Michael Anthony Mitchell (January 1, 1956 – June 9, 2011) 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 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 ...

(NBA), over eleven seasons, from 1978 to 1990.

College career

Mitchell, who was born in

Atlanta 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 ...

, played

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 ...

Auburn University Auburn University (AU or Auburn) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Auburn, Alabama, United States. With more than 26,800 undergraduate students, over 6,100 post-graduate students, and a tota ...

. While at Auburn, Mitchell was a four-time All-SEC selection and was named a second-team All-American in his 1977–78 season. He also became Auburn's all-time leader in scoring (2,123 points) and rebounding (996), after leaving for the NBA. He remains the all-time leading rebounder and is second in all-time scoring only to Chuck Person. Mitchell's number 30 jersey was retired on January 19, 2013, at the Auburn Arena.

Professional career

Mitchell was drafted with the 15th pick in the first round, of the 1978 NBA draft, by the

Cleveland Cavaliers The Cleveland Cavaliers, often referred to as the Cavs, are an American professional basketball team based in Cleveland. The Cavaliers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Central Division (NBA), Central Divis ...

. He started his

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 ...

career with the Cavaliers but played most of his career for the

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 ...

. Mitchell was a 6'7" and 234 lb.

small forward The small forward (SF), also known as the three, is one of the five Basketball position, positions in a regulation basketball game. Small forwards are typically shorter, quicker, and leaner than Power forward (basketball), power forwards and Cent ...

, with career averages of 19.8 points per game, 5.6 rebounds per game, 1.3 assists per game, a .493 field goal percentage, and a .779

free throw In basketball, free throws or foul shots are unopposed attempts to score points by shooting from behind the free-throw line (informally known as the foul line or the charity stripe), a line situated at the end of the restricted area. Free throws ...

percentage. He was known for his mid-range jumpshot and ability to play well under pressure in the postseason. Mitchell was an

All-Star An all-star team is a group of people all having a high level of performance in their field. Originating in sports, it has since drifted into vernacular and has been borrowed heavily by the entertainment industry. Sports "All-star" as a sport ...

in 1981 and was in the top ten in scoring four times, and the top ten in minutes played three times. During the

1983 NBA Playoffs The 1983 NBA playoffs was the postseason tournament of the National Basketball Association's 1982–83 NBA season, 1982–83 season. This was the final postseason using the 12-team format and this is the final postseason held of best of 3 series ...

, Mitchell and the Spurs reached the Western Conference Finals, where Mitchell led the Spurs in scoring with 25.7 points a game, while adding 10.3 rebounds a game, as the Spurs were eliminated by the

Los Angeles Lakers The Los Angeles Lakers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Lakers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division (NBA), Pacific Division of the Western Conference (NBA ...

in six games. Among other career highlights, he led the Spurs in scoring for the 1984–1985 season, which marked the only season in which George Gervin played on the Spurs and did not lead the team in scoring over an entire year. Mitchell averaged 22.2 points per game, to Gervin's 21.2 per game. Mitchell averaged 19.8 points per game over the course of his NBA career. His 9,799 total points scored for the San Antonio Spurs is seventh highest in franchise history, behind Gervin,

Tim Duncan Timothy Theodore Duncan (born April 25, 1976) is an American former professional basketball player and coach. He List of NBA players who have spent their entire career with one franchise, spent his entire 19-year career with the San Antonio Sp ...

, David Robinson,

Tony Parker William Anthony Parker Jr. (born 17 May 1982) is a French-American former professional basketball player and majority owner of ASVEL Basket, LDLC ASVEL of the LNB Élite and the EuroLeague. The son of a basketball pro, Parker started his career ...

, James Silas, and

Manu Ginóbili Emanuel David "Manu" Ginóbili ( , ; born 28 July 1977) is an Argentine former professional basketball player. Credited for popularizing the Euro step move in the NBA, he is regarded as one of the greatest shooting guards and sixth men in the le ...

. From 1988, until a short return to the Spurs during the 1990 playoffs, Mitchell played in Italy, with Basket Brescia. He also played in Italy with

Basket Napoli Napoli Basket may refer to: * Napoli Basket (2016) Napoli Basket, known for sponsorship reasons as GeVi Napoli, is an Italian professional basketball team of the city of Naples. It's the ''de facto'' successor of the Basket Napoli which was diss ...

, before leaving for the Israeli side Maccabi Tel Aviv, in 1991. From 1992, until his retirement in 1999, Mitchell played for another Italian club,

Pallacanestro Reggiana Pallacanestro Reggiana, also simply known as Reggiana or Reggio Emilia, currently known for sponsorship reasons as Unahotels Reggio Emilia, is an Italian professional basketball team based in Reggio Emilia, Emilia-Romagna. It plays in the LBA as ...

