Mike Mitchell (basketball, born 1956)

This article is about the former NBA and European leagues player. For other American player who played in Australia and Europe, see Mike Mitchell (basketball, born 1967).

Mike Mitchell
Personal information
Born(1956-01-01)January 1, 1956
Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.
DiedJune 9, 2011(2011-06-09) (aged 55)
San Antonio, Texas, U.S.
Listed height6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)
Listed weight234 lb (106 kg)
Career information
High schoolLuther Judson Price
(Atlanta, Georgia)
CollegeAuburn (1974–1978)
NBA draft1978: 1st round, 15th overall pick
Selected by the Cleveland Cavaliers
Playing career1978–1999
PositionSmall forward
Number30, 34, 13
Career history
1978–1981Cleveland Cavaliers
1981–1987San Antonio Spurs
1988–1990Filodoro Brescia
1990San Antonio Spurs
1990–1991Filodoro Napoli
1991–1992Maccabi Tel Aviv
1992–1999Reggiana
Career highlights and awards
Career NBA statistics
Points15,016 (19.8 ppg)
Rebounds4,246 (5.6 rpg)
Assists1,010 (1.3 apg)
Stats at NBA.com Edit this at Wikidata
Stats at Basketball Reference

Michael Anthony Mitchell (January 1, 1956 – June 9, 2011) was an American professional basketball player in the National Basketball Association (NBA), over eleven seasons, from 1978 to 1990.

College career

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Mitchell, who was born in Atlanta, played college basketball at Auburn University. While at Auburn, Mitchell was a four-time All-SEC selection and was named a second-team All-American in his 1977–78 season. He also became Auburn's all-time leader in scoring (2,123 points) and rebounding (996), after leaving for the NBA. He remains the all-time leading rebounder and is second in all-time scoring only to Chuck Person. Mitchell's number 30 jersey was retired on January 19, 2013, at the Auburn Arena.[1]

Professional career

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Mitchell was drafted with the 15th pick in the first round, of the 1978 NBA draft, by the Cleveland Cavaliers. He started his NBA career with the Cavaliers but played most of his career for the San Antonio Spurs. Mitchell was a 6'7" and 234 lb. small forward, with career averages of 19.8 points per game, 5.6 rebounds per game, 1.3 assists per game, a .493 field goal percentage, and a .779 free throw percentage. He was known for his mid-range jumpshot and ability to play well under pressure in the postseason.[2]

Mitchell was an All-Star in 1981 and was in the top ten in scoring four times, and the top ten in minutes played three times. During the 1983 NBA Playoffs, Mitchell and the Spurs reached the Western Conference Finals, where Mitchell led the Spurs in scoring with 25.7 points a game, while adding 10.3 rebounds a game, as the Spurs were eliminated by the Los Angeles Lakers in six games.[3] Among other career highlights, he led the Spurs in scoring for the 1984–1985 season, which marked the only season in which George Gervin played on the Spurs and did not lead the team in scoring over an entire year. Mitchell averaged 22.2 points per game, to Gervin's 21.2 per game.

Mitchell averaged 19.8 points per game over the course of his NBA career.[4] His 9,799 total points scored for the San Antonio Spurs is seventh highest in franchise history, behind Gervin, Tim Duncan, David Robinson, Tony Parker, James Silas, and Manu Ginóbili.[5]

From 1988, until a short return to the Spurs during the 1990 playoffs, Mitchell played in Italy, with Basket Brescia. He also played in Italy with Basket Napoli, before leaving for the Israeli side Maccabi Tel Aviv, in 1991. From 1992, until his retirement in 1999, Mitchell played for another Italian club, Pallacanestro Reggiana.

Post-playing career

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Mitchell later worked as a counselor for at-risk youth, in San Antonio.

Death

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Mitchell died of cancer in 2011.[6]

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

Regular season

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Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
1978–79 Cleveland 80 – 19.7 .513 – .736 4.1 .8 .6 .4 10.7
1979–80 Cleveland 82 – 34.2 .523 .000 .787 7.2 1.1 .9 .9 22.2
1980–81 Cleveland 82 – 39.0 .476 .444 .784 6.1 1.7 .8 .6 24.5
1981–82 Cleveland 27 26 36.0 .454 .000 .720 5.2 1.4 1.0 .6 19.6
1981–82 San Antonio 57 57 36.7 .539 .000 .733 7.9 .8 .6 .5 21.0
1982–83 San Antonio 80 79 35.0 .511 .000 .758 6.7 1.2 .7 .7 19.9
1983–84 San Antonio 79 79 36.1 .488 .429 .779 7.2 1.2 .8 .9 23.3
1984–85 San Antonio 82 82 34.8 .497 .217 .777 5.1 1.8 .7 .3 22.2
1985–86 San Antonio 82 82 36.2 .473 .000 .809 5.0 2.3 .7 .3 23.4
1986–87 San Antonio 40 18 23.1 .435 .500 .821 2.6 1.0 .5 .2 12.7
1987–88 San Antonio 68 20 22.1 .482 .250 .825 2.9 1.0 .5 .2 13.5
Career 759 443 32.3 .493 .216 .779 5.6 1.3 .7 .5 19.8
All-Star 1 0 15.0 .500 – 1.000 4.0 2.0 1.0 .0 14.0

Playoffs

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Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
1982 San Antonio 9 – 40.6 .533 – .754 8.1 .8 .6 .1 24.8
1983 San Antonio 11 – 38.4 .510 .500 .758 9.5 1.1 .6 1.7 20.9
1985 San Antonio 5 5 36.0 .564 .000 .875 3.8 2.4 .6 .8 21.8
1986 San Antonio 3 3 35.7 .404 – .500 3.0 3.3 1.0 1.0 15.7
1988 San Antonio 3 3 24.7 .351 – .833 5.0 1.3 .3 .3 10.3
1990 San Antonio 4 0 3.8 .375 – – .8 .5 .0 .0 1.5
Career 35 11 33.2 .502 .333 .762 6.4 1.3 .5 .8 18.5

References

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  1. ^ "Auburn retires Mike Mitchell's No. 30 jersey..." The Huntsville Times/AL.com. January 19, 2013. Retrieved January 21, 2013.
  2. ^ "Former Spurs star Mitchell dies of cancer". Mysanantonio.com. June 9, 2011. Retrieved December 18, 2011.
  3. ^ 1983 NBA Western Conference Finals
  4. ^ NBA & ABA Career Leaders and Records for Points Per Game, basketball-reference.com
  5. ^ San Antonio Spurs Career Leaders, basketball-reference.com
  6. ^ "Former Spurs star Mitchell dies of cancer". Mysanantonio.com. June 9, 2011. Retrieved December 18, 2011.
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