Greetings my peeps and welcome to the All Things Basketball Podcast with your boy GD.
In this episode I'll be doing my player spotlight for the month of February.
I'll be covering Alex English guys so I'll be covering him and all that he's done in
the NBA so just sit back, relax and enjoy the show.
Okay guys it's your boy GD back with the All Things Basketball with GD
Podcast. Guys we are in February which means we are in the midst of Black
History Month and with that as I always do I like to do player profiles for the
month of February so we're gonna get it started in that regard. To kick it off I'm
going to talk about a man vastly underrated in the eyes of NBA fans and
historians alike. I say that because the NBA itself had a top 50 list and then
they came back 25 years later with a top 75 list. This man's name was nowhere in
there which I was stunned about but this is a man who deserves his place
among the top 75 players. In fact the athletic listed him amongst the top 75
actually put him at 71 the 71st best player ever to play in the NBA and that
man's name is Alex English born Alexander English a small forward playing in the
era where each night it was a battle in terms of small forwards back in the late
70s but pretty much the 80s where each night you had to go up against the likes
of a Julius Irving, Larry Bird, Dominique Wilkins, James Wervie, Bernard King, Mark
Aguirre, Purvis Short. I mean you had a host of guys Marcus Johnson as well
another underrated player but to me Alex English I think is one of the most
overlooked players in the history of the NBA. So like I said he's a small forward
6'8", 190 is the weight he played at. He's born in January 5th, 1954 so in fact
he just turned 70 years old guys. Born in Columbia, South Carolina, place I'm
familiar with. Gotta check my family tree maybe he's on it but that's a story for
another day. His mom named him after former king of Macedonia Alexander the
Great so she named him that expecting great things from him. Needless to say
his mother was pretty prophetic in naming him that because he has turned out to be
all that and then some. He spent his early years living with his grandmother while
his parents worked up north in New York. He first started playing basketball at
the age of 10 so Alex very young having an interest in basketball. He attended
Han Junior High School and then later he would enroll in Dreher High School in
Columbia, South Carolina. While playing there he started in 79 games. He had a
31-point average as a junior which garnered him national attention. In fact
after being recruited by over a hundred colleges Alex decided to stay local by
attending the University of South Carolina which is right there in
Columbia and this happened in 1972 that he would enroll in that college. Being
coached by the legendary Frank McGuire a coach who previously coached at places
like St. John's also the University of North Carolina which makes for
interesting dynamic there. Alex saw his game develop and blossom under the
tutelage of McGuire. He became the third African American scholarship recipient
at the school. He started in every game during his four years at South Carolina.
The record he amassed while playing there 81 and 30 including two NCAA
tournament appearances. I'll talk about his numbers at the school when I get to
his accolades. Alex graduated from the University of South Carolina with an
English degree in 1976. Alex's interests while in college were literature, poetry,
art, and sculpture. He went into the 1976 draft and he was selected 23rd overall
and he was picked in actually the second round. The sixth pick in the second
round to be exact by the Milwaukee Bucks. Notable names in that 1976 draft. John
Lucas who went number one overall coming out of the University of Maryland and
he was drafted by the Houston Rockets. Adrian Dantley who was drafted six
coming out of Notre Dame. He was drafted by the Buffalo Braves. Robert Parrish
picked eighth in that draft. He went to school at Centenary College in Louisiana
and he was drafted by the Gold State Warriors. Also in that draft Dennis
Johnson. He was also a second round pick as well. Pick 29th playing for the
University of Pepperdine and he was picked by the Seattle SuperSonics and
Mike Dunleavy who actually was Alex English's teammate at South Carolina.
He was picked by the Philadelphia 76ers but he was picked in the sixth round with
the 99th pick. So Alex enters the NBA. He spends two frustrating seasons with the
Milwaukee Bucks. Mostly on their bench. He was playing behind the likes of Bobby
Dandridge and Junior Bridgeman and actually during his rookie season he did
appear in a slam dunk contest that was held on May 1st 1977 and it was a
contest between him and Mickey Johnson who was playing for the Chicago Bulls
at the time. Ironically enough they end up teammates further down the road. I'll
tell you all that later. And one of the judges in the slam dunk contest was Sam
Jones someone who I profiled on this podcast. But Alex would lose to Mickey
Johnson in this slam dunk contest. But as I said yes two frustrating seasons he
spent with the Milwaukee Bucks and the first year he played behind Bobby Dandridge
in Junior Bridgeman and then later the following year they drafted a rookie by
the name of Marcus Johnson with actually the third pick in the 1977 draft. So
obviously Alex English buried under guys who the franchise saw more highly of.
