He made eight All-Star games in his 22 year career that spanned over four decades. The University of North Carolina has produced a whopping total of 103 NBA players during the storied history of its program. He was then traded to the Toronto Raptors for his college teammate and good friend, Antawn Jamison. Third in points scored. Along with Tyler Hansbrough and Bobby Frasor, Green won an NCAA Title and was named to the ACC All-Defensive Team in 2009. He was named league MVP in 1975 as a member of the Buffalo Braves (now the LA Clippers). He chose to return to North Carolina for his senior year and was later drafted by the Chicago Packers with the 13th pick in the 2nd round of the 1961 NBA Draft. And in a small way, the fallout revealed itself in what became Kinston's last great source of civic pride: KHS basketball games. Stats: 11.9 PPG, 6.0 RPG, 1.5 APG, 0.9 SPG, 0.7 BPG, 45.9 FG%, 36.2 3PT%. He was the teams leading scorer that season, turning in 15.6 points per game. KHS operated in Class 4A, reserved for the state's biggest high schools. The Jet would had a fantastic three years with the Kings, when briefly to Atlanta and then made Houston his home where he and Hakeem Olajuwon would win back to back titles in 1994 and 1995. The Best Boston Celtics of All Time. The SPORTS REFERENCE and STATHEAD trademarks are owned exclusively by Sports Reference LLC. Rasheed Wallace took a page out of Big Smooth's book, extending his play beyond the arc. "There's a lot of kids that are great players that don't make the team here," he says. Antawn Jamison is a two-time NBA All-Star, but the NBA title has eluded him thus far. You got all these other bigger towns around here, bigger cities and they couldn't touch Kinston! In all, Kinston would lose close to 8,000 jobs. His best statistical season came in 1973-74 with the Phoenix Suns. Sellouts were rare. Brad Daugherty. After graduating, Hines aspired to be an engineer, to join the Marines. A ranking of the 2025 Best NFL Basketball Players in North Carolina. IT'S LATE AUGUST, and Brandon Ingram's uncle Ronnie is lingering in a conference room at the Woodmen Community Center, another one of Kinston's recreation centers. As the town's population dwindled, the school dropped to Class 3A, then 2A. He grew up in a stable, two-parent household, with a doting father who was once a police officer and went on to run a recreation center where Brandon spent countless hours. York Larese was eligible for the NBA Draft as a junior since he missed the 195758 season due to an injury. Charlotte Hornets guard LaMelo Ball suffered a fracture in his right ankle in tonights home game vs. Detroit. https://sixerswire.usatoday.com/lists/2-sixers-ranked-among-best-nba-players-to-come-out-of-north-carolina/, Your California Privacy Rights/Privacy Policy. But before he puts pen to paper, his hand begins to shake. His stint in the nation's capital only lasted one season, as he was traded to Portland the following year. He knows a lot of this might sound harsh. The Sacramento Kings came knocking in the NBA Draft when they took him sixth overall. Scott was a three-time NBA All-Star, and he won his only championship with the Boston Celtics in 1976. 6 pick in that years NBA Draft. ', "He gets right there [on the edge] and throws his leg over. And as Davis sits in that metal chair, pondering the question of which player might be the best he's seen, suddenly, from a back room, emerges Maxwell, the longtime Celtics forward and 1981 NBA Finals MVP. Active Players. Michael Jeffrey Jordan out of Wilmington, North Carolina had a four year career with UNC, in which he cemented one of the most impressive eras at North Carolina. In 1984-85, he finally got his calling as the starter and never looked back. Former North Carolina Players Currently In The NBA * NBA stats from the 2022-2023 season. . In 1966-67, Cunningham helped lead the Philadelphia 76ers to a 68-13 regular season and his only NBA title. 10. They've gathered to discuss the latest force that will, as it always has, try to bring them harm, perhaps destroy them for good. His most rewarding season came in 2004 with the Larry Brown-coached Detroit Pistons. Tyndall had hair once. The NBA holds hundreds of players from all walks of life and from different areas. LEGEND HOLDS THAT in the early 1990s, back when Stackhouse starred for Kinston High, more than 2,000 people packed a gym with a capacity of about 1,750 -- and a bit above that mark constitutes a fire-code violation, so the fire marshal attended most of Stackhouse's games too. Can you guess who stopped them in three of those seasons? "Everything was booming. North Carolina does not just produce amazing people, but some pretty good athletes too. Forgot password? One holds the undisputed title of the "Greatest Player Ever.". Vince Carter, Sam Perkins, Rasheed Wallace, Bob McAdoo, James Worthy, Jerry Stackhouse, and Antawn Jamison all hail from UNC, which had its best success with creating NBA players in the '80s and '90s. At that moment, MJ made a new name for himself. Lets not forget that Green is a three-time NBA champion, each time lending important three and D support off the