The Peach State has produced many NBA stars over the years, dating from the early years of the league to stars that still dominate the league today. With 115 players that have been born in Georgia, and 35 in Atlanta alone, there’s a lot of NBA talent to choose from when selecting the All-Georgia team. From this mass of current and former players, I assembled a strong team of past and current NBA stars, including a Hall of Famer.
Point Guard – Walt Frazier
Walt ‘Clyde’ Frazier was born in Atlanta on March 29 (Happy Birthday!), 1945. The Knicks legend honed his skills at Howard High School, where he also played as a football quarterback and baseball catcher. He grew up during in the segregated South, and thus could only practice at a beat up dirt playground, but was able to work hard with what he had.
Walt Frazier attended Southern Illinois University, and was a star in his time there. He led the obscure university to the National Invitational Tournament, and helped the Salukis capture the championship in 1967. After 4 years at SIU, Frazier was drafted 5th overall in the 1967 draft by the New York Knicks. In his rookie year, Frazier averaged 9 points, 4 assists, and 4 rebounds per game, which earned him a spot on the All-Rookie First Team.
Frazier could score, play tough defense, and hit open teammates. His teammate Willis Reed once said “It’s Clyde’s ball. He just lets us play with it once in a while”. Frazier, along with Earl ‘The Pearl’ Monroe and Reed, created a star-studded Knicks team that won two championships, in 1970 and 1973.
Frazier set New York’s all-time points scored, games played, minutes played, free throws made, free throws attempted, field goals made, and field goals attempted recorded, and his team assist record still stands after close to 40 years. Frazier was inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 1987. He played for the Knicks and the Cleveland Cavaliers throughout his career, and had his jersey retired by New York.
Shooting Guard – Dale Ellis
One of the lesser known members of this All-Georgia team, Dale Ellis was born on August 6, 1960, in Marietta. Ellis was drafted 9th overall by the Dallas Mavericks in the 1983 draft. A bench player for most of his career, Ellis played about 15 minutes per game in his first year, averaging about 8 points per game.
After playing 3 years for the Mavericks, Ellis was traded to the Seattle Supersonics in 1986. In Seattle, Ellis’ playing time jumped to 37 minutes per game, and his production rose along with his minutes. Ellis averaged 25 points in his first year in Seattle, and captured the Most Improved Player award. In 1989, he was selected as an NBA All-Star, and set a Supersonics record for points in a season (2253), which was broken in 2010 by Kevin Durant. Ellis has also played the most amount of minutes in a single game in NBA history, playing 69 out of 73 minutes in a quintuple overtime contest. During this marathon of a game, Ellis racked up 53 points.
Ellis played for 6 different franchises in his career, including playing for the Sonics and the Bucks twice. He won the Three-Point Contest in 1989, and is currently in eleventh place in all-time three-pointers made. Ellis never earned much individual fame over his career, but was a fierce competitor and deadly sharpshooter who would help Team Georgia wreak havoc on competitors.
Small Forward – Mike Mitchell
Mike Mitchell was a deadly scorer born on January 1, 1956, in Atlanta, Georgia. Mitchell played his collegiate basketball at Auburn. He was named a Second Team All-American in 1977, and set Auburn school records for scoring and rebounding.
After 4 years at Auburn, Mitchell was selected 15th overall by the Cleveland Cavaliers in the 1978 NBA draft. Mitchell started off slowly, but blossomed into a great player, averaging a career high 24.5 points per game in the 1980-81 season.
In 1981, Mitchell was traded to the San Antonio Spurs, where he played with all-time great scorer George Gervin. That year, he was selected as an All-Star for the only time in his career. Mitchell led the Spurs in scoring in 1984, and was top 10 in league scoring per game 4 times over his 12 year career.
Towards the end of his career, Mitchell had stints playing overseas in Italy and Israel, but is still seventh in all-time scoring for the Spurs. He didn’t have much postseason success, but retired a Spurs great. Mitchell unfortunately died in 2011 at the age of 62 after a long battle with cancer.
Power Forward- Shareef Abdur-Rahim
Shareef Abdur-Rahim, or “Reef”, was born on December 11, 1976, in Marietta. He played small forward, power forward, and center over his NBA career. Abdur-Rahim was dominant in high school, and opted to attend University of California Berkeley. In college, Shareef averaged 21.1 points and 8.4 rebounds per game, all while maintaining a 3.5 GPA. He won Conference Player of the Year as a freshman, but after one year, Abdur-Rahim declared he would leave college for the 1996 Draft.
He was selected 3rd overall by the Vancouver Grizzlies in 1996, and he dominated in his rookie year, averaging 18.7 points and 6.9 rebounds per game, capturing Rookie of the Year honors. Shareef was the star of the Grizzlies in his 5 years there, but never made the playoffs.
Abdur-Rahim came home when he was traded to the Atlanta Hawks in 2001 to play with Jason Terry, but they once again to make the playoffs. Abdur-Rahim had one particularly memorable game with the Hawks, scoring 50 points against the Pistons, and another with 43 points and 12 rebounds against the Cavaliers.
Shareef was later traded yet again to the Portland Trail Blazers, where his numbers declined. From that point on, Abdur-Rahim was plagued by injuries and his production sliiped. He injured his knee and was almost traded to the Nets in 2005, but he failed a physical due to a knee tissue tear. He then signed with the Sacramento Kings, and retired in 2008.
Center – Dwight Howard
The only current player on this list, Dwight Howard was born December 8, 1985, in Atlanta. He was drafted by the Orlando Magic in 2004 with the number one overall pick, and quickly became a dominant NBA center.
The Magic were struggling when he arrived, after losing their stars Tracy McGrady and Grant Hill, but Howard led the club back to the playoffs. He gained muscle and skill, and lifted the team to the playoffs in 2007, the same year he became an All-Star.
In 2009, Orlando paired Hedo Turkoglu and Rashard Lewis with Howard. Dwight had one of his best seasons yet, posting 20.6 points and 13.8 rebounds per game, captured Defensive Player of the Year honors, and led the Magic to the NBA Finals. The Magic faced a surging Lakers team, and put up a strong fight. They lost Game 1 and Game 2, but came back in Game 3. Unfortunately, he Lakers finished them off with wins in Game 4 and Game 5.
The Magic plummeted after that season, due in large part to a fully healthy Boston Celtics squad, and losing Turkoglu. Howard started to grow frustrated, and in 2012 requested a trade from the Magic, and was consequently traded to the Los Angeles Lakers.
Howard would grow even more frustrated in LA. He became frustrated with star Kobe Bryant taking too many shots and not passing him the ball. The two also clashed on effort, as Howard tended to be more laid-back, while Kobe was extremely dedicated to basketball. The Lakers struggled to make the playoffs, but clinched the eighth spot, only to be swept by the San Antonio Spurs.
Howard left again for the Rockets to play with James Harden, where he has had some knee issues. Howard missed a large chunk of the 2014-15 season after a knee surgery, but returned in late March. Howard still remains a dominant defensive and offensive force in the NBA, even after 11 years and many injuries.
The Heat Check Magazine 