Standing at 6 feet (183 cm) tall, Price played college basketball at Georgia Tech. During his time playing on the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets men's basketball team, he was a two-time All American and four-time All ACC basketball player who helped lead the Yellow Jackets to an ACC Championship his junior year by defeating North Carolina in the ACC Tournament championship game. He was named the ACC Player of the Year for the 1984–85 season and his jersey was retired.[1] He was inducted into the school's Hall of Fame in 1991 and into the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame in 2005. Price graduated in four years with a degree in Industrial Management.

College records[edit]

All-time Georgia Tech leader in 3-point field goal percentage (.440, 1983–86)

All-time Georgia Tech leader in steals (240, 1983–86)

All-time Georgia Tech leader in consecutive games started (126, 1983–86)

All-time Georgia Tech leader in minutes played (4,604, 1983–86)[2]

Price was known as one of the league's most consistent shooters. He finished his career with a 90.4% free throw shooting percentage[3] and a 40% three-point field goal shooting percentage.[4] During the 1988–89 season, Price became the second player, after Larry Bird, to join the NBA's 50–40–90 club for those who shot at least 40% from three-point range, at least 50% from the field and at least 90% from the free throw line in a single season, and is still one of only eight players to have ever done this while also achieving the NBA league minimum number of makes in each category. Price ranked consistently among the assist leaders (as of March 11, 2015, LeBron James surpassed Price's Cavs record of 4,206 assists, taking over 1st place[5]),[6] twice won the Three Point Contest (in 1993 and 1994), and was a four-time All-Star. Price was named to the All-NBA First Team after the 1992–93 season.[7] Price was second in franchise steals with 734, a Cavaliers record that stood until December 9, 2008 when LeBron James surpassed him.[8]

Another one of Price's distinguishing traits on the court was his pioneering of the splitting of the double team. As former teammate Steve Kerr explains, "Mark really revolutionized the way that people attack the screen and roll. To me, he was the first guy in the NBA who really split the screen and roll. A lot of teams started blitzing the pick and roll and jumping two guys at it to take the ball out of the hands of the point guard. He’d duck right between them and shoot that little runner in the lane. Nobody was doing that at that time. You watch an NBA game now and almost everybody does that. Mark was a pioneer in that regard."

Not long after retirement, Price's number, 25, was retired by the Cleveland Cavaliers. He is a member of the Georgia, Ohio, and Oklahoma Sports Halls of Fame.

The city of Enid, Oklahoma, renamed the basketball arena Mark Price Arena, as a tribute to the NBA player's accomplishments, since he was one of the best basketball athletes in Enid High School history

Career information

High school Enid (Enid, Oklahoma)

College Georgia Tech (1982–1986)

NBA draft 1986 / Round: 2 / Pick: 25th overall

Selected by the Dallas Mavericks

Playing career 1986–1998

Position Point guard

Number 25, 15, 5

Career history

As player:

1986–1995 Cleveland Cavaliers

1995–1996 Washington Bullets

1996–1997 Golden State Warriors

1997–1998 Orlando Magic

As coach:

1998–1999 Duluth HS (assistant)

1999–2000 Georgia Tech (assistant)

2000–2001 Whitfield Academy

2006 South Dragons

2007–2008 Denver Nuggets (assistant)

2008–2010 Atlanta Hawks (assistant)

2010–2011 Golden State Warriors (assistant)

2011–2012 Orlando Magic (assistant)

2013–2015 Charlotte Bobcats / Hornets (assistant)

2015–2017 Charlotte 49ers

2018–2019 Denver Nuggets (assistant)

Career highlights and awards

4× NBA All-Star (1989, 1992–1994)

All-NBA First Team (1993)

3× All-NBA Third Team (1989, 1992, 1994)

2× NBA Three-Point Contest champion (1993, 1994)

50–40–90 club (1989)

No. 25 retired by Cleveland Cavaliers

Consensus second-team All-American (1985)

Second-team All-American – NABC (1986)

2× Third-team All-American – UPI (1984, 1986)

Third-team All-American – AP (1986)

3× First-team All-ACC (1984–1986)

ACC Rookie of the Year (1983)

No. 25 retired by Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets

Career NBA statistics

Points 10,989 (15.2 ppg)

Rebounds 1,848 (2.6 rpg)

Assists 4,863 (6.7 apg)

Stats at Basketball-Reference.com

Medals[hide]

Men's basketball

Representing  United States

Pan American Games

Gold medal – first place 1983 Caracas Team competition

FIBA World Championship

Gold medal – first place 1994 Canada Team competition