Alphonso Gene Ford (October 31, 1971 – September 4, 2004) was an American 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. A 1.92 m (6 ft 3 in) tall, 98 kg (216 lbs.)

shooting guard The shooting guard (SG), also known as the two, two guard or off guard,Shooting guards are 6'3"–6'7"BBC Sports academy URL last accessed 2006-09-09. is one of the five traditional basketball positions, positions in a regulation basketball game ...

, he was one of the greatest scorers in

college basketball College basketball is basketball that is played by teams of Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. In the Higher education in the United States, United States, colleges and universities are governed by collegiate athle ...

history. After a short stint in the

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

, he played professionally in Europe. Ford confirmed his tremendous scoring ability in the

EuroLeague The EuroLeague is a European men's professional basketball club competition. The league is widely recognised as the top-tier and the most prestigious men's basketball league in Europe. The league consists of 20 teams, of which 16 are given lon ...

, and became a reference in the matter, notwithstanding his chronic health issues. He was the EuroLeague Top Scorer twice (

2001 The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...

2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...

), and earned an All-EuroLeague selection three times. The competition's leading scorer award bears his name, in his honor.

Early years

Ford was a high school star player for Amanda Elzy High School in

Greenwood, Mississippi Greenwood is a city in and the county seat of Leflore County, Mississippi, United States, located at the eastern edge of the Mississippi Delta region, approximately 96 miles north of the state capital, Jackson, and 130 miles south of the rive ...

. Upon entering

Mississippi Valley State University Mississippi Valley State University (MVSU, The Valley or Valley) is a Public university, public Historically black colleges and universities, historically black university in Mississippi Valley State, Mississippi, adjacent to Itta Bena, Mississ ...

, Ford led the entire

NCAA Division I NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest division of intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major collegiate athlet ...

in freshman scoring, during the 1989–90 season, with a 29.9 points per game average. In his sophomore year, he averaged 32.7 points per game. He became the first player in NCAA Division I history to average 25 points per game in four straight seasons. With 3,165 career points scored in the NCAA Division I, he is 5th on the all-time scoring list, behind only

Pete Maravich Peter Press Maravich ( ; June 22, 1947 – January 5, 1988), known by his nickname Pistol Pete, was an American professional basketball player. He starred in college at Louisiana State University's Tigers basketball team; his father, Press Mar ...

Freeman Williams Freeman Williams Jr. (May 15, 1956 – April 19, 2022) was an American professional basketball player in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the Portland State Vikings, where he was a two-time All-Americ ...

Lionel Simmons Lionel James "L-Train" Simmons (born November 14, 1968) is an Americans, American former professional basketball player. Early life Simmons led South Philadelphia High School to a Philadelphia Public League boys' championship in 1986, getting an ...

, and Chris Clemons. Ford was a four-time All-

Southwestern Athletic Conference The Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama, which is made up of historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) in the Southern United St ...

(SWAC) selection; a feat that only he and Harry Kelly accomplished.

Professional career

NBA and CBA

Ford played five games in the

1994–95 NBA season The 1994–95 NBA season was the 49th season of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The season ended with the Houston Rockets defeating the Orlando Magic 4–0 in the NBA Finals to be crowned champions. Notable occurrences *The Housto ...

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 ...

, who selected him 32nd overall in the

1993 NBA draft The 1993–94 NBA season, 1993 NBA draft took place on June 30, 1993, at The Palace of Auburn Hills in Auburn Hills, Michigan. The draft had some talented players at the top, but injuries and personal problems hurt many of them. Chris Webber, Pen ...

. Before that, he had played six games for the

Seattle SuperSonics The Seattle SuperSonics (commonly shortened to Sonics) were an American professional basketball team based in Seattle. The SuperSonics competed in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Western Division (1967–1970), and ...

, in 1993–94. During both the 1993–94 and 1994–95 NBA seasons, Ford played 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 ...

(CBA) for the

Tri-City Chinook The Tri-City Chinook were a professional basketball team based in Kennewick, Washington. They played 4 seasons in the Continental Basketball Association (CBA), the defunct development league for the National Basketball Association (NBA). The team ...

. He averaged 22.8 points per game in his rookie year with the Chinook and he was selected to the All-CBA First Team and named Rookie of the Year. Ford averaged 24.0 points per game during the 1994–95 season with the Chinook.

Europe

First steps towards European stardom

In the 1995–96 season, Ford signed with Spanish first division club Peñas Huesca. However, although he played great basketball and averaged 25.1 points per game in the Spanish League, he could not prevent the team's

relegation Promotion and relegation is used by sports leagues as a process where teams can move up and down among divisions in a league system, based on their performance over a season. Leagues that use promotion and relegation systems are sometimes call ...

