Anthony Mason (basketball)
Personal information | |
---|---|
Born | Marinos de Oriente | December 14, 1966
1991 | Long Island Surf |
1991–1996 | New York Knicks |
1996–2000 | Charlotte Hornets |
2000–2001 | Miami Heat |
2001–2003 | Milwaukee Bucks |
Career highlights and awards | |
| |
Career NBA statistics | |
Points | 9,656 (10.9 ppg) |
Rebounds | 7,279 (8.3 rpg) |
Assists | 2,963 (3.4 apg) |
Stats at NBA.com | |
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com | |
Anthony George Douglas Mason (December 14, 1966 – February 28, 2015) was an American professional
Mason played collegiately for Tennessee State University and also played professionally in Turkey, Venezuela, the Continental Basketball Association (CBA), and the United States Basketball League (USBL).
Basketball career
Early years
Mason attended
In the 1990–1991 season, Mason played 26 games for the CBA's Tulsa Fast Breakers, with whom he averaged 29.9 points and 14.8 rebounds per game in his only season in the league.[1][2]
Also in 1991, Mason played as a
NBA career
New York Knicks
Mason signed with the
Mason won the NBA Sixth Man of the Year Award in 1995. He led the league in minutes played in 1995–96[8] with 3,457, setting a Knicks team record. In 1996, Mason and Brad Lohaus were traded to the Charlotte Hornets for Larry Johnson.
Charlotte Hornets
In Mason's Charlotte debut, on November 2, 1996, he recorded a double-double with 18 points and 15 rebounds in a 109–98 victory over the Toronto Raptors.[9] On February 17, 1997, Mason scored a season-high 28 points (on 11 of 11 shooting from the field), grabbed 12 rebounds, and recorded 9 assists in a 124–110 win against the Orlando Magic.[10] In the 1996–1997 season, Mason recorded career high averages in minutes played (43.1), points (16.2), rebounds (11.4) and assists (5.7). He led the league in minutes. Despite a strong personal showing in the first round of the playoffs, averaging 13 points and 12 rebounds a game, Mason and the Hornets were eliminated by his former team, the Knicks, in a sweep.[11] Following the season, he was named to the All-NBA Third Team and to the NBA All-Defensive Second Team.
During the
Mason missed the entire 1998–99 season due to a ruptured bicep.
Miami Heat
In 2000, Mason was traded to the
Milwaukee Bucks
Mason signed with the Milwaukee Bucks for the 2001–02 season. In Mason's first season with the Bucks, the team stumbled to a 41–41 record (11 games worse than the previous season) and missed the playoffs altogether. Mason's numbers went down as well: 9.6 ppg, 7.9 rpg. Nonetheless, Milwaukee stuck with Mason for another year, waiving him after the 2002–03 season. Mason retired from the NBA in 2003.
Media appearances
In the TV series New York Undercover, Mason appeared in two different episodes, playing himself in one. He also plays a pickup player in the 1996 film Eddie, and himself in Woody Allen's Celebrity.
