Tony Dumas


Tony Dumas is an American former professional basketball player.

College career

Born in Chicago, Illinois, Dumas played collegiately at the University of Missouri-Kansas City, whose athletic program is now known as the Kansas City Roos. He was the all-time leading scorer in UMKC history upon the completion of his career, with 2,459 career points. His senior season, he finished seventh in the NCAA in scoring at 27.0 points per game. He is also the only player in Kansas City history to be drafted into the NBA. Tony Dumas is the loving father of Tony George Dumas.

Professional career

Dallas Mavericks (1994-1996)

Dumas was selected by the Dallas Mavericks in the 1st round of the 1994 NBA Draft. He played four seasons in the NBA, mainly for the Mavericks. He did have two brief stints with the Phoenix Suns and Cleveland Cavaliers. His best year as a pro came during the 1995-96 season as a member of the Mavericks, appearing in 67 games and averaging 11.6 ppg, including a 39-point effort against the Suns on January 12, 1996. In 1995, he appeared in the NBA Slam Dunk Contest, finishing last after three unsuccessful dunks in the first round. After the impressive 1995–1996 season, his play regressed and he wasn't able to return to form after. The most he averaged in a season after that was 3.6 points per game, although he did have a season high 15 point game in a 103–84 loss to the Detroit Pistons in the beginning of the 1996-1997 season. As for the Mavericks, they were a bad team throughout all of Dumas' time there, failing to make the playoffs at all.

Phoenix Suns (1996-1997)

On December 26, 1996 Dumas was traded by the Dallas Mavericks with Jason Kidd and Loren Meyer to the Phoenix Suns for Sam Cassell, Michael Finley, A.C. Green and a 1998 2nd round draft pick. Dumas was a part of the 1996-1997 Suns team that managed to reach the playoffs. However Dumas barely received playing time as his scoring and overall numbers went downhill even more and he only played a total of 6 games in that season. The Suns reached the playoffs as a 40 win team and they faced the Seattle SuperSonics in the first round. Despite being out-talented, the Suns played well in the series and forced the SuperSonics to 5 games before ultimately falling short. Dumas didn't receive any playing time in the playoffs however.

Cleveland Cavaliers (1997-1998)

On October 1, 1997, Dumas was a part of a large transaction. As part of a 3-team trade, Dumas was traded by the Phoenix Suns with Wesley Person to the Cleveland Cavaliers; the Cleveland Cavaliers traded a 2005 1st round draft pick to the Phoenix Suns; the Denver Nuggets traded Antonio McDyess to the Phoenix Suns; and the Phoenix Suns traded a 1998 1st round draft pick, a 1999 1st round draft pick, a 2000 2nd round draft pick, a 2001 1st round draft pick and a 2002 2nd round draft pick to the Denver Nuggets.
At this level, Dumas had regressed to a point where he did not even look like an NBA-calibre basketball player. He averaged 2.0 points per game and only received 6.7 minutes of playing time. He also only played 7 games in the season with the Cavaliers. On January 29, 1998 the Cavaliers waived Dumas.

Retirement from the NBA

Dumas retired from the NBA shortly after being released by the Cleveland Cavaliers.
He continued playing in different basketball associations like the Continental Basketball Association in 1998, where he played for La Crosse Bobcats. In 2001, he moved to Greece playing for Sporting BC. In 2001, he played for Rimini in Italy.