Jimmy King

From Hoopedia

Jimmy Hal King (born August 9, 1973 in South Bend, Indiana) is a retired American professional basketball player in the NBA.

He was part of the famed University of Michigan Wolverines Fab Five along with Ray Jackson and current NBA players Chris Webber, Juwan Howard and Jalen Rose that reached the 1992 & 1993 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship games as both Freshmen and Sophomores. He was a starter for teams that reached the tournament four times. Before this, he was a high school All-American basketball player at Plano East Senior High School in Plano, a city north of Dallas, Texas.

Professional Career

King was selected by the Toronto Raptors in the second round (35th overall) of the 1995 NBA Draft and played 62 games for them during the 1995-96 season, averaging 4.5 points, 1.8 rebounds and 1.4 assists per game. On July 24, 1996, prior to start of the 1996-97 season, he was traded to the Dallas Mavericks in exchange for Ronald "Popeye" Jones, but King was eventually waived. He instead signed with the Denver Nuggets on a 10-day contract, but participated in only two games for them, tallying six points, two rebounds, two assists and three steals.

King also played a few seasons in Europe and with the Continental Basketball Association (CBA) where he was the 1998 MVP with the Quad City Thunder. He also made a brief stint on the bronze medal USA team in the 1998 Basketball World Championship Games, as well as playing with the Asheville Altitude in the NBDL.

King's last chance to return to the NBA came before the 2000-2001 NBA season where King was the final player cut on the defending Eastern Conference Champion Indiana Pacers. This spawned a locker room tirade by then teammate Jalen Rose on then coach Isiah Thomas.

In a phone interview on the Jim Rome Show on November 30, 2006, Jimmy stated he was currently working as a financial advisor for Merrill Lynch on Wall Street.