Random NBA Player of the Week: Litterial Green

Litterial Green is a point guard from Pascagoula, Mississippi. He went to high school in nearby Moss Point. Green lead the nation in scoring in his senior year and was named to the McDonald's and Parade Magazine All-American teams. He would move on to play college ball at Georgia. He helped the Bulldogs win the 1990 SEC title, and was named to the All-SEC Team in 1990, 1991, and 1992.

Litterial was taken in the 2nd Round, 39th overall, of the 1992 NBA Draft by the Chicago Bulls. Two weeks late he was traded to the Magic for a 1993 2nd Round pick. Green would spend 2 seasons as a backup to Scott Skiles and Penny Hardaway. In 81 games with Orlando he averaged 3.8 points and 1.5 assists per game. After the 93-94 season he was released by the Magic. He went on to sign with the old CBA's Quad City Thunder and played two full seasons with them. Green returned to the NBA when he signed with the Detroit Pistons for the 1996-97 season. He appeared in 45 games and average 2 points per game.

For the next two seasons Litterial bounced between the Quad City Thunder and the NBA. He made quick stops in Milwaukee in 97-98 (two 10-day contracts, 21 games) and Cleveland in 98-99 (1 game). In 1999, Green was named one of Mississippi's Top 50 Greatest Sports Figures by Sports Illustrated.

From 1999 to 2002 Litterial played overseas. He made stops in Venezuela, Puerto Rico, Turkey, Poland, and Solvenia before retiring in 2002.

Green would go on to coach in the minor leagues. In 2003, he earned Coach of the Year honors while guiding the World Basketball Association's Southern Crescent Lightning to a championship. He also coached the Chattanooga Steamers in the modern ABA. In 2011, Litterial became Associate Head Coach of the Clark Atlanta University men's basketball team under friend and former Kentucky Wildcat Dale Brown. He served in that capacity until 2013.

Random NBA Player of the Week: Dorell Wright

Dorell Wright is a Small Forward from Los Angeles. He entered the NBA straight out of high school, a graduate of South Kent Prep, a boarding school in Connecticut. He had originally committed to playing at DePaul, but instead was picked 19th overall in the 2004 NBA Draft.

He spent his first six seasons as a bench player for the Miami Heat. He won a championship ring with the team in 2006, despite not playing a single game in the playoffs.

In the summer of 2010, he signed with the Golden State Warriors, and 2010-11 was his breakout year. That season he played and started all 82 games, led the league in three-pointers made and attempted, and scored more points that season (1,344) than he did in his first six seasons in Miami combined (1,333). For his work, he placed third in the voting for Most Improved Player.

During the 2011-12 lockout season, Wright's production went down as he only averaged 10.3 points and 5.3 boards a game. In the following offseason he was a part of a three-team trade that sent him to the Philadelphia 76ers. With the Sixers he moved into a sixth man role, averaging 22.6 minutes and 9.2 points per game.

On July 10th, he signed as a free agent with the Portland Trail Blazers, and will look to be a huge contributor on a team that features stars Damian Lillard and LaMarcus Aldridge as well as rookie C.J. McCollum.

Random NBA Player of the Week: Rodney White

Rodney White is a 6'9" forward that was born in Philadelphia, but attended high school in suburban DC. White played collegiately at UNC-Charlotte. He spent one year in Charlotte, averaging 18.7 points and 6.5 rebounds per game while leading the team to a Conference USA tournament championship and  a run in the NCAA Tournament that ended in the Second Round. He was also named ESPN.com's National Freshman of the Year. Coming off of that great season, he entered the NBA Draft, where he was picked 9th overall by the Detroit Pistons. 

Though he began the season as a role player, Rodney quickly fell out of favor with head coach Rick Carlisle. He would only play 16 games in his rookie year, averaging 3.5 points per game. After one season, White was sent to Denver for Mengke Bateer, Don Reid, and a 2004 1st Round draft pick. Rodney would spend 2 1/2 seasons in Denver, but never became an impact player. In 186 appearances, he averaged 7.9 points and 2.4 per game.

