Danny Manning (born May 17, 1966 in Hattiesburg, Mississippi) is a former professional basketball player in the National Basketball Association. He is the son of former NBA player, Ed Manning. Considered one of the greatest players in University of Kansas and college basketball history, the Lawrence, Kansas high school graduate left KU as the team's all-time leading scorer and rebounder after leading the Jayhawks to the 1988 NCAA Championship. Manning set a Big Eight Conference record with 2,951 career points. The 6-foot-10, 234-pound forward won the Wooden, Naismith, and Eastman Awards as the college player of the year in 1988. In Kansas's 83-79 victory over the University of Oklahoma for the NCAA championship, Manning had 31 points, 18 rebounds, and 5 steals to be named Most Valuable Player in the tournament. Manning, a two-time All-American while at KU, also was named the Big Eight player of the decade.
He was a member of the 1988 Summer Olympics basketball team.
He was drafted with the first overall pick by the Los Angeles Clippers in the 1988 NBA Draft and spent more than a decade in the league. He played only 26 games as a rookie because of arthroscopic knee surgery, but returned for the 1989-1990 season. His most productive NBA season was 1992-1993, when he averaged 22.8 points a game and was selected to play in the All-Star Game. He was also an All-Star the following season.
But continuing knee problems forced Manning to become a part-time player in 1996, after he had undergone two more surgeries. He won the 1997-1998 Sixth Man Award as the best off the bench in the NBA, averaging 13.5 points, though he played only about 17 minutes a game. Manning was the first and only NBA player to have returned to play after reconstructive surgeries on both knees.
Manning went to the Milwaukee Bucks in 1999 and played for different teams during his final four seasons in the league. He announced his retirement in the summer of 2003 and is currently at the University of Kansas as director of student-athlete development and team manager, under KU basketball coach Bill Self.
Danny currently coaches his son, Evan, and other 7th graders on his Adidas sponsored MAYB 7th grade boys team, The Kansas City Jayhawks.
