{{short description|American basketball player, power forward}} {{Use mdy dates|date=July 2024}} {{Infobox basketball biography | name = Don Ford | image = | width = | caption = | height_ft = 6 | height_in = 9 | weight_lb = 215 | birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1952|12|31}} | birth_place = Santa Barbara, California, U.S. | high_school = Santa Barbara<br />(Santa Barbara, California) | college = *Santa Barbara CC (1971–1972) *New Mexico (1972–1973) *UC Santa Barbara (1974–1975) | draft_year = 1975 | draft_round = 6 | draft_pick = 92 | draft_team = Los Angeles Lakers | career_start = 1975 | career_end = 1983 | career_number = 35 | career_position = Power forward | years1 = {{nbay|1975|start}}–{{nbay|1979|end}} | team1 = Los Angeles Lakers | years2 = {{nbay|1979|end}}–{{nbay|1981|end}} | team2 = Cleveland Cavaliers | years3 = 1982–1983 | team3 = Auxilium Torino | stats_league = NBA | stat1label = Points | stat1value = 3,016 (6.4 ppg) | stat2label = Rebounds | stat2value = 1,691 (3.6 rpg) | stat3label = Assists | stat3value = 647 (1.4 apg) | bbr = forddo01 }}

'''Donald J. Ford''' (born December 31, 1952) is an American former professional basketball player who was a power forward in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for the Los Angeles Lakers and Cleveland Cavaliers. He also was a member of the Auxilium Torino in Europe. He played college basketball for the UC Santa Barbara Gauchos.

==Early years== Ford attended Santa Barbara High School. He was a teammate of future NBA player Keith Wilkes (later Jamaal Wilkes).<ref>{{cite news |title=Exploring the Lakers' Ties to Santa Barbara |url=https://www.nba.com/lakers/news/160920-lakers-ties-santa-barbara |work=NBA |date=September 20, 2016 |access-date=February 14, 2021}}</ref> He enrolled at Santa Barbara City College. As a freshman in the 1971–1972 season, he contributed to a 26–6 record and a Western State Conference Championship. He averaged 22 points and 10 rebounds per game, including 3 contests with 29 points. He received first-team All-American honors by the California Junior College Federation.<ref>{{cite news |title=Athletics Department Announces SBCC Vaqueros Hall of Fame Class of 2020 |url=https://sbccvaqueros.com/general/2019-20/releases/20200211j5ixrm |work=Santa Barbara City College |date=February 11, 2020 |access-date=February 14, 2021 }}</ref>

He transferred to the University of New Mexico after his freshman season. As a sophomore, he was a backup, posting 6.9 points and 4.1 rebounds per contest.

He transferred to the University of California, Santa Barbara at the end of his sophomore season. As a junior, he sat out the season because of the NCAA's transfer rules. As a senior, he averaged 19.6 points (led the team), 8.4 rebounds (led the team) and 2.5 assists (second on the team).<ref>{{cite news |title=Lakers Sign Forward Don Ford |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/36226914/lakers-sign-don-ford/ |work=Los Angeles Times |date=August 11, 1975 |access-date=February 14, 2021 }}</ref>

==Professional career== Ford was selected by the Los Angeles Lakers in the 6th round (92nd overall) of the 1975 NBA draft. He spent four-and-a-half seasons with the team and was mostly known for his defense, while averaging 6.4 points and 3.6 rebounds per game.

In the 1979–80 championship season, his playing time was limited behind Jamaal Wilkes, Jim Chones and Spencer Haywood. On February 15, 1980, he was traded along with a 1980 1st round draft pick (#22-Chad Kinch) to the Cleveland Cavaliers, in exchange for Butch Lee and a 1982 1st round draft pick (#1-James Worthy).<ref>{{cite news |title=Lakers Beat Deadline; Get Lee From Cavaliers |url=https://newspapers.com/clip/49930099/butch-lee-traded-to-lakers-2-15-1980/ |work=Los Angeles Times |date=February 16, 1980 |access-date=February 14, 2021 }}</ref>

On January 19, 1982, he was waived after being passed on the depth chart by Keith Herron.<ref>{{cite news |title=Notebook |url=https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/154283624/ |work=The Akron Beacon Journal |date=January 29, 1982 |access-date=February 14, 2021 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Cleveland Cavaliers|url=https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/129959176/ |work=The Palm Beach Post |date=January 20, 1982 |access-date=February 14, 2021 }}</ref> He played in 474 games, averaging 6.4 points, 3.6 rebounds and 1.4 assists.

In 1982, he signed with the Auxilium Torino in Italy's Lega Basket Serie A.

