George Lynch (basketball)

George Lynch
Personal information
Born (1970-09-03) September 3, 1970 (age 54)
Roanoke, Virginia, U.S.
Listed height6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)
Listed weight218 lb (99 kg)
Career information
High school
CollegeNorth Carolina (1989–1993)
NBA draft1993: 1st round, 12th overall pick
Selected by the Los Angeles Lakers
Playing career1993–2005
PositionSmall forward
Number24, 30, 34, 9
Coaching career2012–present
Career history
As player:
1993–1996Los Angeles Lakers
1996–1998Vancouver Grizzlies
1999–2001Philadelphia 76ers
2001–2002Charlotte Hornets
2002–2005New Orleans Hornets
As coach:
2012–2013SMU (assistant)
2017–2018Grand Rapids Drive (assistant)
2018–2020Clark Atlanta
Career highlights and awards
Career NBA statistics
Points5,109 (6.6 ppg)
Rebounds3,902 (5.0 rpg)
Assists1,121 (1.4 apg)
Stats at Basketball Reference
Medals
Men's Basketball
Representing  United States
Summer Universiade
Gold medal – first place 1991 Sheffield National team

George DeWitt Lynch III (born September 3, 1970) is an American former professional basketball player who played in the National Basketball Association (NBA) from 1993 to 2005.

Early life

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Lynch was born two months premature and had to spend more than a month in an incubator.[1] He was raised in Roanoke, Virginia, and played basketball at Patrick Henry High for coach Woody Deans. Lynch was part of the 1988 Virginia State Champion Team at Patrick Henry. For his senior year, he transferred to Flint Hill School, a prep school located outside Washington, D.C. to better his chances at college prospects.

College

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Lynch played four years at North Carolina under coach Dean Smith.[2] Known for his impact on the defensive end, Lynch sported averages of 12.5 points and almost eight rebounds per game during his college career. With 1.7 steals per game, he finished his career ranked second on the UNC all-time list.[3]

In his sophomore year, Lynch reached the NCAA Final Four with the team. As a team captain, he led North Carolina to an NCAA title in 1993 and made the All-Final Four Tournament team.[4]

Professional career

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He was selected by the Los Angeles Lakers with the 12th overall pick in that year's NBA draft. Lynch would be the last Laker to wear #34 before he was traded to the Vancouver Grizzlies along with Anthony Peeler in 1996 in order to open up salary cap space to sign Shaquille O'Neal. He joined the Philadelphia 76ers as a free agent in 1999.

With Theo Ratliff, Tyrone Hill, Eric Snow, Dikembe Mutombo, Allen Iverson, and coach Larry Brown Lynch helped form one of the better defenses in the league. With the 76ers, Lynch reached the 2001 NBA Finals.[5]

After playing with the 76ers for three seasons, he was traded to the Charlotte Hornets in a three-way trade also involving Derrick Coleman, Jérôme Moïso, Robert Traylor, and Vonteego Cummings, among others, in 2001, retiring after 2004–05.

NBA career statistics

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Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game
 FG%  Field goal percentage  3P%  3-point field goal percentage  FT%  Free throw percentage
 RPG  Rebounds per game  APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game
 BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game  Bold  Career high
 *  Led the league

Regular season

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Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
1993–94 L.A. Lakers 71 46 24.8 .508 .000 .596 5.8 1.4 1.4 .4 9.6
1994–95 L.A. Lakers 56 15 17.0 .468 .143 .721 3.3 1.1 .9 .2 6.1
1995–96 L.A. Lakers 76 6 13.3 .430 .308 .663 2.8 .7 .6 .1 3.8
1996–97 Vancouver 41 27 25.8 .471 .258 .619 6.4 1.9 1.5 .4 8.3
1997–98 Vancouver 82* 0 18.2 .481 .300 .703 4.4 1.5 .8 .5 7.5
1998–99 Philadelphia 43 43 30.6 .421 .391 .631 6.5 1.8 2.0 .5 8.3
1999–00 Philadelphia 75 75 32.2 .461 .417 .617 7.8 1.8 1.6 .5 9.6
2000–01 Philadelphia 82 80 32.3 .445 .263 .719 7.2 1.7 1.2 .4 8.4
2001–02 Charlotte 45 18 19.8 .369 .167 .625 4.1 1.2 .9 .3 3.8
2002–03 New Orleans 81 32 18.5 .409 .354 .554 4.4 1.3 .8 .2 4.5
2003–04 New Orleans 78 51 21.8 .397 .309 .667 4.0 1.5 .6 .2 4.8
2004–05 New Orleans 44 27 21.2 .360 .297 .739 4.0 2.0 .7 .3 3.7
Career 774 420 22.8 .446 .306 .652 5.0 1.4 1.1 .3 6.6

