwaukee, Wisconsin)
College	Marquette (1958–1961)
NBA draft	1961: 2nd round, 21st overall pick
	Selected by the Chicago Packers
Playing career	1961–1975
Position	Small forward
Number	22, 16, 9, 44, 21
Career history
1961–1963	Phillips 66ers
1963–1964	Baltimore Bullets
1964–1966	Detroit Pistons
1966–1967	Chicago Bulls
1967–1970	San Diego Rockets
1970–1972	Seattle SuperSonics
1972–1975	Kansas City-Omaha Kings
Career highlights and awards
	2× NBA All-Star (1968, 1969); No. 44 retired by Marquette Golden Eagles;
Career NBA statistics
Points	9,948 (12.2 ppg)
Rebounds	4,555 (5.6 rpg)
Assists	1,112 (1.4 apg)
	Stats at NBA.com
	Stats at Basketball Reference
Representing United States
Men's basketball
Pan American Games

Donald R. Kojis (January 15, 1939 – November 19, 2021) was an American professional basketball player who played twelve seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA)..

Career

Born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, he attended Marquette University and was drafted by the Chicago Packers in the second round (12th pick) of the 1961 NBA draft. He played forward for the Baltimore Bullets (1963–64), Detroit Pistons (1964–66), Chicago Bulls (1966–67) (acquired prior to the season via the expansion draft), San Diego Rockets (1967–70) (acquired prior to the 1967–68 season via the expansion draft), Seattle SuperSonics (1970–72) and Kansas City-Omaha Kings (1972–75).

Kojis was one of three players ever selected in expansion drafts held in consecutive years (Bob Weiss and George Wilson being the other two). Kojis was also one of a small number of players who played for three expansion teams (Kojis playing for the 1961–62 Packers, the 1966–67 Bulls, and the 1967–68 Rockets).

He was named to the 1968 and 1969 NBA West All-Star Teams.

He holds the Pistons' record for most field goal attempts per 48 minutes (25.35).

In 12 seasons he played in 814 Games, had 19,241 Minutes Played, 3,947 Field Goals Made, 8,853 Field Goals Attempted, .446 Field Goal Percentage, 2,054 Free Throws Made, 2,853 Free Throws Attempted, .720 Free Throw Percentage, 4,555 Rebounds, 1,112 Assists, 1,937 Personal Fouls and 9,948 Points.

He played for the United States men's national basketball team at the 1963 FIBA World Championship.^[1]

Personal life

Kojis resided in the San Diego County community of Julian, California and was the director of Whispering Winds Catholic Conference Center. He died on November 19, 2021, at the age of 82.^[2]

Career statistics

Legend
GP	Games played	GS	Games started	MPG	Minutes per game
FG%	Field goal percentage	3P%	3-point field goal percentage	FT%	Free throw percentage
RPG	Rebounds per game	APG	Assists per game	SPG	Steals per game
BPG	Blocks per game	PPG	Points per game	Bold	Career high

NBA

Source^[3]

Regular season

Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
1963–64	Baltimore	78		14.7	.419	.562	4.0	.7			6.3
1964–65	Detroit	65		12.9	.433	.633	3.7	1.0			6.5
1965–66	Detroit	60		13.1	.415	.539	4.3	.7			7.3
1966–67	Chicago	78		21.2	.426	.604	6.1	.9			10.2
1967–68	San Diego	69		36.9	.446	.726	10.3	2.6			19.7
1968–69	San Diego	81		38.6	.434	.748	9.6	2.6			22.5
1969–70	San Diego	56		28.2	.447	.751	6.9	1.4			15.3
1970–71	Seattle	79		27.1	.446	.778	5.5	1.6			14.6
1971–72	Seattle	73		25.4	.469	.793	4.6	1.1			11.4
1972–73	Kansas City–Omaha	77		16.1	.480	.774	2.6	1.0			8.5
1973–74	Kansas City–Omaha	77		27.2	.478	.772	5.0	1.4	1.0	.2	13.1
1974–75	Kansas City–Omaha	21		11.0	.469	.667	1.9	.5	.6	.0	5.3
Career		814		23.6	.446	.720	5.6	1.4	.9	.2	12.2
All-Star		2	1	13.0	.333	.800	3.5	2.0			6.0

Playoffs

Year	Team	GP	MPG	FG%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
1967	Chicago	3	34.7	.479	.625	10.0	1.3			17.0
1969	San Diego	6	38.7	.440	.806	8.5	3.5			20.2
1975	Kansas City–Omaha	4	5.5	.167	.833	1.0	.3	.3	.0	1.8
Career		13	27.5	.442	.778	6.5	2.0	.3	.0	13.8

References

^ 1963 USA Basketball Archived October 14, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
^ Steele, Ben (November 19, 2021). "Milwaukee native Don Kojis, Marquette's all-time leading rebounder dies at 82". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Retrieved November 19, 2021.
^ "Don Kojis NBA stats". Basketball Reference. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved March 20, 2024.

External links

Career statistics from NBA.com and Basketball Reference
basketpedya.com

[1] 1963 USA Basketball Archived October 14, 2007, at the Wayback Machine

[2] Steele, Ben (November 19, 2021). "Milwaukee native Don Kojis, Marquette's all-time leading rebounder dies at 82". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Retrieved November 19, 2021.

[bbr-3] "Don Kojis NBA stats". Basketball Reference. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved March 20, 2024.

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