Halfway through 2004-05 White was involved in a Trade Deadline deal that sent him and Nikoloz Tskitishvili to Golden State for Luis Flores, Eduardo Najera, and a 2007 1st Round draft pick. White finished out the season playing 16 games for the Warriors, averaging 3.6 points a game. He was then waived at the end of the season.

Rodney has now moved his career overseas, where he has been quite the journeyman. Since 2005 he has played for 11 teams in Spain, Italy, China, Puerto Rico, Israel, and the Philippines. He last played for the Petron Blaze Boosters in the Philippines Basketball Association.

Random NBA Player of the Week: Marcus Liberty

Marcus Liberty is a 6'8" forward from Chicago. In high school, he was legendary. His freshman year he led Crane High School to a frosh-soph title. He then transferred to King College Prep for the rest of his high school career, where he led them to a title in 1986 and a second-place finish in 1987. His 143 points in the '87 tourney set an Illinois Class AA record. In '87 Liberty was an McDonald's All-American, Illinois Mr. Basketball, and Parade Magazine Player of the Year. This illustrious high school career led him to being voted one of the "100 Legends of the IHSA Boys Basketball Tournament" in 2007.

After high school Liberty moved on to the University of Illinois. He was ineligible his first year, but his sophomore year he was a part of the 1988-89 "Flyin' Illini" squad that made it to the Final Four. After three years in Champaign-Urbana, Marcus entered the draft. He went 42nd overall in the 1990 NBA Draft to the Denver Nuggets.

Liberty was a role player for a 1991 Nuggets team that was known for scoring a lot of points (league-best 119.9 ppg) as well as giving up a lot of them (league-worst 130.8 ppg). Marcus would average 6.7 in his first year in 76 appearances. His productivity would go up his second year, as he averaged 9.3 points and 4.1 rebounds per game. He even recorded five double-doubles, though they all came in losses. While Marcus saw improvement, his team did not. In two seasons the Nuggets went 44-120. Year 3 saw a new coach for the Nuggets: Dan Issel. The team - as well as Marcus - showed promise. Denver went 36-46 while Liberty average 8.1 points and 4.3 boards a game. Heading into 93-94, one would expect both the Nuggets and Liberty to continue the upward trajectory.

Well, the team did, eventually making it to the playoffs in '94 as an eighth seed and knocking off the top seeded Seattle Sonics. However, Marcus was traded at the beginning of the season, unable to enjoy the team's fortune. He went along with Mark Macon to Detroit for Alvin Robertson and a conditional 2nd round draft pick that was never used. Marcus would only play 35 games for the Pistons, averaging 2.9 points and 1.6 rebounds.

Liberty wouldn't make it back to the NBA after '94, instead embarking on a whirlwind eight years that saw him in the CBA, Greece, Turkey, Puerto Rico, Sweden, Japan, the old IBL, the Philippines, the IBA, the Dominican Republic, and Chile. Marcus Liberty ended his basketball career in 1992.

Random NBA Player of the Week: Marty Conlon

Marty Conlon was a forward/center from White Plains, New York. He played college ball at Providence. The 1987 team he was on as a freshman went to the Final Four. He averaged 14.7 points and 7.6 rebounds his senior year. Marty went undrafted in 1990 but found a training camp spot on the Sacramento Kings. However, he was let go before the season began. He spent the 1990-1991 season in LeMans, France and with the Rockford Lightning of the CBA.

That summer Marty signed with the Seattle Sonics, which would mark the beginning of a nine-year NBA journeyman career. Conlon would go on to play for the Sonics (1991-1992) Kings (1992-1993), Hornets (1994), Bullets (1994), Bucks (1994-1996), Celtics (1996-1997), Heat (1998), Celtics (1999), and Clippers (1999-2000).

Through it all, his best year came in 1994-1995 with Milwaukee, when he averaged 9.9 points and 5.2 rebounds per game and played in all 82 games.

After his season with the Clippers, Conlon finished out his career with five more years in Europe. He played for teams in Italy, Greece, Spain, and Ireland. He was also captain of the Irish national team. He last played for Carpisa Napoli of Italy in 2005.

