JAMES WORTHY

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

Contents

College basketball career

Professional basketball career

Current

1990 police sting

Trivia

Notes

External links

College basketball career

Worthy was a stand-out basketball player for the North Carolina Tar Heels and a key member of that school's 1982 NCAA championship team. In that year's championship game against the Georgetown Hoyas, Worthy's freshman teammate, Michael Jordan, made the final shot to give North Carolina the lead. On Georgetown's subsequent possession, Worthy stole the ball to seal the Tar Heels' victory.

Professional basketball career

Worthy was selected by the Los Angeles Lakers as the first overall pick of the 1982 NBA Draft. As a Laker, he contributed to three NBA championships in 1985, 1987, and 1988. He lead the Lakers in scoring in both the 1990-91 and 1991-92 seasons, and was a seven-time NBA All-Star. He ranks 5th all-time in team scoring (16,320), 2nd all-time in team steals (1,041), and 6th all-time in team field goal percentage (.521). He was best known for his one-handed "Statue of Liberty" slam dunk, his amazing quickness for his size, and his ability to defend. Although lesser known than teammates Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Magic Johnson, he is regarded as an important part of the Lakers' success. As the recipient of Magic's dazzling passes, he was a great finisher due his ability to glide seemingly effortlessly through the air to the basket. He was a member of the 1983 NBA all-rookie team (unanimous choice). And his 36 points, 16 rebounds, and 10 assist in Game 7 of the 1988 NBA Finals earned him the Most Valuable Player award. He began wearing eye goggles after suffering a severe eye injury during the 1984-1985 season.
Nicknamed by longtime Lakers play-by-play man Chick Hearn as "'Big Game James'," Worthy played in 926 NBA games, averaged 17.6 points per game (21.1 points per playoff game). Despite being 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 1999. 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.

Current

As of 2007, 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 of 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 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.
^[1] A month later, Worthy pleaded no contest to both charges. He was sentenced to one year of probation, fined $1,000 USD and ordered to perform 40 hours of community service.
^[2]

Trivia

★ Worthy appeared as a Klingon in a '' episode titled "Gambit".

★ Mentioned in the movie American History X, when two characters argue over who had the bigger basketball dynasty, the Lakers or the Celtics. Edward Norton's character, supporting the Celtics, says that Worthy has a head "like a melon."

Notes

1. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C0CE0DF1F30F935A25752C1A966958260
2. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C0CE5D81030F936A25751C1A966958260

External links

★ Basketball Hall of Fame biography

★ Career Stats