With NBA season beginning as Major League Baseball and high school football wrap up, I started thinking about Mississippi’s basketball history.
The state has produced multiple stars, far more per capita than most other states.
So who are the starting five NBA players who are Mississippi born? Here’s my list, although it should be noted that stars who played their college ball in Mississippi but were born in other states, such as Hall of Famer Bailey Howell who was reared in Tennessee, are not included. That’s another list for another day.
Here goes:
Point Guard: Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf (born Chris Jackson), Gulfport. He is one of the quirkiest characters in memory. He had odd tics and refused to stand for the national anthem after converting to Islam (long before that became a thing). But man could he shoot a basketball. During his career spanning 1990 to 2001, he shot a remarkable .905 on free throws. That’s the highest percentage of all-time, although Abdul-Rauf is not generally listed as the leader because the usual requirement on percentage stats is at least 400 career games and he only played 336. But he made free throws at a higher clip than legendary shooters like Steve Nash, Steph Curry, Rick Barry and Ray Allen.
Shooting Guard: Monta Ellis, Jackson. The best active player born in Mississippi, his high school career at Lanier High was legendary, drawing huge crowds for every road game as he put up unreal point totals. The small shooting guard has continued to be a scoring machine in the NBA, averaging 17.8 points per game over 13 seasons. Although his career is wrapping up (Ellis is a free agent after being cut by the Pacers after last season), he’s been a worthy standard bearer of the state’s hoops heritage.
Small Forward: Clarence Weatherspoon, Columbus. “Spoon” starred at Southern Miss before being drafted ninth overall by the 76ers in 1992. He played 15 seasons and was a strong player who could score and rebound. He’s not related, amazingly, to current Mississippi State star Quinndary Weatherspoon, who could one day make it on this list if he keeps improving.
Power Forward: Al Jefferson, Prentiss. Well-known in South Mississippi, Jefferson has had an outstanding career after jumping straight from high school to the pros in 2004. The current Indiana Pacer has averaged 16 points and 8.6 rebounds over 14 seasons. There are very few who can match Jefferson’s skills scoring from the post, particularly from the left block.
Center: Sam Lacey, Indianola. Lacey, unfortunately, is not remembered as much as he should be for two reasons: 1. He played the vast majority of his career with a team that no longer exists, the Cincinnati and then Kansas City Royals; and 2. His strength was defense, which doesn’t turn heads like scoring a bunch of points does yet is just as important to winning. Here’s how good Lacey, a 6-foot-10 center who played from 1970 to 1983, was: He rates eighth all-time in defensive rating, an advanced statistic designed to measure a player’s total defensive contributions. The eighth-highest rated player in offensive rating, a similar stat, is Charles Barkley, which shows just how elite of a defender Lacey was. He was also a great passer, ranking third all-time among Mississippians in the NBA in assists with nearly all of the others ranked around him being guards. And he’s the all-time leading rebounder from the state.
Disagree with my list? Email me at csmith@columbianprogress.com with your thoughts.
Charlie Smith is publisher of The Columbian-Progress. He can be reached (601) 736-2611 or by email at csmith@columbianprogress.com