. The next season was for Ford the opportunity to show his skills, in what was at the time Europe's most competitive national domestic league, the

Greek Basket League The Greek Basketball League (GBL), and also known as the Stoiximan Greek Basketball League (GBL) for sponsorship reasons, is the Greek basketball league system, first tier level professional basketball league in Greece. It is run by the ...

. He spent the season with

Papagou Papagou ( or Παπάγος ''Papagos'') is a suburban town and municipal unit in the eastern part of the Athens#Athens Urban Area, Athens agglomeration, Greece. The town is named after Marshal Alexandros Papagos, a general who led the Greek Army ...

, and led the team to a ninth-place finish, while also being the Greek competition's leading scorer, with 23.9 points per contest. Nevertheless, glory at the European-wide level turned out to be a little bit more far away than the great scorer thought. Before the beginning of the 1997–98 season, he was diagnosed with

leukemia Leukemia ( also spelled leukaemia; pronounced ) is a group of blood cancers that usually begin in the bone marrow and produce high numbers of abnormal blood cells. These blood cells are not fully developed and are called ''blasts'' or '' ...

, thus obliging

to break his contract. The treatment cost Ford the whole season, but he was convinced that he had a lot more to contribute. He signed a one-year deal with Sporting, a traditional Greek club that was struggling to remain in Greece's top basketball scene. The gifted

helped the team finish in a decent eleventh-place finish, but most importantly, he defied his disease, in an utterly remarkable way. Ford agreed to a two-year deal with the Greek club Nikas Peristeri, before the Greek Basket League 1999–2000 season, experiencing the game, within a team with considerably higher ambitions than any of the ones he had played for in the past. Needless to say, the challenge was accepted by the player, who would become a reference in the club's history. Ford averaged 22.7 points per game in the Greek League, leading Peristeri to a fifth-place finish in the league. Also, he made his first appearance in a European-wide competition, by playing in the European-wide 3rd-tier level

FIBA Korać Cup The FIBA Korać Cup was an annual basketball club competition held by FIBA Europe between the 1971–72 and 2001–02 seasons. It was the European professional club basketball system, third-tier level club competition in European basketball, a ...

's 1999–2000 season, where he scored 20.7 points per game, and reached the competition's top 16 with his team, before they lost to Adecco Estudiantes.

The biggest scorer in EuroLeague's modern era

The real breakout season for Ford though, was going to be his second one with

Peristeri Peristeri (Greek language, Greek: Περιστέρι, meaning "pigeon/dove" in Greek) is a city and a suburban municipality in the western part of the Athens#Athens Urban Area, Athens agglomeration, Greece. With 133,630 inhabitants (2021 census), ...

, in 2000–01. The team contended for the Greek Basket League 2000–01 season title, and ended up in the league's third-place position, while he was named the league's MVP. In parallel, the club also took part in

Euroleague Basketball Euroleague Basketball, run by Euroleague Commercial Assets (ECA), is a private company that runs and operates men's professional basketball club competitions in Europe, the first-tier level EuroLeague, and the second-tier level EuroCup. It has ...

's EuroLeague 2000–01 season, and Ford shined, while playing for the first time at the highest European-wide league level. He was the EuroLeague Top Scorer, averaging 26 points per game, and had a memorable 41-point outburst against Tau Ceramica in the competition's playoffs, scoring more than half of his team's 79 points that night. Tau qualified for the quarterfinals, sweeping the playoff series between the two teams, by two games to none, but Ford's performance is now part of the

legend. Finally, his nomination to the All-EuroLeague 2000–01 First Team, was at the same time, a huge recognition, and an official introduction to superstar status. In the 2001–02 season, the Greek EuroLeague powerhouse,

Olympiacos Olympiacós Sýndesmos Filáthlon Peiraiós (, Olympic Association of Fans of Piraeus) is a major multi-sport club based in Piraeus, Greece. Olympiacos is parent to a number of different competitive departments which participate in football, ...

, offered Ford a $1 million net income single-year contract. His mission was to bring a team that had not won anything since the triple crown in 1997, back to the top. Ford signed the deal, and the results were immediate: he led the Reds to a

Greek Cup The Greek Football Cup (), commonly known as the Greek Cup or Betsson Greek Cup for sponsorship reasons is a Greek football competition, run by the Hellenic Football Federation. The Greek Cup is the second-most important domestic men's footba ...

trophy, with 20 points, 7 assists and 3 rebounds, in the cup's semifinal against Bodiroga's Panathinaikos, and 24 points, 10 rebounds and 3 assists, in the cup's final game, to defeat

Maroussi Marousi or Maroussi (), also known as Amarousio (), is a city and a suburb in the northeastern part of the Athens urban area, Greece. Marousi dates back to the era of the ancient Athenian Republic; its ancient name was '' Athmonon'' () and it r ...