In addition, Mason appears in the Diamond D hip hop video "Best-Kept Secret," dunking his way through the video on a New York City playground basketball court.[17]
The Beastie Boys song "B-Boys Makin' with the Freak Freak" from 1994's Ill Communication album mentions him with the lyric "I got my hair cut correct like Anthony Mason".[18]
The Notorious B.I.G. song "I Got a Story to Tell" tells of the supposed event of the rapper sleeping with the girlfriend of a New York Knick in the player's home, and the fall-out that came with the player returning home while the story teller was still present. The identity of the involved player has been contested since the song's release, with many long suspecting the Knick in question to have been John Starks, Mason's teammate of several years.[19] The player in question was alleged, decades later, to be Mason, by rapper Fat Joe.[20]
Personal life
Mason was born in Miami, Florida, and spent most of his childhood in New York City in the borough of Queens.[8]
After being charged with statutory rape in 1998, Mason pleaded guilty to two counts of endangering the welfare of a child.[8]
Mason's son, Anthony Mason Jr., played on the
Death
Mason had a
NBA career statistics
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
Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1989–90 | New Jersey
|
21 | 0 | 5.1 | .350 | — | .600 | 1.6 | .3 | .1 | .1 | 1.8 |
1990–91 | Denver
|
3 | 0 | 7.0 | .500 | — | .750 | 1.7 | .0 | .3 | .0 | 3.3 |
1991–92 | New York
|
82 | 0 | 26.8 | .509 | — | .642 | 7.0 | 1.3 | .6 | .3 | 7.0 |
1992–93 | New York
|
81 | 0 | 30.6 | .502 | — | .682 | 7.9 | 2.1 | .5 | .2 | 10.3 |
1993–94 | New York
|
73 | 12 | 26.1 | .476 | .000 | .720 | 5.8 | 2.1 | .4 | .1 | 7.2 |
1994–95 | New York
|
77 | 11 | 32.4 | .566 | .000 | .641 | 8.4 | 3.1 | .9 | .3 | 9.9 |
1995–96 | New York
|
82 | 82* | 42.2 | .563 | — | .720 | 9.3 | 4.4 | .8 | .4 | 14.6 |
1996–97 | Charlotte
|
73 | 73 | 43.1 | .525 | .333 | .745 | 11.4 | 5.7 | 1.0 | .5 | 16.2 |
1997–98 | Charlotte
|
81 | 80 | 38.9 | .509 | .000 | .649 | 10.2 | 4.2 | .8 | .2 | 12.8 |
1999–00 | Charlotte
|
82 | 81 | 38.2 | .480 | .000 | .746 | 8.5 | 4.5 | .9 | .4 | 11.6 |
2000–01 | Miami
|
80 | 80 | 40.7 | .482 | — | .781 | 9.6 | 3.1 | 1.0 | .3 | 16.1 |
2001–02 | Milwaukee
|
82 | 82 | 38.3 | .505 | 1.000 | .697 | 7.9 | 4.2 | .7 | .3 | 9.6 |
2002–03 | Milwaukee
|
65 | 58 | 32.6 | .486 | .000 | .718 | 6.4 | 3.2 | .5 | .2 | 7.2 |
Career | 882 | 559 | 34.7 | .509 | .167 | .709 | 8.3 | 3.4 | .7 | .3 | 10.9 | |
All-Star | 1 | 0 | 20.0 | .000 | .000 | .000 | 4.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | .0 | .0 |
Playoffs
Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1992
|
New York
|
12 | 0 | 24.0 | .442 | — | .786 | 6.3 | .8 | .2 | .7 | 5.0 |
1993
|
New York
|
15 | 0 | 34.0 | .590 | — | .632 | 7.3 | 2.7 | .7 | .4 | 12.5 |
1994
|
New York
|
25 | 0 | 26.4 | .489 | — | .714 | 5.8 | 1.8 | .6 | .2 | 7.6 |
1995
|
New York
|
11 | 0 | 32.0 | .608 | .000 | .623 | 6.2 | 2.2 | .5 | .5 | 9.5 |
1996
|
New York
|
8 | 8 | 43.8 | .526 | — | .679 | 7.8 | 3.3 | .5 | .1 | 12.6 |
1997
|
Charlotte
|
3 | 3 | 43.7 | .421 | — | .538 | 12.0 | 3.0 | .3 | .3 | 13.0 |
1998
|
Charlotte
|
9 | 9 | 40.8 | .576 | .000 | .595 | 7.9 | 3.4 | .9 | .0 | 15.4 |
2000
|
Charlotte
|
4 | 4 | 44.8 | .474 | .000 | .700 | 9.8 | 5.5 | 1.0 | .5 | 12.5 |
2001
|
Miami
|
3 | 3 | 32.7 | .385 | .000 | 1.000 | 3.0 | 1.3 | .3 | .0 | 5.3 |
2003
|
Milwaukee
|
6 | 0 | 26.2 | .412 | — | .692 | 3.3 | .2 | .5 | .2 | 3.8 |
Career | 96 | 27 | 32.2 | .524 | .000 | .668 | 6.6 | 2.2 | .6 | .3 | 9.5 |
See also
- List of National Basketball Association annual minutes leaders
References
- ^ 1991–92 Official CBA Guide and Register, page 289
- ^ Reports, Staff and Wire. "Former New York Knick, Tulsa Fast Breaker Anthony Mason suffers heart attack". Tulsa World.
