19 Facts About Jamal Mashburn

1.

Jamal Mashburn was born to Bobby, a former heavyweight boxer and New York City police officer, and Helen Jamal Mashburn.

2.

Jamal Mashburn's father retired in 1974 and then lived separately from Helen and his son Jamal, divorcing after about 10 years.

3.

Jamal Mashburn learned the game at Rucker Park, just a block away from where he grew up.

4.

Jamal Mashburn was the fourth-leading career scorer for the Wildcats and a consensus First Team All-American by his junior year, in which the Wildcats made it to the Final Four of the NCAA Tournament.

5.

The Mavericks were a lottery team led by veteran point guard Derek Harper and second year guard Jim Jackson, and Jamal Mashburn quickly shared the reins of the offense, averaging 19.2 points a game in 73 starts and earning a selection to the first NBA All-Rookie Team.

6.

Jamal Mashburn broke many franchise records and blossomed into one of the best scoring forwards in the league.

7.

The addition of Jamal Mashburn boosted the team's offense, and the team finished the season with a franchise best 61 wins with Jamal Mashburn averaging 13.4 points in 30 starts.

8.

Miami made its first ever Conference Finals against the defending champion Bulls, and would lose the first three games of the series before managing a win in Miami in game four, with Jamal Mashburn scoring 17 points.

9.

Jamal Mashburn started in 3 of the games and saw his production slip.

10.

Miami captured the best record in the Eastern Conference, but lost in the first round to New York, as Jamal Mashburn averaged 10 points in the five game series.

11.

Jamal Mashburn averaged a career high 24.9 points in the 2001 playoffs.

12.

Jamal Mashburn played in his first and only All-Star game, scoring 10 points in the 2003 NBA All-Star Game in Atlanta, won the Eastern Conference Player of the Month award in March and made the All-NBA Third Team.

13.

The Hornets won 47 games and faced the Philadelphia 76ers in the first round of the playoffs, but Jamal Mashburn played in only four games of the series due to a finger injury.

14.

Jamal Mashburn was later unable to participate in the 2004 playoffs.

15.

Jamal Mashburn had microfracture surgery performed on his knee, a risky surgery that not all players have been able to recover from.

16.

Jamal Mashburn was never able to recover from his chronic knee problems and never saw court time for Philadelphia.

17.

Jamal Mashburn had career averages of 19.1 points, 5.4 rebounds and 4.0 assists per game.

18.

Since retiring from basketball, Jamal Mashburn has worked for ESPN as an analyst and launched a number of successful business ventures.

19.

Jamal Mashburn plays college basketball for New Mexico after previously playing for Minnesota during his freshman season.