Playoffs

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Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
1995 L.A. Lakers 10 0 13.6 .469 .200 .650 3.0 .7 .8 .0 4.4
1996 L.A. Lakers 2 0 7.5 .500 .000 – 1.5 .5 .0 .0 2.0
1999 Philadelphia 8 6 31.1 .446 .333 .706 6.6 2.0 2.3 .3 9.0
2000 Philadelphia 10 10 29.3 .338 .143 .778 7.1 1.4 .9 .5 5.9
2001 Philadelphia 10 8 22.2 .480 .000 .643 5.1 1.2 1.3 .2 5.7
2002 Charlotte 9 7 31.8 .492 .333 .692 8.4 1.6 1.1 .7 7.7
2003 New Orleans 6 3 27.2 .429 .278 .250 6.2 1.7 1.0 .8 7.0
2004 New Orleans 7 7 21.1 .439 .250 .625 5.3 1.7 .4 .4 8.3
Career 62 41 24.4 .439 .250 .670 5.8 1.4 1.1 .4 6.5

Post-playing career

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Lynch worked as a personal trainer, in 2006 he founded a non-profit youth basketball program (Flight Nine Basketball) in Dallas, which he directed until 2010.[4]

On December 20, 2006, he joined the Southern Methodist University men's basketball staff under head coach Matt Doherty, who was part of the 1981–82 NCAA championship team. Lynch became the team's administrative assistant/graduate manager.[6] He spent 2010–2012 at UC Irvine as a strength and conditioning coach for basketball and an assistant athletics director for community relations before re-joining the SMU men's basketball staff in 2012 under head coach and fellow UNC alum Larry Brown.[7] In April 2018, Lynch was named head coach of Clark Atlanta University.[8] In 2020, his contract was not renewed.[9]

In October 2022, Lynch joined the Charlotte Hornets’ TV broadcasting staff as a studio analyst.[10]

References

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  1. ^ Newman, Bruce. "George Lynch". Sports Illustrated Vault. Retrieved October 31, 2022.
  2. ^ "UNC's George Lynch on What Made Dean Smith Great". InsideCarolina.com. Retrieved October 31, 2022.
  3. ^ Keeney, Tim. "North Carolina: Harrison Barnes and the 14 Best Big Men in Tar Heels History". Bleacher Report. Retrieved October 31, 2022.
  4. ^ a b "George Lynch - Men's Basketball Coach". SMU Athletics. Retrieved October 31, 2022.
  5. ^ "NBA Playoffs 2001 - Lynch hoping to return by Game 4". ESPN. Retrieved October 31, 2022.
  6. ^ "George Lynch joins SMU men's basketball staff". Pegasus News. December 20, 2006. Archived from the original on January 4, 2007. Retrieved March 31, 2020.
  7. ^ "SMU adds George Lynch to coaching staff". ESPN.com. June 4, 2012. Retrieved March 31, 2020.
  8. ^ "12-Year NBA Veteran George Lynch Named Clark Atlanta University Men's Basketball Head Coach". clarkatlantasports.com. April 30, 2018. Retrieved March 31, 2020.
  9. ^ "D2 DIRT: George Lynch out at Clark Atlanta". HoopDirt. April 19, 2020. Retrieved October 30, 2022.
  10. ^ "Former Charlotte Hornets and UNC basketball player to join NBA team's TV broadcast". The Charlotte Observer. October 4, 2022. Retrieved October 31, 2022.
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