Mark Aguirre

Mark Aguirre

Mark Aguirre with the Detroit Pistons in the NBA Playoffs
No. 24, 23, 7
Small forward
Personal information
Date of birth	December 10, 1959 (1959-12-10) (age 51)
Place of birth	Chicago, Illinois
Nationality	American
High school	George Westinghouse College Prep (Chicago, Illinois)
Listed height	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)
Listed weight	232 lb (105 kg)
Career information
College	DePaul (1978–1981)
NBA Draft	1981 / Round: 1 / Pick: 1st overall
Selected by the Dallas Mavericks
Pro career	1981–1994
Career history
1981–1989	Dallas Mavericks
1989–1993	Detroit Pistons
1993–1994	Los Angeles Clippers
Career highlights and awards
2× NBA Champion (1989, 1990) 3× NBA All-Star (1984, 1987–1988) Naismith College Player of the Year (1980) Adolph Rupp Trophy (1980) USBWA Player of the Year (1980) AP Player of the Year (1980) UPI Player of the Year (1980) Sporting News College Player of the Year (1980) 2× Consensus NCAA All-American First Team (1980–1981)
Career statistics
Points	18,458 (20.0 ppg)
Rebounds	4,578 (5.0 rpg)
Assists	2,871 (3.1 apg)
Stats at NBA.com
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com

Mark Anthony Aguirre (born December 10, 1959 in Chicago, Illinois) is a retired American basketball player in the National Basketball Association. Aguirre played from 1981–1994 and won two championships with the Detroit Pistons after being sent to Detroit from the Dallas Mavericks in exchange for Adrian Dantley. Aguirre was a three-time All-Star for Dallas.

College career

While playing at DePaul University, he averaged 24.5 points over three seasons with the Blue Demons, and in 1981 was The Sporting News College Player of the Year. He also was the USBWA College Player of the Year and James Naismith Award winner in 1980, and a 2 time member of The Sporting News' All-America first team. As a freshman in 1978–1979, he led the Demons to the Final Four, where they lost to Indiana State, led by future NBA Hall of Famer Larry Bird.

The Chicago native played on the same DePaul team as future NBA star Terry Cummings and found himself in the national spotlight during his three years at the university. He averaged 24.0 points as a freshman in 1978–79 and led the Blue Demons to the NCAA Final Four. Over the next two seasons he scored 26.8 and 23.0 points per game, respectively, and he was named College Player of the Year in 1980–81. A member of the 1980 U.S. Olympic basketball team, Aguirre left school after his junior year. The Dallas Mavericks took him with the first overall pick in the 1981 NBA Draft.

Professional career

Dallas Mavericks

Aguirre averaged 20 points per game over the course of his 13-year NBA career. He was selected as the first overall pick by the Dallas Mavericks in the 1981 NBA Draft and remained with the Mavericks until 1989.

In his first season Aguirre was limited to 51 games and averaged 18.7 points, second on the team to Jay Vincent (21.4 ppg). The Mavericks improved by 13 games in the win column and finished ahead of the Utah Jazz, but were still twenty games behind division-leading San Antonio Spurs.

Beginning with the 1982–83 season Aguirre reeled off six straight campaigns in which his average topped 22 points per game. In the first of those seasons he scored 24.4 points per contest, tops on the team and sixth in the league. The Mavericks continued their ascent, bettering their record to 38-44 to finish ahead of Utah and the Houston Rockets in the Midwest Division.

During the 1983–84. Aguirre averaged 29.5 points per game, second in the league to Dantley's 30.6 ppg. He finished the season with 2,330 total points.

Although Aguirre was the Mavericks’ main weapon, he was helped by the emergence of Blackman (22.4 ppg) and the contributions of role players Brad Davis and Pat Cummings. Dallas finished second in the Midwest at 43-39, and the team made its first playoff trip, beating the Seattle SuperSonics in the opening round before losing to the Los Angeles Lakers in the conference semifinals.

In each of the next two seasons the Mavericks posted identical 44-38 records. In 1984–85 they made a quick exit from the playoffs, bowing to the Portland Trail Blazers in the first round; in 1985–86 they defeated Utah and then took the Lakers to six games in the conference semifinals. Aguirre averaged 25.7 and 22.6 points for those seasons.

In 1986–87 and 1987–88 he made the All-Star Team and averaged 25.7 and 25.1 points, respectively, during the regular season. The Mavericks won more than 50 games each year. The 1987–88 edition of the franchise went 53-29, beat Houston and the Denver Nuggets in the first two rounds of the postseason, then extended the Lakers to seven games before losing in the Western Conference Finals. It was the longest postseason run in the Mavs’ eight-year history.

Both Mavericks single-season scoring records still stand. His 13,930 points as a Maverick rank third in the franchise's history,^[1] behind Rolando Blackman's 16,643 points and Dirk Nowitzki's 22,792^[2] (updated June 10, 2011).