bench. https://therookiewire.usatoday.com/lists/who-are-the-top-former-unc-players-in-nba-history/, Your California Privacy Rights/Privacy Policy. Worthy averaged 21.1 points per game during his career in the NBA playoffs. Bobby Jones may not have been as blessed with the talent of some of the other Tar Heels on this list, but few played the game harder. But since the 1972-73 season, 1 out of every 52.7 players to suit up for Kinston High School's varsity squad has reached the league, meaning the odds to do so in Kinston are, since the early 1970s, about 63 times greater than the national average. As I mentioned in the last slide, Vince Carter was traded to the Toronto Raptors for Antawn Jamison during the 1998 NBA draft. This 6-time NBA All-Star was inducted into the Carolina Sports Hall of Fame. Stacy Kranitz for ESPN. He only played eight seasons before calling it quits due to back problems. Not only does he rank third all-time for steals, he also averaged 5.3 assists to go with his 30.1 points per game. And along the way, Kinston kept churning out another high-quality export: basketball players. Michael Jordan is not only the greatest Tar Heel to play in the NBA, but he is the greatest basketball player in the history of the game. The photos prove it. Subscribe to Stathead Basketball: Get your first month FREEYour All-Access Ticket to the Basketball Reference Database. Green worked hard, and in his senior season he was rewarded. He was a three-time All-ACC First Teamer, the 1998 ACC Tournament MVP, and the 1998 National college player of the year. Do you have a blog? All rights reserved. Players Who Played For UNC | Basketball-Reference.com Join us for a March Madness Webinar on Tuesday, March 7 at 8pm ET. About 3 out of every 10,000 high school basketball players go on to play in the NBA. He whiled away many summer afternoons in similar fashion, playing music or basketball with friends, and he believed this day to be like all those that came before it. Sort: Player (A-Z) Col umns: Swipe 10 players found. James was a 3-time NBA champion and a Finals MVP. Learn more and register here. His stint in Phoenix earned him a plethora of nicknames, such as "The Greyhound," "Sweet D," "The Candyman" and my personal favorite, "The Man with the Velvet Touch.". Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports. Bob McAdoo was an eventual teammate of James Worthy on the Showtime Lakers. Viewing: College. Moe was a junior at North Carolina when he was selected with the 4th pick in the 7th round of the 1960 NBA Draft by the Detroit Pistons. Or as Maxwell, the town's first favored son, says about that bomb: "If it had exploded, you wouldn't be talking to me about Brandon Ingram right now.". This two-block stretch of metropolitan high life became known as the Magic Mile. "There's 21,000 people in this town. In the history of the NBA draft, UNC has produced a total of two #1 overall picks and 52 first-round draft picks. Player Pos HT WT League(s) My god, he wonders. He chose to return to North Carolina for his senior year and was later drafted by the Chicago Packers with the 11th pick in the 2nd round of the 1961 NBA Draft. And if you ask Bessie, who's in her 80s, to retrace Kinston's history, she'll start the tale, simply: "It was a tobacco town.". There were as many as 17 Industrial League teams at one time, many loaded with local ex-college or high school players who couldn't wait to ball after a day on the assembly line. Andrew D. Bernstein/NBAE/Getty Images. Please check your email for a confirmation. Sam Perkins' best statistical season came in 1991-92 with the Lakers, when he averaged 16.5 points, 8.8 rebounds, 2.2 assists, one steal and one block per game. Even when Brandon Ingram's teams won four consecutive state titles, the stands had plenty of empty seats. "I think it's going to be really bad," he says, shaking his head in the T-Mobile Arena locker room as his teammates file out. There, he played with one of the all-time greats, Hakeem Olajuwon, and earned back-to-back NBA titles in 1994 and 1995. He spent his first two years playing at Garner Magnet High School and . These are current NBA Players who played for North Carolina during college playable on NBA 2K23 #2KRatings View Top 100 NBA 2K23 Player Ratings. You did the right thing, but you can't blame yourself if that person would've jumped.' An aunt had first mentioned Kinston to Stephanie, and it seemed nice, safe, with strong athletics and other programs perfect for her three sons and two daughters. "I love coaching basketball, and to be honest -- and this is not what my county office would want to hear -- if I couldn't coach basketball, I don't know if I would stay," Tyndall says. That year, he averaged 24.2 points per game, running away with the title of Rookie of the Year. We present them here for purely educational purposes. Kenny Smith's best statistical season was in his first season with the Rockets, where he averaged 17.7 points, 7.1 assists and 1.4 steals per game. Quinones was named the G League Player of the Week after producing a career-high 42 points on Saturday with Santa Cruz. Jones was selected to the NBA All-Defensive