Albert King (basketball)

Albert King

King playing with the Fort Hamilton High School varsity team in 1974–75.
Personal information
Born	(1959-12-17) December 17, 1959 Brooklyn, New York
Nationality	American
Listed height	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)
Listed weight	190 lb (86 kg)
Career information
High school	Fort Hamilton (Brooklyn, New York)
College	Maryland (1977–1981)
NBA draft	1981: 1st round, 10th overall pick
Selected by the New Jersey Nets
Playing career	1981–1991
Position	Small forward / Shooting guard
Number	55, 17, 15
Career history
1981–1987	New Jersey Nets
1987–1988	Philadelphia 76ers
1988–1989	San Antonio Spurs
1989	Philips Milano
1990–1991	Albany Patroons
1991	Washington Bullets
Career highlights and awards
Consensus second-team All-American (1980) Second-team All-American – UPI (1981) Third-team All-American – NABC (1981) ACC Player of the Year (1980) First-team All-ACC (1980)
Career NBA statistics
Points	6,470 (12.1 ppg)
Rebounds	2,262 (4.2 rpg)
Assists	1,171 (2.2 apg)
Stats at NBA.com
Stats at Basketball Reference

Albert King (born December 17, 1959) is a retired American professional basketball player. King played at Fort Hamilton High School in Brooklyn and is regarded as one of the nation's greatest high school players of all time. He was rated the top prep player in the nation over Magic Johnson and Gene Banks during his senior year. A 6'6" guard-forward from the University of Maryland, King was selected by the New Jersey Nets in the 1st round (10th overall) of the 1981 NBA draft. King played in nine NBA seasons for four different teams.

College career

In the 1979–1980 college season, King was named the ACC Men's Basketball Player of the Year. He appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated twice during the 1980 season. One of the highlights of his ACC career was a thundering dunk over Duke center Mike Gminski during a Maryland home game at Cole Field House. Duke was No. 1 in the nation at the time, and King went on to lead the Terps in scoring that night and help topple the Blue Devils in the process. His jersey #55 was retired by the Maryland basketball program. In 2002, King was named to the ACC 50th Anniversary men's basketball team as one of the fifty greatest players in Atlantic Coast Conference history.

Professional career

King played in nine NBA seasons for four different teams. He played for the Nets, Philadelphia 76ers, San Antonio Spurs and Washington Bullets. King's best years as a professional came during his playing days with the Nets from 1981–1987. During the 1982–83 season, he appeared in 79 games and averaged 17.0 points per game and 3.7 assists per game. In his NBA career, he played in 534 games and scored a total of 6,470 points.

At the end of the 1988–1989 season, he was signed for Olimpia Milano of the Italian Basketball League to replace Billy Martin: in Milan he played the last two games of the regular season and the following 12 of the post-season, alongside some very experienced players such as Bob McAdoo, Mike D'Antoni and Dino Meneghin: he gave an essential contribution for winning the title in a very contested last game of the finals, scoring a season-high 22 points.

During the second half of the following season King played for Hapoel Holon of the Israeli basketball league. In just 11 games he scored an average of 22.8 ppg including a 23-point show against Israeli powerhouse Maccabi Tel Aviv. The team finished that season in the 7th place and King left.

Personal

He is the younger brother of former NBA scoring champion, Bernard King. They grew up in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.

He is also one of the central personalities in Rick Telander's acclaimed book Heaven is a Playground.

External links

• Albert King NBA stats @ basketball-reference.com
• Basketballreference.com page