- ^ Araton, Harvey (February 28, 2015). "Tough Knick Anthony Mason Was True to the City". New York Times. New York, NY. Retrieved April 25, 2017.
- ^ Smith, Chris (May 31, 1993). "The Knicks Go For the Grand Slam". New York Magazine. New York, NY. Retrieved April 25, 2017.
- ^ Fisher, Sean (January 24, 2000). "In Celebration Of Its 15th Anniversary Season, USBL Fans Select The "All-15 Team"". Silicon Investor. San Francisco, CA. Retrieved April 25, 2017.
- ^ "New York Knicks at Los Angeles Lakers Box Score, March 26, 1993". Basketball-Reference.com. Retrieved February 9, 2022.
- ^ "Legendary Moments In NBA History: New York Knicks return to NBA Finals at last". NBA.com. Retrieved February 19, 2024.
- ^ a b c d Weber, Bruce (February 28, 2015). "Anthony Mason, Bruising Knicks Forward in the '90s, Dies at 48". The New York Times.
- ^ "Toronto Raptors at Charlotte Hornets Box Score, November 2, 1996". Basketball-Reference.com. Retrieved February 9, 2022.
- ^ "Orlando Magic at Charlotte Hornets Box Score, February 17, 1997". Basketball-Reference.com. Retrieved February 9, 2022.
- ^ "1997 NBA Eastern Conference First Round - Hornets vs. Knicks". Basketball-Reference.com. Retrieved February 9, 2022.
- ^ "1998 NBA Eastern Conference First Round - Hawks vs. Hornets". Basketball-Reference.com. Retrieved February 9, 2022.
- ^ "1997-98 Charlotte Hornets Roster and Stats". Basketball-Reference.com. Retrieved February 9, 2022.
- ^ "ESPN.com - NBA - Charlotte Hornets preview". assets.espn.go.com.
- ^ "Toronto Raptors at Charlotte Hornets Box Score, March 31, 2000". Basketball-Reference.com. Retrieved February 9, 2022.
- ^ "2000 NBA Eastern Conference First Round - 76ers vs. Hornets". Basketball-Reference.com. Retrieved February 9, 2022.
- ^ "P&T Top Ten: Number 9- Anthony Mason – Posting and Toasting". Postingandtoasting.com. August 2, 2007. Retrieved February 12, 2015.
- ^ "Beastie Boys – B-Boys Makin' With the Freak Freak lyrics". Thelyricarchive.com. Retrieved February 12, 2015.
- ^ "Notorious B.I.G.'s 'Story to Tell' was about Anthony Mason, says Fat Joe". The Washington Post. Retrieved February 9, 2022.
- ^ Bieler, Des (May 16, 2016). "Notorious B.I.G.'s 'Story to Tell' was about Anthony Mason, says Fat Joe". The Washington Post.
- ^ "Anthony Mason Jr. Bio". Cstv.com. Archived from the original on September 3, 2009. Retrieved February 12, 2015.
- NBA.com. Retrieved March 1, 2013.
- NBA.com. Archived from the originalon March 22, 2014. Retrieved March 1, 2013.
- ^ "St. John's alum Anthony Mason Jr signs with French club Cholet Basket". SB Nation. August 22, 2012. Retrieved March 1, 2013.
- ^ "College Basketball Recruiting Schools". ESPN. Retrieved February 12, 2015.
- ^ Beard, Aaron (February 26, 2013). "NBA sons making their mark in college basketball". Miami Herald. Retrieved March 1, 2013.
- ^ "Antoine Mason". ESPN. Retrieved March 1, 2013.
- ^ "Anthony Mason suffers 'massive heart attack'". New York Post. Retrieved February 12, 2015.
- ^ "Anthony Mason dead at 48: Bruising former Knicks power forward dies weeks after suffering massive heart attack". New York Daily News. Retrieved February 28, 2015.
External links
- Career statistics and player information from NBA.com and Basketball-Reference.com
- NBA biography of Mason
- Anthony Mason at IMDb