Post-playing career

Mitchell later worked as a counselor for at-risk youth, in San Antonio.

Death

Mitchell died of

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving Cell growth#Disorders, abnormal cell growth with the potential to Invasion (cancer), invade or Metastasis, spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Po ...

in 2011.

NBA career statistics

Regular season

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Cleveland Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–U.S. maritime border and approximately west of the Ohio-Pennsylvania st ...

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, 82 , , – , , 34.2 , , .523 , , .000 , , .787 , , 7.2 , , 1.1 , , .9 , , .9 , , 22.2 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 82 , , – , , 39.0 , , .476 , , .444 , , .784 , , 6.1 , , 1.7 , , .8 , , .6 , , 24.5 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 27 , , 26 , , 36.0 , , .454 , , .000 , , .720 , , 5.2 , , 1.4 , , 1.0 , , .6 , , 19.6 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

San Antonio San Antonio ( ; Spanish for " Saint Anthony") is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in Greater San Antonio. San Antonio is the third-largest metropolitan area in Texas and the 24th-largest metropolitan area in the ...

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, 80 , , 79 , , 35.0 , , .511 , , .000 , , .758 , , 6.7 , , 1.2 , , .7 , , .7 , , 19.9 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 79 , , 79 , , 36.1 , , .488 , , .429 , , .779 , , 7.2 , , 1.2 , , .8 , , .9 , , 23.3 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 82 , , 82 , , 34.8 , , .497 , , .217 , , .777 , , 5.1 , , 1.8 , , .7 , , .3 , , 22.2 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 82 , , 82 , , 36.2 , , .473 , , .000 , , .809 , , 5.0 , , 2.3 , , .7 , , .3 , , 23.4 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 40 , , 18 , , 23.1 , , .435 , , .500 , , .821 , , 2.6 , , 1.0 , , .5 , , .2 , , 12.7 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 68 , , 20 , , 22.1 , , .482 , , .250 , , .825 , , 2.9 , , 1.0 , , .5 , , .2 , , 13.5 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 759 , , 443 , , 32.3 , , .493 , , .216 , , .779 , , 5.6 , , 1.3 , , .7 , , .5 , , 19.8 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", All-Star , 1 , , 0 , , 15.0 , , .500 , , – , , 1.000 , , 4.0 , , 2.0 , , 1.0 , , .0 , , 14.0

Playoffs

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1982 Events January * January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00). * January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street Bridge in Washington, D.C. ...

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, 9, , –, , 40.6, , .533, , –, , .754, , 8.1, , .8, , .6, , .1, , 24.8 , - , style="text-align:left;",

1983 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to TCP/IP is officially completed (this is considered to be the beginning of the ...

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, 11, , –, , 38.4, , .510, , .500, , .758, , 9.5, , 1.1, , .6, , 1.7, , 20.9 , - , style="text-align:left;",

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a n ...

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, 5, , 5, , 36.0, , .564, , .000, , .875, , 3.8, , 2.4, , .6, , .8, , 21.8 , - , style="text-align:left;", 1986 , style="text-align:left;",

, 3, , 3, , 35.7, , .404, , –, , .500, , 3.0, , 3.3, , 1.0, , 1.0, , 15.7 , - , style="text-align:left;", 1988 , style="text-align:left;",

, 3, , 3, , 24.7, , .351, , –, , .833, , 5.0, , 1.3, , .3, , .3, , 10.3 , - , style="text-align:left;",

1990 Important events of 1990 include the Reunification of Germany and the unification of Yemen, the formal beginning of the Human Genome Project (finished in 2003), the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope, the separation of Namibia from South ...

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, 4, , 0, , 3.8, , .375, , –, , –, , .8, , .5, , .0, , .0, , 1.5 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 35 , , 11 , , 33.2 , , .502 , , .333 , , .762 , , 6.4 , , 1.3 , , .5 , , .8 , , 18.5

References

External links

Mike Mitchell page at basketball-reference.com

Lega Basket Serie A Profile & Stats
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mitchell, Mike 1956 births 2011 deaths American expatriate basketball people in Israel American expatriate basketball people in Italy American men's basketball players Auburn Tigers men's basketball players Pallacanestro Brescia players S.S. Basket Napoli players Basketball players from Atlanta Cleveland Cavaliers draft picks Cleveland Cavaliers players Deaths from cancer in Texas Lega Basket Serie A players Maccabi Tel Aviv B.C. players NBA All-Stars New York Nets draft picks Pallacanestro Reggiana players Parade High School All-Americans (boys' basketball) San Antonio Spurs players Small forwards 20th-century African-American sportsmen 21st-century African-American sportsmen