James Worthy

Infobox NBAretired


|width=150
caption=
position=Small forward
number=42
birthdate=birth date and age|1961|2|27
Gastonia, North Carolina
debutyear=1982
finalyear=1994
draftyear=1982
draftround=1
draftpick=1
college=North Carolina
teams=
* Los Angeles Lakers (1982–1994)
stat1label=Points
stat1value=16,320
stat2label=Assists
stat2value=2,791
stat3label=Steals
stat3value=1,041
bbr=worthja01
letter=w
highlights=
* 3× NBA Champion (1985, 1987, 1988)
* 7× All-Star (1986-1992)
* 1× NBA Finals MVP (1988)
* 2× All-NBA Third Team Selection (1990–1991)
* 1983 NBA All-Rookie Team
* 1x NCAA Men's Basketball Champion (1982)
* 1x NCAA Basketball Tournament Most Outstanding Player (1982)
HOF=james-worthy

James Ager Worthy (born February 27, 1961 in Gastonia, North Carolina) is a retired American college and professional basketball player. Standing 6 ft 9 in (2.05 m), he played small forward.

College basketball career

James Worthy was an All-American high school basketball player at Ashbrook High School, in Gastonia, North Carolina. Worthy averaged 21.5 points and 12.5 rebounds during his senior season, for a team that lost in the state championship game. Worthy went on to attend the University of North Carolina. He quickly became a stand-out college basketball player and was a key member and leading scorer (15.6 points per game) of that school's 1982 NCAA championship team. Worthy was also named to the Sporting News All-American Second Team. The 1981-1982 North Carolina team also featured Sam Perkins and Michael Jordan in his freshman year. The 1982 championship game against the Georgetown Hoyas is notable for the shot that Jordan hit in the final seconds to give North Carolina the lead. On Georgetown's subsequent possession, Worthy intercepted a pass from the Hoya's point guard Fred Brown to seal the Tar Heels' 63-62 victory. For the game, Worthy shot 13-17 from the field, scored 28 points and had 4 rebounds. He earned the Most Outstanding Player award.

Professional basketball career

After winning the NCAA Championship, Worthy elected to forego his senior year and enter the NBA draft, where he was drafted first overall by the Los Angeles Lakers. Shrewd and opportunistic trade moves made by the Lakers front office the year before provided them with the first overall pick, the year after winning the NBA Championship. The NBA soon installed the lottery system to insure that a NBA Champion would never select first again. Worthy immediately made an impact as a rookie, averaging 13.4 points per game and shooting a Laker rookie record .579 field goal percentage. He was also named to the 1983 All-Rookie First Team. Worthy thrived in the Laker's fastbreak style with his speed and his dynamic ability to score with either hand and play above the rim. Beyond just finishing a fastbreak with his trademark Statue of Liberty dunks or swooping finger rolls, Worthy was also one of the best baseline post players at the small forward position, with a quick spin move and a deadly turnaround jumpshot. Unfortunately, his rookie year ended on a down note as Worthy broke his leg after coming down awkwardly from a jumpball in one of the last regular season games of the year.

Back and healthy for the opening of the 1983-1984 season, Worthy's effective play soon had him replacing Jamaal Wilkes in the starting line-up. The Lakers dominated throughout the Western Conference play-offs and faced the Boston Celtics in the finals. It was late in game 2 of the finals that Worthy made the now infamous mistake of throwing an errant crosscourt pass that was picked off by Celtic Gerald Henderson and taken in for the game tying score. Ultimately, the Lakers lost this game in overtime. The mistake prone Lakers lost this series in seven games.

1985 saw a Laker team that was on a mission of redemption and it was during the play-off run to winning the championship that year that Worthy took a big step forward as a clutch performer. Worthy averaged 21.5 points per game on .622 percent shooting in the play-offs and it was his inspired play against the Celtics (23.7 pts per game in the Finals) that further established Worthy as one of the league's premier players. It was also in 1985, that after sustaining an eye injury against the Utah Jazz in March, Worthy would begin wearing goggles. Worthy would go on to wear protective eyewear for the rest of his career.

