Michael James Brittain (June 21, 1963 – October 17, 1995) 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. In his senior year at

Clearwater High School Clearwater High School (CHS) is a four-year public high school located in Clearwater, Florida, United States. It is part of the Pinellas County School System. The school mascot is a tornado, therefore students and faculty are known as the ''Tor ...

, the 7-foot center led the Jack Wilson-coached Clearwater High Tornadoes to a 32–3 record and the 1981 Class 4A State title. Brittain scored 32 points in the State Championship game, winning easily over Miami Central 79–53. Brittain went on to play collegiately for the

University of South Carolina The University of South Carolina (USC, SC, or Carolina) is a Public university, public research university in Columbia, South Carolina, United States. Founded in 1801 as South Carolina College, It is the flagship of the University of South Car ...

. He was selected by the

National Basketball Association 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 ...

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 ...

in the second round (29th pick overall) of the

1985 NBA draft The 1985–86 NBA season, 1985 NBA draft took place on June 18, 1985. It was also the first NBA draft of the "NBA draft lottery, lottery" era. It was also around this time where the league decreased the amount of rounds the draft spent, with the ...

and played for the Spurs for 38 games between 1985 and 1987. He also played a season 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

Pensacola Tornados The Pensacola Tornados was a basketball team that played in Pensacola, Florida in the Continental Basketball Association (CBA) from 1985–1991. 1985–1986 season Ted Stepien bought a CBA franchise for Toronto in 1983 after threatening to mo ...

, averaging 1.9 points and 2.3 rebounds in 15 games. On October 21, 1995, Brittain was found dead in his

Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

, apartment. The DeKalb County Medical Examiner's Office attributed his death to high blood-alcohol concentration, based on toxicology tests performed by the

Georgia Bureau of Investigation The Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) is the state bureau of investigation of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is an independent, statewide agency that provides assistance to Georgia's criminal justice system in the areas of criminal investi ...

. At the time of his death, he was working as a regional manager for a pharmaceutical company there.

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* 1963 births 1995 deaths Alcohol-related deaths in Georgia (U.S. state) American men's basketball players Basketball players from Pinellas County, Florida Centers (basketball) Clearwater High School alumni Pensacola Tornados (1986–1991) players San Antonio Spurs draft picks San Antonio Spurs players South Carolina Gamecocks men's basketball players Sportspeople from Clearwater, Florida {{1960s-US-basketball-bio-stub