But Alex did show flashes in the playoffs in 1978 where he ended up being
the third highest scorer on the team and he did that coming off the bench guys.
After the 1977-78 season Alex would sign with the Indiana Pacers as a free
agent. Back in that time when you signed as a free agent you still had to give
compensation to your former team. And Milwaukee was given a 1979 first round
pick as compensation for Indiana signing Alex English. Oh and they used that
pick to draft Calvin Nat. I'll talk about Calvin Nat later. So while at Indiana
Alex did show improvement. In fact he finally became a starter and in that
first season for them 1978-79 he started in 81 games average 16 points over
eight rebounds well over three assists. He shot it from the field over 51% and
from the free throw line above 75% for him. Then the following season he played
54 games for the Indiana Pacers but he ended up getting traded guys. He got
traded to Denver along with a 1980 first round pick in exchange for veteran forward
George McGinnis who actually previously played for the Pacers back in their
ABA days. The coach at the time Slick Leonard wanted to bring McGinnis back
to Indiana hoping to catch lightning in the bottle which wasn't to be the case
because McGinnis only played two seasons there before he stopped playing all
together with. But Alex goes to Denver and at the time Denver was coached by
Donnie Walsh. Donnie Walsh may know of him being a Indiana Pacers front office
person GM so forth but at this time he was a head coach for the Denver Nuggets.
Also he has a connection to Alex being that he was one of the assistant
coaches under Frank McGuire at South Carolina. So Alex really began to
flourish in those 24 games that he played for them over 21 points per game well
over nine rebounds well over three assists 1.2 steals as well as 1.2 blocks
that's what he averaged in those 24 games for them. Then we move on to
1980-81 season where he played under Walsh still but Walsh was fired mid
season or so and they ended up hiring Interim Doug Moe and that was the year
that Alex really put the league on notice. The team did end up finishing 37
and 45 on the outside looking in in terms of playoffs but Alex for that
season played in 81 games averaged 23.8 points per game 8 rebounds 3.6 assists
1.3 steals and 1.2 blocks shot it from the field above 49% and 85% from the
free throw line guys and this season actually would begin the start of nine
straight seasons where Alex had a 23 points or more average in terms of
scoring and also on that team he had guys like Dan Issell he had David Thompson
there so you had a high-powered team guys and it seemed once he played for Doug
Moe Doug Moe liked to push the temple Doug Moe I would say he was somewhat like
like a Mike Dantonie in terms of having this offense pushing the ball up the
court putting pressure on the defense only problem just like Mike Dantonie
teams defense was lacking to put it mildly but nonetheless that was his first
full season in Denver then we move on to 1981-82 that's his first All-Star campaign
where he makes his first All-Star game and the first of eight straight he would
make guys and in this season he played all 82 games he finished fourth in the
league in scoring averaging 25.4 also 6.8 rebounds 5.3 assists over a steal per
game in a block and a half per game shooting it from the field a whopping
55% actually above that as well as 84% from the free throw line the team that
year finished 46 in 36 and they would make their first playoff appearance with
Alex there and they actually bowled out in the first round to the Phoenix Suns
so Alex English his first successful campaign with the Denver Nuggets where
the team had a winning record and he received his accolades in terms of making
an All-Star game and also that year guys he made second team all NBA as well
fast forward to 1982-83 his second All-Star appearance his second all
NBA making the second team so he's done that twice in a row he would lead the
league in scoring this season guys 28.4 points per game above seven rebounds
nearly five assists 1.4 steals in a block and a half as well shooting it from the
field 51.6% from the field and nearly 83% from the free throw line his team
would finish second in the Midwest Division at 45 and 37 they made the
playoffs they defeated Phoenix in the first round they finally did that guys
and then in the semifinals they would lose to the San Antonio Spurs led by
George Gervin so the Denver Nuggets getting a little taste of success in the
playoffs there at least advancing above the first round moving on to this 83-84
season third All-Star appearance then he would be boistered by the emergence of
Kiki Vandaway Alex English he played all 82 games that year 26.4 points per game
which was fourth in the league his teammate Kiki Vandaway with average 29.4
points per game finishing third in league so Alex even on his own team was
