James Worthy - 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.

Category:

Sports

Tags:

• basketball

[2008sALINAs]

The most underrated Laker of all time.

[aktxag]

@fierrote As great as Elgin Baylor was (an OUTSTANDING rebounder for a small forward), he has NO rings. I put Worthy ahead of Baylor. In big games, few were ever better than Big Game James.

[durasingh]

i see some of the similar post moves between Big Game and Mike.. sweet video !

[gtfour93]

SHOWTIME

[crosbyhater18]

quickest first step in nba history

[Mrchickenseggs]

@aktxag He has 3 rings

[KristofferDamkjaer]

Cool vid. Great choice of music. Love the pure old-school theme!

[DeeNice681]

Your right about Terry Cummings because he just wasn't as explosive as Worthy. Plus imo he was a power forward, especially by today's standards. Nique though could go out their and drop 30 to 40 on the Pistons like Worthy did. Though he would take alot of shot's to do it.

[fredagsedb]

@Zeke4TV Well If you take either Ginobili or Parker away, you're about right. I'm pretty sure it was from a trade some years back with Utah or something. I love the Spurs, and their big three, but they had a similar situation. They were a top team in the west but tanked their season because David Robinson was injured so they could get a shot at the 1st pick.

[stormwood78]

Replace Worthy with say Dominique Wilkins or Terry Cummings and the Lakers don't win the 1988 title. Dude was unstoppable against the Pistons, and Detroit is one of the greatest defensive teams in history.

[Darkstarfoxx]

Kareem Magic and WORTHY boy they had the best names back then.