Midway through the 1988–89 season Aguirre was traded to the Detroit Pistons for Dantley, who was also one of the league’s top scorers, and a first round draft pick on February 15, 1989.

Detroit Pistons

The Pistons repeated as champions in 1989–90. Aguirre came off the bench for Dennis Rodman and averaged 14.1 points, fourth highest on the team. In the playoffs, which culminated with a five-game Finals win over Portland, Aguirre averaged 11.0 points.

Aguirre played three more seasons with the Pistons in an increasingly limited role. In 1993, the Pistons released Aguirre and after he cleared waivers the Los Angeles Clippers signed him for $150,000 for a partial campaign in 1993–94. Through the 1993–94 season Aguirre had accumulated 18,458 points for a career average of 20.0 points per game. He retired in 1994. As of 2006, he ranks 45th in the all-time scoring list, with 18,458 points.

Personal

Aguirre, whose father was born in Mexico, at one point considered playing for team Mexico at the 1992 Olympics.^[3]

NBA career statistics

Legend
GP	Games played	GS	Games started	MPG	Minutes per game
FG%	Field-goal percentage	3P%	3-point field-goal percentage	FT%	Free-throw percentage
RPG	Rebounds per game	APG	Assists per game	SPG	Steals per game
BPG	Blocks per game	PPG	Points per game	Bold	Career high

Regular season

Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
1981–82	Dallas	51	20	28.8	.465	.352	.680	4.9	3.2	.7	.4	18.7
1982–83	Dallas	81	75	34.4	.483	.211	.728	6.3	4.1	1.0	.3	24.4
1983–84	Dallas	79	79	36.7	.524	.268	.749	5.9	4.5	1.0	.3	29.5
1984–85	Dallas	80	79	33.7	.506	.318	.759	6.0	3.1	.8	.3	25.7
1985–86	Dallas	74	73	33.8	.503	.286	.705	6.0	4.6	.8	.2	22.6
1986–87	Dallas	80	80	33.3	.495	.353	.770	5.3	3.2	1.1	.4	25.7
1987–88	Dallas	77	77	33.9	.475	.302	.770	5.6	3.6	.9	.7	25.1
1988–89	Dallas	44	44	34.8	.450	.293	.730	5.3	4.3	.7	.7	21.7
1988–89	Detroit	36	32	29.7	.483	.293	.738	4.2	2.5	.4	.4	15.5
1989–90	Detroit	78	40	25.7	.488	.333	.756	3.9	1.9	.4	.2	14.1
1990–91	Detroit	78	13	25.7	.462	.308	.757	4.8	1.8	.6	.3	14.2
1991–92	Detroit	75	12	21.1	.431	.211	.687	3.1	1.7	.7	.1	11.3
1992–93	Detroit	51	15	20.7	.443	.361	.767	3.0	2.1	.3	.1	9.9
1993–94	L.A. Clippers	39	0	22.0	.468	.398	.694	3.0	2.7	.5	.2	10.6
All-Star		3	0	14.0	.542	.400	.800	1.3	1.3	.7	.3	12.0
Career		923	639	30.0	.484	.312	.741	5.0	3.1	.7	.3	20.0

Playoffs

Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
1983–84	Dallas	10	–	35.0	.478	.000	.772	7.6	3.2	.5	.5	22.0
1984–85	Dallas	4	–	41.0	.494	.500	.844	7.5	4.0	.8	.0	29.0
1985–86	Dallas	10	–	34.5	.491	.333	.363	7.1	5.4	.9	.0	24.7
1986–87	Dallas	4	–	32.5	.500	.000	.767	6.0	2.0	2.0	.0	21.3
1987–88	Dallas	17	–	21.6	.500	.382	.698	5.9	3.3	.8	.5	21.6
1988–89	Detroit	17	–	27.2	.489	.276	.737	4.4	1.6	.5	.2	12.6
1989–90	Detroit	20	–	22.0	.467	.333	.750	4.6	1.4	.5	.2	11.0
1990–91	Detroit	15	2	26.5	.506	.364	.824	4.1	1.9	.8	.1	15.6
1991–92	Detroit	5	0	22.6	.333	.200	.750	1.8	2.4	.4	.2	9.0
Career		102	–	29.0	.485	.317	.743	5.3	2.6	.7	.2	17.1

Notes

1. ^ Trying to maintain playoff spot, Mavs drop Nets to end three-game skid
2. ^ Dirk Nowitzki Career Statistics
3. ^ http://community.seattletimes.nwsource.com/archive/?date=19920322&slug=1482372

External links

• nba.com historical playerfile
• Career Statistics
• 1980 Oscar Robertson Trophy USBWA College Player of the Year

Persondata
Name	Aguirre, Mark
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	December 10, 1959
Place of birth	Chicago, Illinois
Date of death
Place of death