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.
Worth...
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.
Worthy was selected by the Los Angeles Lakers as the first overall pick of the 1982 NBA Draft and immediately made an impact as a rookie. He averaged 13.4 points per game and shot 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 dynamic scoring ability. 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 tibula after coming down awkwardly from a jumpball in one of the last regular season games of the year.
Worthy played in 926 NBA 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. 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 Jerry West, Wilt Chamberlain, Elgin Baylor, Gail Goodrich, Magic Johnson, and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
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