In the
1965 NBA draft, Stallworth was selected in the first round by the
New York Knicks, with the third overall pick. Stallworth played eight seasons (1965–1967; 1969–1975) in the NBA as a member of the Knicks and
Baltimore/Capital Bullets. He averaged 9.3
points per game in his career and won a league championship with New York in 1970. Stallworth's play for the Knicks in the 1969–70 season came after he had suffered a heart attack in March 1967, during his second season in the NBA; he had posted a scoring average of 12.6 points per game the previous season. Following a period as a coach for a Wichita-based amateur team, Stallworth was told by his doctor that he could return to playing. A back-up on the 1969–70 Knicks, Stallworth was forced into action in Game 5 of the
1970 NBA Finals after
Willis Reed was injured early. He was assigned to cover
Los Angeles Lakers star
Wilt Chamberlain, and aided in holding him in check when on defense. In a game that the Knicks won after trailing by 16, Stallworth made a reverse layup after driving to the basket on Chamberlain in the final minutes; Wayne Coffey, a
New York Daily News journalist and writer called it "one of the single most dramatic moments of the season." Stallworth was traded along with
Mike Riordan and an undisclosed amount of cash to the Baltimore Bullets for
Earl Monroe on November 11, 1971. He averaged 11.4 points per game and 6.2 rebounds per game in his 64 appearances for the Bullets in 1971–72, but his statistics declined over the next two seasons and the Bullets traded him to the
Phoenix Suns in 1974. Stallworth was released by the Suns without playing for the team, and he returned to the Knicks for the 1974–75 season, playing in seven games. ==NBA career statistics==