The 1985-1986 season, although ending badly for the Lakers after a play-off flameout against the Rockets, began the first of seven consecutive All-Star appearances for Worthy. The 1986-1987 Championship Laker team many regard as one of the NBA's all time great teams and Worthy was at the top of his game, averaging 23.6 points per game in the play-offs. 1987-1988 saw the Lakers pull off an incredible repeat championship and it was during the finals match-up against the Detroit Pistons that Worthy cemented his reputation as "Big Game James". By 1987-1988 it was clear the Kareem had to pick his spots and it was Magic, Worthy and Byron Scott that began to pick up the slack. Against the Pistons, Worthy more than picked up his share and provided 22 points per game 7.4 rebounds and 4.4 assists game in the series. His 28 points and 9 rebounds in Game 6 and triple double effort of 36 points, 16 rebounds, and 10 assists in Game 7 of the 1988 NBA Finals earned him the Most Valuable Player award. The following season 1988-1989, Kareem's last, saw the Laker's again make the NBA Finals in a rematch again the Detroit Pistons. This time, Magic Johnson and Byron Scott missed 3 games due to injuries and the Lakers were swept in four games. Worthy, however, was again in championship form and averaged 25.5 points per game in the Finals, including a play-off career high scoring effort of 40 points in Game 4.

Although of lesser renown than teammates Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Magic Johnson, Worthy is regarded as a key contributor to the three NBA championships (1985, 1987, 1988) and the overall success of the Lakers' '80s basketball dynasty. After the sudden retirement of Magic in November 1991, Worthy played for 3 more seasons. Injuries and mileage caught up with "Big Game". A high ankle injury during the 1991 Play-Offs and season ending knee surgery in 1992 robbed Worthy of much of his quickness and leaping ability. After struggling with knee pain in the preseason of the 1994-1995 season, Worthy announced his retirement in November of 1994, after 12 seasons in the NBA.

Nicknamed by longtime Lakers play-by-play man Chick Hearn as "Big Game James," Worthy played in 926 NBA regular season games, averaging 17.6 points, 5.1 rebounds and 3 assists per game. Worthy played in 143 play-off games and averaged 21.1 points, 5.2 rebounds and 3.2 assists per game and had a .544 field goal shooting percentage. Worthy played in 34 NBA Finals games and averaged 22.2 pts per game on 53% shooting. He ranks 5th all-time in Lakers team scoring (16,320), 2nd all-time in team steals (1,041) and 6th all-time in team field goal percentage (.521). Voted one of the top 50 NBA players of all time in 1996, Worthy was not a first-ballot inductee into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2000. However, he was later inducted into the Hall in 2003. His jersey (#42) is only one of seven retired by the Los Angeles Lakers, alongside (#44) Jerry West, (#13) Wilt Chamberlain, (#22) Elgin Baylor, (#25) Gail Goodrich, (#32) Magic Johnson, and (#33) Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

Current

As of 2008, Worthy works as an in-studio analyst for Laker game telecasts on KCAL television in Los Angeles, and for NBA and college basketball highlights on KCBS television, also in Los Angeles. He also has been senior vice president of RP & Associates, a marketing company in Hermosa Beach, California, since February 2005. Worthy was married to Angela Wilder from 1984-1996 and they have two daughters, Sable and Sierra Worthy.

1990 police sting

In 1990, Worthy was arrested in Houston and charged with two counts of solicitation of prostitution. He was in the city with the Lakers for a game against the Houston Rockets. According to the police, prior to the game, Worthy called a local escort service and requested that two women be sent to meet him in his hotel room. Unbeknownst to Worthy, police had already shut down the escort service, and they instead sent two undercover vice squad officers to the hotel to meet him. [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C0CE0DF1F30F935A25752C1A966958260 SPORTS PEOPLE: PRO BASKETBALL; Worthy Arrested - New York Times ] ] A month later, Worthy pleaded no contest to both charges. He was sentenced to one year of probation, fined $1,000 and ordered to perform 40 hours of community service. [ [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C0CE5D81030F936A25751C1A966958260 SPORTS PEOPLE: PRO BASKETBALL; No Contest for Worthy - New York Times] ]

Notes

External links

* [http://www.nba.com/historical/playerfile/index.html?player=james_worthy nba.com/historical/playerfile]
* [http://www.hoophall.com/halloffamers/worthy_james.htm Basketball Hall of Fame biography]
* [http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/w/worthja01.html Career Stats]
* [http://hoopedia.nba.com/index.php/James_Worthy Hoopedia bio]
* [http://www.victorypennants.com/unc-tarheels-1982-basketball-champions-pen1983.html James Worthy's UNC Tar Heels 1982 NCAA Champions Basketball Pennant]
* [http://www.lakersweb.com/players/james_worthy.html James Worthy Profile and Stats] at LakersWeb.com

Persondata
NAME = Worthy, James
ALTERNATIVE NAMES =
SHORT DESCRIPTION = American basketball player
DATE OF BIRTH = February 27, 1961
PLACE OF BIRTH = Gastonia, North Carolina
DATE OF DEATH =
PLACE OF DEATH =