second in scoring 5.7 rebounds five assists 1.2 blocks in a steal per game
for him from the field shooting it nearly 53% and from the free throw line
above 82% but the team that year though did not have a winning record it was
38 and 44 finishing third in that Midwest conference they did make the
playoffs though with that record but they lost in the first round to the Utah
Jazz led by Adrian Dantley but in that season guys they would make NBA history
and what is the highest scoring game in NBA history although they were on the
losing end it was a game played against the Detroit Pistons and this was played
at Denver in the Nichols sports arena that was their arena at the time and this
game was on December 13th 1984 it was a triple overtime game guys but as I said
Detroit Pistons prevailed 186 to 184 wow that's a lot of points guys and then
mind you this was like in the beginning stages of the three-point shot being in
the NBA in that game guys you know how many threes they made between both teams
just two three-point goals and one for each team ironically enough actually
they were one for two from the three-point line both teams so this is
before the three-point shot kind of revolutionizing the game leading the way
for the Detroit Pistons Isaiah Thomas player I profiled 47 points 17 assists
and four steals for Isaiah John Long 41 points for him eight assists and three
steals and Kelly Trapuca with a nice game 35 points for Denver Kiki Vandaway
with 51 points nine rebounds eight assists Alex English right behind him
with 47 points guys 12 rebounds seven assists and Dan Issa with 29 points and
eight rebounds moving ahead guys in 1984 85 Doug Moe in the powers that be in
Denver decided look we can't even stop a cold over here in Denver so we need to
get tougher on defense so here's what we're gonna do we're gonna ship out
Kiki Vandaway and we're gonna bring back guys like Calvin Nat fat lever and Wayne
Cooper from the Portland Trail Blazers which is what they ended up doing so for
the 1984 85 season which would be his fourth all-star appearance that season
the team went 52 and 30 their best record so far with Alex English in the
fold Alex for that season 81 games he played in nearly 28 points per game 5.7
rebounds over four assists and over a steal per game shooting from the field
just about near 52% and nearly 83% from the free throw line they finished first
in the Midwest division they won in the first round against the San Antonio
Spurs beating George Gurvin and those guys to the semis they went facing Utah
jazz team lit by Adrian Dantley and beating them kind of exact in the
Little Riz binge in that regard and then they were going to the conference
finals against the LA Lakers and they lost to them four games to one actually
in that series Alice English broke his thumb in game four and a lot of people
would say that kind of turned the tide against the Nuggets and that is probably
why they ended up losing that series and then the Lakers would go on to win the
championship that year but that by far was Alice's most successful run in the
playoffs then we move on to the 1985 86 season his fifth all-star appearance and
this year he got back to all NBA status second team he played an 81 games guys
he averaged 29.8 so nearly 30 points per game which was his career best guys and
he finished third in the scoring that year five rebounds four assists for him
50.4 percent from the field well above 86 percent from the free throw line his
team would finish 47 and 35 second in the Midwest they would beat Portland in
that first round and then in the semis they would lose to Houston and Rockets
with those twin towers of Ralph Samson and Hakim Elijah on a playoff profile
this well and then we move on to 1986 87 his sixth all-star appearance the team
only went 37 and 45 that season guys and they ended up losing to the Lakers in
the first round Alex would play in all 82 games he scored 28.6 points per
game which was third in the league above four rebounds and over five assists for
him 50.3 percent from the field 84.4 percent from the free throw line guys so
that year not as successful as one would like to see from Alex and his team
then we move to the 1987 88 season where you have another all-star appearance
guys played in 80 games 25 points per game which was ninth in the league 4.7
rebounds 4.7 assists shot at 49 and a half percent from the field and nearly
83 percent from the free throw line guys in this year his team will have their
best record with him as their go-to guy 54 and 28 is what they finished which was
first in the Midwest division they won in the first round against Seattle a
high-powered Seattle team that had Tom Chambers Dale Ellis and my man Xavier
McDaniel but in the semifinals they did lose to Dallas led by Mark Aguirre they
would lose to them in that second round in a bit of an upset there a successful
season in the regular season postseason not so much moving on to 1988 89 where