Random NBA Player of the Week: Keeping Up With the Joneses

On Wednesday, Canadian NBA podcasters The Basketball Jones celebrated their 1000th show. The gang celebrated by using that episode to count down their 20 favorite moments from the show's 7-year history. Leading up to the episode fans did their own video tributes to the show. One of those fans was NBA TV's Brent Barry. In this video, he runs down every player surnamed "Jones" to have played in the NBA and ABA.

Here's the video:

Here are links to the stats of every player mentioned in the video:

Alvin, Anthony, Askia, Bill, Bobby (1974-1986), Bobby (2006-2008), Caldwell, Charles (1983-1998), Charles (1984-1989), Charles (1998-2000), Collis, Dahntay, Damon, DeQuan, Dontae', Dominique, Dwayne, Dwight, Earl, Edgar, Eddie, Fred, Hutch, Jake, James, Jimmy, Johnny, Jumaine, K.C., Kevin, Larry, Major, Mark (1983-1984), Mark (2004-2005), Nick, Ozell, Perry, Popeye, Rich, Robin, Sam, Shelton, Solomon, Steve, Terrence, Wah Wah, Wali, Willie, and Wil

Random NBA Player of the Week: Allen Leavell

Allen Leavell was a 6'1" point guard from Muncie, Indiana. He played college ball at Oklahoma City University and was drafted in the 5th Round of the 1979 NBA Draft by the Houston Rockets. Allen would go on to spend his entire career with the team. He was a bench presence, averaging 23.2 minutes, 9.5 points, and 4.8 assists a game in his career. He made two NBA Finals appearances in 1981 and 1986, with his team falling to the Boston Celtics both times. Upon leaving the Rockets in '89, he went on to play two seasons in the CBA -taking a break in 1990-91-  before retiring in 1992.

Random NBA Player of the Week: Ira Newble

Ira Newble is a Detroit-bred (Southfield HS '93) forward that played his college ball at Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College and Miami University in Ohio. He went undrafted in 1997 and played in the IBA, CBA, and in Cyprus (where he won a championship) over the course of three seasons. In August 2000 he signed with the Spurs, a team that he had tried out for during the 1999 preseason before being waived. 

He played one season with San Antonio, averaging 2 points and 1.3 rebounds a game in 27 appearances and six starts. After a year with the Spurs he moved on to the Atlanta Hawks, where he spent two seasons and averaged 7.8 points and 4.3 rebounds in 115 games. In 2003 he signed with the Cleveland Cavaliers, where he spent four-and-a-half seasons. His time on the team included two playoff appearances, including the Cavaliers lone appearance in the NBA Finals.

During the 2007-2008 season Ira was part of a three-team trade deadline deal involving the Cavaliers, Sonics, and Bulls, with Newble going to Seattle. He played two games in the Northwest before being cut. Ira then signed a ten-day contract with the Lakers. He finished out the season with the team, playing six games, making one playoff appearance, but mostly riding the pine as LA made their trek to the NBA Finals, where they fell to the Celtics in six.

Newble would go on to play two more seasons internationally, with stops in Israel, Cyprus (returning to the team he won a 'ship with nine years prior), and Spain. After a year off, Ira became an assistant coach with the Canton Charge, a Cleveland Cavaliers affiliate in the NBA D-League.

Random NBA Player of the Week: Paul McPherson

 

Paul McPherson was a 6'4" shooting guard from Chicago. He had a nomadic college basketball career, playing at Tallahassee Community College, Kennedy-King College, and finally DePaul University. He went undrafted in the 2000 NBA Draft and eventually signed with the Phoenix Suns a couple of months later. While with the Suns, he put up 20 points in a win over the Toronto Raptors (the first NBA game I had ever been to live). 

In January 2001 he was traded with Corie Blount and Ruben Garces to the Golden State Warriors for Vinny Del Negro. In 22 games with the Warriors he hit double-digits six times, including a 22-point performance against Portland and a career-high 26-point performance at Seattle.

After the 2000-2001 season Paul was not re-signed, and would sign a training camp deal with the Nuggets before getting waived during the preseason. McPherson has not played in the NBA since.