==Personal life== In 1989, he was named assistant coach and director of community relations to the Santa Barbara Islanders of the Continental Basketball Association.<ref>{{cite news |title=Transactions |url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=SBS19890914.1.43&srpos=4&e=-------en--20--1--txt-txIN-%22Santa+Barbara+Islanders%22-------1 |accessdate=21 February 2021 |work=San Bernardino Sun |date=14 September 1989 |location=San Bernardino, California |page=43}}</ref>

Ford was married to Patti Tate, sister of actress Sharon Tate. They had three children.<ref>{{cite news |title=Blog News |url=http://sensationalsharontate.blogspot.com/2010/09/cool-bruce-lee-and-sharon-tribute.html |date=September 29, 2010 |access-date=February 14, 2021}}</ref> He currently lives in Santa Barbara where he works as a real estate agent, as well as serving as color commentator on UCSB basketball radio broadcasts.

==Career statistics== {{NBA player statistics legend}}

===NBA=== Source<ref name=bbr>{{cite web|url=https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/f/forddo01.html|title=Don Ford NBA stats|website=Basketball Reference|publisher=Sports Reference LLC|accessdate=23 April 2025}}</ref>

====Regular season==== {{NBA player statistics start}} |- | style="text-align:left;"| {{nbay|1975}} | style="text-align:left;"| L.A. Lakers | 76 || || 24.2 || .438 || || .748 || 4.4 || 1.5 || .7 || .2 || '''9.6''' |- | style="text-align:left;"| {{nbay|1976}} | style="text-align:left;"| L.A. Lakers | '''82''' || '''82''' || 21.7 || .460 || || .716 || 4.3 || 1.6 || .7 || .3 || 7.3 |- | style="text-align:left;"| {{nbay|1977}} | style="text-align:left;"| L.A. Lakers | 79 || || '''24.6''' || .472 || || .756 || '''4.5''' || '''1.8''' || '''.9''' || '''.6''' || 7.7 |- | style="text-align:left;"| {{nbay|1978}} | style="text-align:left;"| L.A. Lakers | 79 || || 19.5 || .507 || || .809 || 3.4 || 1.3 || .6 || .3 || 6.7 |- | style="text-align:left;" rowspan="2"| {{nbay|1979}} | style="text-align:left;"| L.A. Lakers | 52 || || 11.2 || '''.508''' || .000 || .821 || 1.9 || .7 || .2 || .3 || 3.0 |- | style="text-align:left;"| Cleveland | 21 || || 20.0 || .451 || '''.500''' || .880 || 4.1 || 1.4 || .5 || .3 || 7.3 |- | style="text-align:left;"| {{nbay|1980}} | style="text-align:left;"| Cleveland | 64 || || 15.6 || .446 || .000 || '''.917''' || 2.6 || 1.3 || .2 || .2 || 3.5 |- | style="text-align:left;"| {{nbay|1981}} | style="text-align:left;"| Cleveland | 21 || 1 || 9.6 || .375 || .000 || .833 || 1.7 || .5 || .4 || .0 || 1.1 |- class="sortbottom" | style="text-align:center;" colspan="2"| Career | 474 || 83 || 19.6 || .464 || .143 || .773 || 3.6 || 1.4 || .6 || .3 || 6.4 {{S-end}}

====Playoffs==== {| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:right;" !Year !Team !GP !MPG !FG% !FT% !RPG !APG !SPG !BPG !PPG |- | style="text-align:left;"| 1977 | style="text-align:left;"| L.A. Lakers | '''11''' || '''30.3''' || .429 || '''.750''' || '''5.3''' || '''3.4''' || '''1.5''' || '''.4''' || '''10.1''' |- | style="text-align:left;"| 1978 | style="text-align:left;"| L.A. Lakers | 1 || 10.0 || .000 || &ndash; || 5.0 || .0 || 1.0 || .0 || .0 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 1979 | style="text-align:left;"| L.A. Lakers | 8 || 17.3 || '''.533''' || .333 || 2.8 || .9 || .4 || .3 || 4.1 |- class="sortbottom" | style="text-align:center;" colspan="2"| Career | 20 || 24.1 || .443 || .718 || 4.3 || 2.2 || 1.1 || .3 || 7.2 {{S-end}}

==References== {{Reflist|30em}}

==External links== *[https://web.archive.org/web/20070205103123/http://www.basketballreference.com/players/playerpage.htm?ilkid=FORDDO01 NBA stats] @ basketballreference.com *[https://web.archive.org/web/20160322063745/http://www.lakersweb.com/players/don_ford.html LakersWeb] @ lakersweb.com

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ford, Don}} Category:1952 births Category:Living people Category:American expatriate basketball people in Italy Category:American men's basketball players Category:Basketball players from Santa Barbara County, California Category:Cleveland Cavaliers players Category:Continental Basketball Association coaches Category:Los Angeles Lakers draft picks Category:Los Angeles Lakers players Category:New Mexico Lobos men's basketball players Category:Santa Barbara City Vaqueros men's basketball players Category:Small forwards Category:Sportspeople from Santa Barbara, California Category:UC Santa Barbara Gauchos men's basketball players Category:Santa Barbara High School alumni Category:20th-century American sportsmen