Rodney Earl McCray (born August 29, 1961) 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. A 6'7"

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 ...

, he spent 10 seasons (1983–93) 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), tallying 9,014 career points and 5,087 career

rebounds 'Rebound' is a term used in sports to describe the ball (or puck or other object of play) becoming available for possession by either opponent after an attempt to put the ball or puck into the goal has been unsuccessful. Rebounds are generally ...

College career

McCray attended the

University of Louisville The University of Louisville (UofL) is a public university, public research university in Louisville, Kentucky, United States. It is part of the Kentucky state university system. Chartered in 1798 as the Jefferson Seminary, it became in the 19t ...

and was a key member of the Cardinals team that won the 1980

NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship The NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament, branded as March Madness, or The Big Dance, is a single-elimination tournament played in the United States to determine the men's college basketball national champion of the Division I level ...

. His college teammates included his brother, Scooter McCray, as well as Darrell Griffith and Derek Smith. McCray qualified for the 1980 U.S. Olympic team but was unable to compete due to the

1980 Summer Olympics boycott The 1980 Summer Olympics boycott was the largest boycott in Olympic history and one part of a number of actions initiated by the United States to protest against the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. The Soviet Union, which hosted the 1980 Summ ...

. In 2007, he did receive one of 461

Congressional Gold Medal The Congressional Gold Medal is the oldest and highest civilian award in the United States, alongside the Presidential Medal of Freedom. It is bestowed by vote of the United States Congress, signed into law by the president. The Gold Medal exp ...

s created especially for the spurned athletes.

Professional career

He was drafted by the NBA's

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

with the third pick of the 1983 NBA draft and played four seasons with them, averaging 10.8 points per game with the Rockets, and further averaging double-digit scoring in eight of his first nine seasons.How Michael Jordan's trash talk forced Rodney McCray into early retirement
/ref> A renowned defender, he also earned NBA All-Defensive Team honors in 1987 and 1988, as well as a trip to the NBA Finals in

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. ** Spain and Portugal en ...

in a losing cause against

Larry Bird Larry Joe Bird (born December 7, 1956) is an American former professional basketball player, coach, and executive in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Nicknamed "the Hick from French Lick" and "Larry Legend" Bird is widely regarded a ...

Boston Celtics The Boston Celtics ( ) are an American professional basketball team based in Boston. The Celtics compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NBA), Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), ...

. In 1988, he was traded to the

Sacramento Kings The Sacramento Kings are an American professional basketball team based in Sacramento, California. The Kings compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division (NBA), Pacific Division of the Western Confere ...

with Jim Petersen in a package for Otis Thorpe. In 1990, he was traded to the

Dallas Mavericks The Dallas Mavericks (often referred to as the Mavs) are an American professional basketball team based in Dallas. The Mavericks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southwest Division (NBA), Southwest Divisi ...

for Bill Wennington. He spent his final season with the

Chicago Bulls The Chicago Bulls are an American professional basketball team based in Chicago. The Bulls compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Central Division of the Eastern Conference. The team was founded on January 16 ...

after being dealt to them in a three-team trade. He finished his career by winning an

NBA championship The NBA Finals is the annual championship series of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The Eastern Conference (NBA), Eastern and Western Conference (NBA), Western Conference champions play a best-of-seven series to determine the league ...

ring with the Bulls in 1993.

NBA career statistics

Regular season

, - , style="text-align:left;", 1983–84 , style="text-align:left;",

Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

, 79 , , 36 , , 26.3 , , .499 , , .250 , , .731 , , 5.7 , , 2.2 , , .7 , , .7 , , 10.8 , - , style="text-align:left;", 1984–85 , style="text-align:left;",

, style="background:#cfecec;", 82* , , 82 , , 36.6 , , .535 , , .000 , , .738 , , 6.6 , , 4.3 , , 1.1 , , .9 , , 14.4 , - , style="text-align:left;", 1985–86 , style="text-align:left;",

, 82 , , 82 , , 31.8 , , .537 , , .000 , , .770 , , 6.3 , , 3.6 , , .6 , , .7 , , 10.3 , - , style="text-align:left;", 1986–87 , style="text-align:left;",

, 81 , , 81 , , 38.7 , , .552 , , .000 , , .779 , , 7.1 , , 5.4 , , 1.1 , , .7 , , 14.4 , - , style="text-align:left;", 1987–88 , style="text-align:left;",

, 81 , , 80 , , 33.2 , , .481 , , .000 , , .785 , , 7.8 , , 3.3 , , .7 , , .6 , , 12.4 , - , style="text-align:left;", 1988–89 , style="text-align:left;",

Sacramento Sacramento ( or ; ; ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of California and the seat of Sacramento County. Located at the confluence of the Sacramento and American Rivers in Northern California's Sacramento Valley, Sacramento's 2020 p ...