this would be his last all-star appearance guys it's eighth in a row and
with this team you know they have the likes of a Michael Adams there now you
got a Walter Davis coming off your bench so the team went 44 and 38 third they
finished in the Midwest division and they did lose in the first round to the
Phoenix Suns a Phoenix Suns team that now has Kevin Johnson and they acquired
Tom Chambers as well so they were losing that first round Alex himself
appeared in all 82 games 26 and a half points per game which was six in the
league four rebounds 4.7 assists for him above 49% from the field so you see his
field goal percentage starting to wane a bit and 85.8% from the free throw line
guys and then his last season in Denver he's at age 36 now guys the 1989 90
season he would only average slightly under 18 points per game 3.6 rebounds
and nearly three assists and he would see his playing time diminish as well guys
shooting it above 49% again guys but he's taken six less shots per game and he
shot at 88% from the free throw line the team itself finished 43 and 39 which was
fourth in the Midwest division he did make the playoffs but they lost to the
San Antonio Spurs this was the new look San Antonio Spurs now now they have a
guy named David Robison in the middle there also you have guys like Terry
Cummings there Sean Elliott Rod Strickland as well so definitely a
different looking team guys but that would be his last taste of playoff
basketball going into free agency that following season Denver decided not to
bring him back which kind of left a sour taste in his mouth so he ends up
signing with Dallas and what would end up being his last hurrah he saw Dallas
team with promise they had guys like Roy Tarpley they had guys like Rodney
McCrae but that year he was the backup to Rodney McCrae and also they had his
former teammate Fat Lever that's what it was but Fat Lever got injured four
games into the season and he was out for the year and then Roy Tarpley between
injuries and his drug problems he only played five games in and no more for the
rest of the season the team ended up going 28 and 54 guys Alex played in 79
games he only played about 26 and a half minutes per game guys he averaged
9.7 points over three rebounds not good from the field guys close to 44% and
then 85% from the free throw line he was released by the Dallas Mavericks after
the 1990-91 season no one would sign him so he went overseas to play in Italy
14 basket Napoli where he averaged slightly under 14 points per game in 18
games overseas which he played there in 1992 then following that he retired from
the game of basketball guys so Alex English now retired after his playing
days he actually from his work with being a player rep which he was for their
union would follow him as he is named director of player programs for the Mbpl
National Basketball Players Association being in that position he was a liaison
for the Mbpa and the retired players association I've talked about them when
I talked about Oscar Robinson he was appointed as interim executive director
of the Mbpl and he was actually in the midst of their negotiations with the
NBA when they had their negotiations back in 1995 then he did TV work as an
analyst for Fox Sports Network also for Fox Rocky Mountain where he did
analysis work for the Denver Nuggets he also co-hosted a show on CNN this weekend
the NBA he also did some analysts work at NBA TV and also with the SEC Network
calling games there he tried his hand at coaching in the Mbdl a league that would
later be called the G League and he coached for a team called the North
Charleston Logators and he did this in 2001 2002 season and his team actually
was tied for the best record in the league but they ended up losing in the
championship he also had assistant coaching stints with the Atlanta Hawks
the Philadelphia 76ers the Toronto Raptors and the Sacramento Kings which
would be his last coaching stop and ironically enough he was let go by the
next coach who was Mike Belon who eventually become Denver Nuggets coach
so bit of irony there. Hell basketball clinics in Italy South Korea and Chile
with Nikesha Sales Nikesha Sales women's basketball player she played at
UConn she ended up going to the WNBA and also Candice Wiggins another player who
would end up going to the WNBA but she played her ball at Stanford was also
part of the basketball without borders program as an NBA ambassador there he
also did work for the WNBA actually for their players union he was a board of
advocates member Alex also did a bit of acting he debuted in a movie called
Amazing Grace and Chuck where he played a Boston Celtics player who would
take a political stance against playing ball it was about the nuclear bombs and
so forth so he took a stand in that regard he appeared in other movies as
well like the definite maybe and he also appeared in a movie called Eddie with
