_{A younger David Greenwood}

by Charles Gladden

BELIZE CITY, Thurs. June 12, 2025

Former NBA champion David Greenwood passed away on Sunday, June 8, after losing his battle with cancer.

One of the top scorers in UCLA history, the former 2nd overall pick was selected in the 1979 NBA draft after Magic Johnson and went on to play 12 seasons in the league with four teams – the Chicago Bulls, San Antonio Spurs, Denver Nuggets, and the Detroit Pistons, with whom he won his sole championship in the 1989-90 season.

Greenwood played one more year in the NBA with the San Antonio Spurs, averaging 3.8 points per game and playing 63 games.

After retirement, Greenwood kept a low profile and despite his fame, many didn’t know that he visited Belize and coached the men’s national team to victory in the CARICOM Games in Belize City in 1998.

_{David Greenwood with Belize’s Men Basketball team in 1998}

That 1998 team won the gold medal at those games.

“From the minute he came, he turned the whole organization around with international style. He coached us in 1998, and we won that tournament. We qualified for Venezuela in 1999, and we did well in that tournament as well. It was the first time Belize beat Puerto Rico, who had beaten us by 100. He was the coach when [that happened],” said Keith Acosta, a player on the 1998 Belize National Team.

“He coached us again in Cuba, and we didn’t have much success, but he was instrumental in our national team heyday in ’98, ’99, and the early 2000s. He held everyone accountable and disciplined; and after games, he would tell players, ‘Nothing is wrong with taking a little stroll, but the competition is not over, and you need to be inside a certain time.’ He brought straight discipline to the team, which I thought helped us to win, because we weren’t the biggest or strongest team. But we were disciplined, and he kept us together to win that tournament,” Acosta added.

The ’98 Belize Men’s National Team comprised well-known ballers who are considered legends in the Belize basketball circuit: Clint Fuller, Kenroy Smith, Roger Favela, Bart Sanchez, Claude “Too Tall” Jones, Kirk “Shabba” Smith, Fred Garcia, Milt Palacio, Kent Bennett, Alex Carcamo, Olin Simpliss, and Acosta.

While Greenwood was a strict and disciplined coach, Acosta described him as a gentle giant outside of basketball.

“I call him a gentle giant. He was 6’10”. We had a 6’10” in Too Tall Jones, but with his height and size, he was a huge structure. He was friendly when he came to Belize. He knew how to nurture talent with attitude and get the best out of everyone,” he said.

(AMANDALA Ed. Note: Clinton “Pulu” Lightburn said he was the general manager of that 1998 gold medal team, and, in reference to coach Greenwood, he said: “We got him through Nigel Miguel’s UCLA alumni link. There is a picture of him and the CARICOM team on the wall in the Civic.”)