, by a score of 66–74. In the EuroLeague 2001–02 season,

made it to the competition's Top 16 stage, and fell one game short of reaching the

EuroLeague Final Four The EuroLeague Final Four is the final four format championship of the European-wide top-tier level EuroLeague professional club basketball competition. The Euroleague Basketball Company used the final four format for the first time in 2002, fo ...

. Ford could actually not prevent an 85–89 home loss to Olimpija Ljubljana, although he had a solid performance that night, with 21 points, 9 rebounds and 5 assists. He was once again the EuroLeague's Top Scorer, at 24.8 points per game, and was selected to the All-EuroLeague 2001–02 Second Team. The season ended with a loss in the Greek League's championship finals series to AEK, with Ford missing the last two crucial games of the series, due to an injury. Olympiacos changed for the EuroLeague 2002–03 season. The major Greek EuroLeague clubs were forced to reduce their budgets, due to the renovation of their arenas for the

2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad (), and officially branded as Athens 2004 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 13 to 29 August 2004 in Athens, Greece. The Games saw 10,625 athletes ...

, in

Athens Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...

. They therefore became considerably less competitive in the league. Ford's contract with Olympiacos was subsequently not renewed, and he signed a new contract with the Italian league's

contender, Mens Sana Siena. Ford had a quick adaptation period to his new team, and although his scoring average in the EuroLeague dropped to 17.9 points per game, he was selected to the All-EuroLeague 2002–03 First Team, after

Siena Siena ( , ; traditionally spelled Sienna in English; ) is a city in Tuscany, in central Italy, and the capital of the province of Siena. It is the twelfth most populated city in the region by number of inhabitants, with a population of 52,991 ...

qualified to the 2003 EuroLeague Final Four. Unfortunately, Ford had one of his worst shooting nights ever, in the semifinal against Benetton Treviso: he scored 15 points, making only 5 of his 19 shots. His 7 rebounds and 2 steals did not allow his team to overcome Benetton's obstacle, as they lost 62–65 in a highly intense game. In the Italian League 2002–03 season, Ford averaged 19.1 points per game, and

finished in fourth place in the league.

Final season and death

Despite his leukemia being in an advanced stage, Ford played the Italian League 2003–04 season with Scavolini Pesaro. Averaging 22.2 points per game in the Italian League, Ford, in his final season, helped Scavolini finish in fourth place in the Italian League, which meant the team qualified to the next season's

, and to the Italian Cup's runner-up position, despite being near death. Less than two weeks after announcing his retirement from the

, Ford died from leukemia, at age 32. He is survived by his wife Paula, their daughter Quekenshia, and their sons Karlderek, Alphonso Jr. In Ford's honor, the EuroLeague named its trophy for the leading scorer of the year, the

Alphonso Ford EuroLeague Top Scorer Trophy The Alphonso Ford EuroLeague Top Scorer Trophy, also known as the EuroLeague best scorer, is an annual basketball award of Europe's premier level league, the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague. It is given to the top scorer throughout the EuroLeague se ...

. The player who replaced Ford on Scavolini Pesaro, following his death, Charles Smith, would win the award the very next season. In 2021, a documentary dedicated to the life of Alphonso Ford, titled Alphonso Ford: Score Until The Last Day, premiered at the Thessaloniki International Documentary Festival, receiving critical acclaim.

Career statistics

College

, - , style="text-align:left;", 1989–90 , style="text-align:left;", MVSU , 27 , , – , , 31.8 , , .441 , , .361 , , .737 , , 4.9 , , 1.9 , , 1.5 , , .2 , , 29.9 , - , style="text-align:left;", 1990–91 , style="text-align:left;", MVSU , 28 , , – , , 33.4 , , .487 , , .331 , , .765 , , 6.0 , , 1.4 , , 2.2 , , .1 , , 32.7 , - , style="text-align:left;", 1991–92 , style="text-align:left;", MVSU , 26 , , – , , 33.2 , , .450 , , .303 , , .757 , , 5.6 , , 3.7 , , 2.5 , , .4 , , 27.5 , - , style="text-align:left;", 1992–93 , style="text-align:left;", MVSU , 28 , , – , , 32.7 , , .436 , , .352 , , .791 , , 5.3 , , 3.9 , , 1.9 , , .4 , , 26.0 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 109 , , – , , 32.8 , , .454 , , .338 , , .763 , , 5.4 , , 2.7 , , 2.0 , , .3 , , 29.0