, 68 , , 65 , , 35.8 , , .466 , , .227 , , .722 , , 7.6 , , 4.3 , , .8 , , .5 , , 12.6 , - , style="text-align:left;", 1989–90 , style="text-align:left;",

, style="background:#cfecec;", 82* , , 82 , , bgcolor="CFECEC" , 39.5* , , .515 , , .262 , , .784 , , 8.2 , , 4.6 , , .7 , , .9 , , 16.6 , - , style="text-align:left;", 1990–91 , style="text-align:left;",

Dallas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

, 74 , , 68 , , 34.6 , , .495 , , .333 , , .803 , , 7.6 , , 3.5 , , .9 , , .7 , , 11.4 , - , style="text-align:left;", 1991–92 , style="text-align:left;",

, 75 , , 48 , , 28.1 , , .436 , , .294 , , .719 , , 6.2 , , 2.9 , , .6 , , .4 , , 9.0 , - , style="text-align:left;background:#afe6ba;", 1992–93† , style="text-align:left;",

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

, 64 , , 5 , , 15.9 , , .451 , , .400 , , .692 , , 2.5 , , 1.3 , , .2 , , .2 , , 3.5 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 768 , , 629 , , 32.4 , , .503 , , .260 , , .761 , , 6.6 , , 3.6 , , .8 , , .6 , , 11.7

Playoffs

, - , 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 ...

, style="text-align:left;",

, 5 , , 5 , , 36.2 , , .559 , , – , , .652 , , 6.0 , , 2.2 , , 1.2 , , .2 , , 10.6 , - , style="text-align:left;",

, style="text-align:left;",

, 20 , , 20 , , 41.8 , , .535 , , .000 , , .741 , , 5.9 , , 6.3 , , .9 , , 1.0 , , 13.0 , - , style="text-align:left;",

1987 Events January * January 1 – Bolivia reintroduces the Boliviano currency. * January 2 – Chadian–Libyan conflict – Battle of Fada: The Military of Chad, Chadian army destroys a Libyan armoured brigade. * January 3 – Afghan leader ...

, style="text-align:left;",

, 10 , , 10 , , 43.6 , , .564 , , .000 , , .796 , , 8.3 , , 5.6 , , .5 , , .9 , , 15.7 , - , style="text-align:left;",

1988 1988 was a crucial year in the early history of the Internet—it was the year of the first well-known computer virus, the Morris worm, 1988 Internet worm. The first permanent intercontinental Internet link was made between the United State ...

, style="text-align:left;",

, 4 , , 4 , , 39.8 , , .387 , , .000 , , .667 , , 6.8 , , 2.3 , , 1.0 , , .8 , , 8.0 , - , style="text-align:left;background:#afe6ba;",

1993 The United Nations General Assembly, General Assembly of the United Nations designated 1993 as: * International Year for the World's Indigenous People The year 1993 in the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands had only 364 days, since its ...

† , style="text-align:left;",

, 7 , , 0 , , 5.6 , , .167 , , – , , – , , 1.9 , , .7 , , .0 , , .1 , , .3 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 46 , , 39 , , 35.9 , , .527 , , .000 , , .741 , , 5.9 , , 4.5 , , .7 , , .7 , , 10.9

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:McCray, Rodney 1961 births Living people American men's basketball players Chicago Bulls players Congressional Gold Medal recipients Dallas Mavericks players Houston Rockets draft picks Houston Rockets players Louisville Cardinals men's basketball players Parade High School All-Americans (boys' basketball) Sacramento Kings players Small forwards Basketball players from Mount Vernon, New York 21st-century African-American sportsmen 20th-century African-American sportsmen Mount Vernon High School (New York) alumni

College career

Professional career

NBA career statistics

Regular season

Playoffs

See also

References

External links