{{Short description|American basketball player (1945–2025)}} {{Infobox basketball biography | name = Walt Piatkowski | image = Walt_Piatkowski.jpg | caption = Piatkowski as a junior at Bowling Green | height_ft = 6 | height_in = 8 | weight_lb = 220 | birth_date = {{birth date|1945|6|11}} | birth_place = Toledo, Ohio, U.S. | death_date = {{death date and age|2025|8|18|1945|6|11}} | death_place = | high_school = Woodward (Toledo, Ohio) | college = Bowling Green (1965–1968) | draft_year = 1968 | draft_round = 8 | draft_pick = 99 | draft_team = San Francisco Warriors | career_start = | career_end = | career_number = 34, 43 | career_position = Power forward | years1 = 1968–1970 | team1 = Denver Rockets | years2 = 1971–1972 | team2 = The Floridians | highlights = *ABA All-Rookie (1969) *2× First-team All-MAC (1966, 1968) *Second-team All-MAC (1967) }}
'''Walter Piatkowski Jr.''' (June 11, 1945 – August 18, 2025) was an American professional basketball player in the American Basketball Association (ABA). He played college basketball for the Bowling Green Falcons.
A 6'8" forward, Piatkowski began his career at Toledo Woodward High School then starred at Bowling Green State University, where he was a Converse Honorable Mention All-American in 1968.<ref>[http://www.bgsufalcons.com/documents/2009/11/5/Guide_111pages.pdf?id=457 BGSU Men's Basketball 2009-10]. 87. Retrieved on August 31, 2010.</ref> He then played in the American Basketball Association from 1968 to 1970 as a member of the Denver Rockets. He received ABA All-Rookie Team honors with the Rockets in 1969 after averaging 12.2 points per game.<ref>[https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/p/piatkwa01.html Walter Piatkowski]. basketball-reference.com. Retrieved on August 31, 2010.</ref> When the Rockets acquired Spencer Haywood the next season, Piatkowski saw his playing time drop, and in 1970, he briefly retired to work as a teacher. He returned to the ABA in the fall of 1971 as a member of The Floridians, but he was waived just a month into that season. He later became a salesman with a paper company.<ref name=baker>Chris Baker. "[https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1994-10-31-sp-56849-story.html Clippers watching rising son]". ''Los Angeles Times''. October 31, 1994. Retrieved on August 31, 2010.</ref> He was Polish American.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1994-10-31-sp-56849-story.html|title=Archives|website=Los Angeles Times}}</ref>
Piatkowski's son Eric played basketball at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln; was drafted into the National Basketball Association (NBA) in 1994 as the 15th overall pick by the Indiana Pacers; and played 14 years in the NBA, mostly with the Los Angeles Clippers.<ref name=baker/>
Walt Piatkowski died on August 18, 2025, at the age of 80.<ref>{{cite news |title=BGSU Hall of Famer Walt Piatkowski Passes Away |url=https://bgsufalcons.com/news/2025/8/22/mens-basketball-bgsu-hall-of-famer-walt-piatkowski-passes-away |access-date=23 August 2025 |publisher=BGSU Falcons |date=22 August 2025}}</ref>
==Career statistics== {{NBA player statistics legend}}
===ABA=== Source<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/p/piatkwa01.html|title=Walt Piatkowski ABA stats|website=Basketball Reference|publisher=Sports Reference, LLC|accessdate=19 August 2023}}</ref>
====Regular season==== {| class="wikitable sortable" style="font-size:95%; text-align:right;" !Year !Team !GP !MPG !FG% !3P% !FT% !RPG !APG !PPG |- | style="text-align:left;"|{{abay|1968}} | style="text-align:left;"|Denver | '''77''' || '''23.6''' || '''.417''' || '''.329''' || '''.775''' || '''4.7''' || '''.6''' || '''12.2''' |- | style="text-align:left;"|{{abay|1969}} | style="text-align:left;"|Denver | 74 || 17.6 || .402 || .220 || .768 || 3.4 || '''.6''' || 7.0 |- | style="text-align:left;"| {{abay|1971}} | style="text-align:left;"| Florida | 6 || 4.7 || .188 || – || – || .3 || .3 || 1.0 |- class="sortbottom" | style="text-align:center;" colspan=2| Career | 157 || 20.1 || .409 || .288 || .772 || 3.9 || .6 || 9.3 {{S-end}}
====Playoffs==== {| class="wikitable sortable" style="font-size:95%; text-align:right;" !Year !Team !GP !MPG !FG% !3P% !FT% !RPG !APG !PPG |- | style="text-align:left;"|1969 | style="text-align:left;"|Denver | '''7''' || '''28.7''' || .432 || .111 || '''.909''' || '''4.1''' || '''.9''' || '''15.3''' |- | style="text-align:left;"|1970 | style="text-align:left;"|Denver | 6 || 8.3 || '''.500''' || '''.250''' || .500 || 1.8 || .7 || 4.5 |- class="sortbottom" | style="text-align:center;" colspan=2| Career | 13 || 19.3 || .444 || .154 || .800 || 3.1 || .8 || 10.3 {{S-end}}
==References== {{reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Piatkowski, Walt}} Category:1945 births Category:2025 deaths Category:20th-century American sportsmen Category:American men's basketball players Category:American people of Polish descent Category:Basketball players from Toledo, Ohio Category:Bowling Green Falcons men's basketball players Category:Denver Rockets draft picks Category:Denver Rockets players Category:Miami Floridians players Category:Power forwards Category:San Francisco Warriors draft picks