Whippy Goldberg where she was the coach of the Knicks and actually Alex in that
movie he was the Cleveland Cavaliers head coach and he also did some TV shows
as well guys he wrote poetry I talked about his interest in poetry that he
had in college he wrote poetry one of his favorite poets was Peter McWilliams
and Alex himself wrote nearly 300 poems and some of them actually got
published and one of the names of the books was some timey feeling sometimes
he also had business ventures including co-owning Wendy's franchises with his
wife Vanessa also a company called flick to limited it was a sports marketing
company hoop life calm which was a website that provided basketball
information he had that green smart botanicals which was a company that
specialized in medicinal cannabis so he's jumping in on that train there and
then also European wax center he was a co-owner there and they were based in
Columbia, South Carolina he's also the founder of a non-profit let's share
foundation that he had in 1989 this was a foundation used to help children and
families in need he started out in the Colorado area and then that ended up
being moved to South Carolina so that is it in terms of Alex English and all he
did post basketball let's talk about his accolades and we'll just call it a day
from there guys he was South Carolina's top career
scorer up until 1999 when BJ McKee would end up passing him the total points
he scored 1972 points and he was the third leading rebounder for South Carolina at
1064 rebounds he was a two-time independent all-American in 1975 and 76 so in
terms of the NBA this is his career numbers guys 15 years he played in 1193
games he averaged 21 and a half points per game five and a half rebounds 3.6
assists he shot it over 50% guys 50.7% from the field 83.2% from the free throw
line and then 1980-81 again that would be the start of his nine straight
seasons of 23 points per game or more 1980-182 season would be the first of his
straight 2000 plus points seasons and he's actually the first player in the
NBA to be able to tout those type of numbers guys and of course the eight
straight all-star appearances he only had one scoring championship he did in
1987-88 he won the J. Walter Kennedy Citizenship Award and that goes to the
person with the outstanding service and dedication to their communities and it
could be given to a player a coach or a trainer so Alex got it that year guys he
would score the most points for the decade of the 80s and mind you he played
in a decade with the likes of Larry Bird, Dominique Wilkins, Adrian Dantley, Moses
Malone, Marcus Johnson and Magic Johnson and Alex would be above them all in
terms of point scored. At the time of his retirement he was seventh on the all-time
scores list the names above him were Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, play or I spotlight it,
Wil Chamberlain, Elvin Hayes, Moses Malone, Oscar Robinson and John Havillchik.
Alex would finish with 25,613 points for Alex. He set 31 Denver records
including career scoring, assists, games played in minutes. His Denver Jersey his
number two Denver Jersey retired in 1983 his college Jersey South Carolina was
retired and he was inducted into the South Carolina Hall of Fame and this
occurred in 1988. He's been inducted into the Naismith basketball Hall of Fame in
1997 and then in the college basketball Hall of Fame in 2006. His high school
Jersey number 22 retired in 2020 and just this year guys he's one of four
recipients of the National Civil Rights Museum Sport Legacy Award. He was one of
four people the other three were named Montgomery for the WNBA, Calvin Hill, the
father of Grant Hill who played in the NFL and Aussie Smith who played Major
League Baseball. So those are your recipients there and just this year he
was a keynote speaker during the Martin Luther King weekend. He was keynote
speaker there for a event as well. So Alex English we salute you Alex for all
you've done in the game and outside of the game helping to grow the game overseas
as well all your business acumen and all that you've done for the game of basketball.
We salute you we give you your flowers and say job and career well done. Alright
guys so that is it for this episode next time you hear from me week 15 guys it's
packed and loaded with a lot of content guys a lot went on so I'll be here to
bring it to you alright and then guys as always you know how to get in contact
with me leave your reviews guys leave it on the website leave it on YouTube leave
it on Apple podcasts as well like the videos wherever you see them whether it
be YouTube or anywhere else alright guys so with that said I thank you for
listening as always this is the first of four player profiles I'll do for the
month so just stay tuned and I'll let you know what's coming alright guys with
that said I thank you for listening and we'll talk soon take care
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