NBA Wordle #78
Monday, September 21, 2026 · already played
The answer
Spoiler for the puzzle of Monday, September 21, 2026. Today's puzzle is not revealed anywhere on this page.
DANTLEY
Adrian Dantley
F · 1976–1991
Adrian Dantley's career
Adrian Dantley played 15 seasons between 1976 and 1991, across 7 franchises — Clippers, Pacers, Lakers, Jazz, Pistons, Mavericks and Bucks. Over 955 regular-season games he averaged 24.3 points, 5.7 rebounds and 3 assists, finishing with 23,177 career points. He was 6× All-Star, 2× All-NBA and Rookie of the Year.
He entered the league in the 1976 draft, taken 6th overall in the lottery. That makes him a product of the 1970s, and his career totals should be read against the pace and rules of that period.
Across a long career of 15 seasons he was a primary scoring option at 24.3 points per game.
- Games
- 955
- PPG
- 24.3
- RPG
- 5.7
- APG
- 3
- Points
- 23,177
- Rebounds
- 5,455
- Assists
- 2,830
- 3PM
- 7
Teams
- Clippers · 1977
- Pacers · 1978
- Lakers · 1978–1979
- Jazz · 1980–1986
- Pistons · 1987–1989
- Mavericks · 1989–1990
- Bucks · 1991
Honours
6× All-Star · 2× All-NBA · Rookie of the Year · 1× Olympic gold
About the answer
The answer was DANTLEY — 7 letters, made up of 7 distinct letters and beginning with D.
The optional hint offered that day read: “Played for LAC 1977, IND 1978, LAL 1978–79, UTA 1980–86, …”.
Why this was a fair answer
Answers are never obscure by design: the pool is every NBA All-Star who debuted in the 1969-70 season or later, plus current players carrying a real scoring role. Adrian Dantley qualifies on the first route, with 6 All-Star selections — a perennial selection rather than a one-off.
With 7 franchises on his record, the shared-team clue was unusually generous here — a wide range of guesses would have lit it up green and pointed the wrong way as often as the right one. The debut arrow was the fastest way in: anyone opening with a modern player would have been sent back decades immediately. He never won a title, which quietly rules out a large share of the most-guessed names.
Play it yourself
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