Albert King (born December 17, 1959) is an American former professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

player. The younger brother of former NBA scoring champion and Hall of Famer

Bernard King Bernard King (born December 4, 1956) is an American former professional basketball player at the small forward position in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played 14 seasons with the New Jersey Nets, Utah Jazz, Golden State Warrior ...

, Albert played at

Fort Hamilton High School Fort Hamilton High School (HS 490) is a Public school (government funded), public high school in Brooklyn, New York, United States, under the jurisdiction of the New York City Department of Education. Students in Bay Ridge, Sunset Park, Brook ...

in Brooklyn and is regarded as one of the nation's greatest high school players of all time. He was rated the top prep player in the nation over

Magic Johnson Earvin "Magic" Johnson Jr. (born August 14, 1959) is an American businessman and former professional basketball player. Often regarded as the greatest point guard of all time, Johnson List of NBA players who have spent their entire career w ...

and Gene Banks during his senior year. A guard-forward from the

University of Maryland The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland, United States. Founded in 1856, UMD is the flagship institution of the Univ ...

, King was selected by the

New Jersey Nets New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 ** "New" (Paul McCartney song), 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, 1995 * "New" (Daya song), 2017 * "New" (No Doubt song), 1 ...

in the first round (10th overall) of the

1981 NBA draft The 1981 NBA draft was the 35th annual NBA draft, draft of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The draft was held on June 9, 1981, before the 1981–82 NBA season, 1981–82 season. The draft was broadcast in the United States on the NBA ...

. King played in nine NBA seasons for four teams.

Early life

King attended

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

, New York. He was named to the inaugural

McDonald's All-American McDonald's Corporation, doing business as McDonald's, is an American multinational fast food chain. As of 2024, it is the second largest by number of locations in the world, behind only the Chinese chain Mixue Ice Cream & Tea. Brothers ...

team, which played in the 1977 Capital Classic.

College career

In the 1979–80 college season, King was named the ACC Men's Basketball Player of the Year. He appeared on the cover of ''Sports Illustrated'' twice during the 1980 season. One of the highlights of his ACC career was a thundering dunk over Duke center

Mike Gminski Michael Thomas Gminski (born August 3, 1959) is an American former professional basketball player and a college basketball TV analyst for the CW Courtside Saturday, ACC on The CW and CBS Sports. In 2003, Gminski, of Polish descent, was inducted i ...

during a Maryland home game at Cole Field House.

Duke Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of Royal family, royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and above sovereign princes. As royalty or nobi ...

was the first-seeded team in the nation at the time, and King went on to lead the Terrapins in scoring that night and helped defeat the Blue Devils 101–82. His no. 55 jersey was honored by the Maryland basketball program. In 2002, King was named to the ACC 50th Anniversary men's basketball team as one of the fifty greatest players in

Atlantic Coast Conference The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. Headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, the ACC's eighteen member universities compete in the National Collegiate Athlet ...

history.

Professional career

King played in nine NBA seasons for four teams. He played for the

Philadelphia 76ers The Philadelphia 76ers, also known colloquially as the Sixers, are an American professional basketball team based in the Philadelphia metropolitan area. The 76ers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Atlan ...

San Antonio Spurs The San Antonio Spurs are an American professional basketball team based in San Antonio. The Spurs compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southwest Division (NBA), Southwest Division of the Western Conference (NBA ...

and

Washington Bullets The Washington Wizards are an American professional basketball team based in Washington, D.C. The Wizards compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference. The team plays i ...

. King's best years as a professional came during his playing days with the Nets from 1981 to 1987. During the 1982–83 season, he appeared in 79 games and averaged 17.0 points per game and 3.7 assists per game. In his NBA career, he played in 534 games and scored a total of 6,470 points. At the end of the 1988–89 season, he was signed by

Olimpia Milano Pallacanestro Olimpia Milano, commonly known as Olimpia Milano or as EA7 Emporio Armani Milan after its title sponsor, is an LBA Italian professional basketball team, based in Milan, Italy. Its colors are white and red, and the team is sometimes ...

of the Italian Basketball League to replace Billy Martin. In

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

he played the last two games of the regular season and the following 12 of the postseason. Alongside some very experienced players such as

Bob McAdoo Robert Allen McAdoo Jr. ( ; born September 25, 1951) is an American former professional basketball player and coach. He played 14 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA), where he was a five-time NBA All-Star and named the NBA Mos ...

Mike D'Antoni Michael Andrew D'Antoni (born May 8, 1951) is an American-Italian professional basketball coach and former player who most recently served as a coaching advisor for the New Orleans Pelicans of the National Basketball Association (NBA). While h ...

and Dino Meneghin, he gave an essential contribution for winning the title in a very contested last game of the finals, scoring a season-high 22 points. During the second half of the 1989–90 season, King played for Hapoel Holon of the Israeli Basketball League. In just 11 games he scored an average of 22.8 points per game including a 23-point game against Israeli powerhouse Maccabi Tel Aviv. The team finished the season in the seventh place and King left. King spent the 1990–1991 season playing in the

Continental Basketball Association The Continental Basketball Association (CBA), originally known as the Eastern Pennsylvania Basketball League, and later as the Eastern Professional Basketball League and the Eastern Basketball Association, was a men's professional basketball m ...

with the Albany Patroons, coached by

George Karl George Matthew Karl (born May 12, 1951) is an American former professional basketball coach and player. After spending five years as a player for the San Antonio Spurs, he became an assistant with the team before being appointed as a head coach ...

, where he was named the CBA Newcomer of the Year. He returned to the NBA again in September 1991, when he signed with the

. He was waived by the Bullets in November after appearing in 6 games where he averaged 5.2 points per game.

Personal life

He is the younger brother of former NBA scoring champion,

. They grew up in the Fort Greene neighborhood of

. Two of his older brothers also played college basketball, Thomas for West Virginia Wesleyan and Ronald for Miami Dade Junior College. He is also one of the central personalities in Rick Telander's acclaimed book '' Heaven is a Playground''. In the 1990s, he hosted ''Nets Slammin' Planet'' with Evan Roberts, Brandon Scoop B Robinson and Chris Carrino. Following his basketball career, King opened several

Wendy's Wendy's International, LLC, is an American international fast food restaurant chain founded by Dave Thomas (businessman), Dave Thomas on November 15, 1969, in Columbus, Ohio. Its headquarters moved to Dublin, Ohio, on January 29, 2006. As of D ...

restaurants.

References

External links

Albert King NBA stats
at Basketball-Reference {{DEFAULTSORT:King, Albert 1959 births Living people 20th-century African-American sportsmen 20th-century American sportsmen 21st-century African-American sportsmen Albany Patroons players All-American college men's basketball players American expatriate basketball people in Italy American men's basketball players Fort Hamilton High School alumni Maryland Terrapins men's basketball players McDonald's High School All-Americans New Jersey Nets announcers New Jersey Nets draft picks New Jersey Nets players Parade High School All-Americans (boys' basketball) People from Fort Greene, Brooklyn Philadelphia 76ers players San Antonio Spurs players Shooting guards Small forwards Basketball players from Brooklyn Washington Bullets players