Player Spotlight - Jamal Mashburn

This week's player spotlight will take a look at small forward, Jamal Mashburn.

Did you know your boy is the 3rd youngest player to score 50 points? Impressive. Jamal had a stellar college career at Kentucky, being named an All-American in his junior year and it translated into a 4th overall selection in the 1993 draft by the Dallas Mavericks. Your boy led rookies in scoring, but it didn't earn him the ROY...all rookie first team would have to do. The first in a string of snubbs for Jamal. In his second year, he teamed with 3rd year guard Jim Jackson and rookie, Jason kidd to form "Triple J" which led the Mavs to the best turnaround in the L.

Injuries hit Jamal pretty hard, and its a shame. He was traded to the Miami Heat in the 1996-7 season, when his trade value had dipped and he was not the focal point of the offense. He bumbled through a couple of seasons, reaching the playoffs each year but never got to the big dance. In 2000 he was traded to the Charlotte/New Orleans Hornets and became a leader to a very young squad (wuddup B Diddy). 2003 marked the first and only year that Jamal would make his presence felt in the NBA all star game, and I find that quite remarkable.

Jamal had continued knee problems for the 2003-2004 season and he was even forced to sit out the following year. Ya boy was even traded with journeyman Rodney Rogers to the Sixers for washed up, former "Big Dog" Glenn Robinson. Waived in 2006, Jamal has since retired and lives in Miami. You can still see Jamal on ESPN and NBA Fastbreak where he is well spoken and articulates his points nicely. As mentioned before, Jamal was a one time all-star with averages of 19.1, 5.4 and 4.0 a game for his career. He was snubbed early in his career, went through some major setbacks, but was finally able to be a deserved all-star after 10 years in the league!


[Editors note: Don't sleep on the 93' draft..Webber, Penny, Jamal, Vin Baker, Allan Houston, RIDER and lets not forget Sam Cassell and Nick the Quick...or everyone's favorite big, white, #2 overall pick - Darko........................................... just kidding, it was Shawn "The Mantis" Bradley- see video on the left side )].