First Team eight times during his 10-year NBA career. To be able to comment you must be registered and logged in. This website is not directly or indirectly affiliated, associated, or connected in any way to Major League Baseball, the National Basketball Association, the National Football League or the National Hockey League. Alongside Michael Jordan, Smith helped lead UNC to a remarkable 28-3 record in 1983-84. Our reasoning for presenting offensive logos. He knows it sounds harsh. I believe our first Tar Heel needs no formal introduction. There's a photo of Paul Jones, who coached Kinston from 1957 to 1995, retiring as the winningest high school basketball coach in state history. They find a parachute suspending one of them in a trio of gum trees, its arm/safe switch in the safe position. Some would even say it was created because of him. He was named to the NCAA . Yes, it was Michael Jordan striking again. BRANDON INGRAM RAISES a crisp Lakers jersey with his name emblazoned across the back. IT'S A MIDAUTUMN morning just over a year ago, and residents, business owners, community leaders, law enforcement and clergy have gathered beneath clear blue skies at a park along the banks of the Neuse River. Larese was a junior at North Carolina when he was selected with the 6th pick in the 6th round of the 1960 NBA Draft by the St. Louis Hawks. In just four seasons with the Lakers, McAdoo was able to help the team to two NBA titles. James Worthy is a seven-time NBA All-Star, a three-time NBA champion and was one of the three Tar Heels named to the "50 Greatest Players in NBA History. Join our linker program. He eventually left the NBA to play six more seasons in Italy. Even now, as he enters his second NBA season, rapidly rising as one of the Lakers' most promising talents -- posting a career-high 32 points in a narrow loss to Golden State in late November, sinking the game winner at Philly in early December, scoring a game-high 26 in an early-January win over the Spurs -- his points, rebounds, assists and shooting percentages all improving, his role as a leader solidifying, he thinks about the path that led here, versus the paths that he avoided -- and how a razor's edge of difference separates the two. Founded in 1791, Kinston has seen its share of troubles: recurring floods, economic devastation, rampant gang violence -- even, as Maxwell now recounts, wayward nuclear bombs. The Sacramento Kings selected Smith with the No. In fact, they started playing hoops at UNC only twenty years after the sport was invented. It's a sweltering day in the summer of 2016, and, as usual this time of year, Maxwell is back home to visit his mother, Bessie, who is sitting beside him. Jordan would go on to win six titles, six Finals MVP awards, five league MVPs and became the arguably the greatest player ever. Despite recurring back problems, Davis still put in 15 seasons at the NBA level, managing impressive numbers through most of them. @wssu1892 ALUMNI!! #23 of 165. "This town," Rochelle told the room with a hard stare, "is worth saving.". In 1987, Smith was consensus first-time All-American and first-time All-ACC. UNC freshman big man Sharpe to enter NBA draft. NBA Draft; NBA Players; Recruits; Staff & Executives; Transfers; . Sign up for the The Rookie Wire newsletter to get our top stories in your inbox every morning. His best statistical season came in 2000-01 with the Toronto Raptors, averaging 27.6 points per game, 5.5 rebounds, 3.9 assists, 1.5 steals, 1.1 blocks and nailing down 40.8 percent of his three-pointers. A beat passes. His parents, Donald and Joann, sit a few feet away in the front row, beaming. 2021: Rd 1, Pk 29 (PHX) . But with 102 other players battling for position, there is a lot of wiggle room for the other 14. Still, Antonio supported her, helping raise his two younger brothers and two younger sisters. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising. As local talent blossomed, they were tested in rec centers that hosted games featuring blue-collar workers at Kinston's many factories, warehouses and mills. NBA Draft; Odds; NCAA WBK; Community. He also added 5.1 assists per game, 1.2 steals and shot 35.1 percent behind the arc. The official site of the National Basketball Association. Over the course of his career he averaged 30.1 points, 6.2 rebounds and 5.3 assists. Danny Green. Bucket list moment!! I don't think it's out of the realm of possibilities that Jordan and the Bulls would have won all eight in a row. Sam "Big Smooth" Perkins was the fourth overall pick by the Dallas Mavericks in 1984, right after the Bulls had selected Michael Jordan. As North Carolina Tar Heels coach Roy Williams once told a local news station: "If I hear there's a player in Kinston, I am going to go there quicker than I would go to New York City. Charlotte Hornets President of Basketball Operations and General Manager Mitch Kupchak announced today the team has signed guard Bryce McGowens a multi-year deal. Former North Carolina Players Who Played In The NBA * Including anyone currently in the NBA; NBA career stats since the 1946-1947 season. 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