Teammates with Michael Jordan, James Worthy is another notable name who played underneath Dean Smith at North Carolina. And he was good in his own right.
He became a No. 1 overall draft pick to the Los Angeles Lakers following three years of productive college basketball where he finished averaging 14.5 points, 7.4 rebounds, and 2.5 assists. Also shooting 54.1% from the field goal range, but the only downside of his stats would be the 65.2% from the free throw line. However, that was not an alarm that pushed the Lakers away.
ACC Digital Network shared a video clip on X (formerly Twitter) on Worthy dunking and drawing a foul, but the referee’s reaction made the moment a bit more interesting:That’s not something you’d see in today’s game, right? For what it’s worth, it added much more emphasis to Worthy’s dunk.
GoHeels provided information on Worthy’s recognition as a part of the ACC Basketball Legends class, a cool club to be featuring the best of the best in the ACC:
“North Carolina’s James Worthy is among 14 former standout players and a three-time Atlantic Coast Conference Coach of the Year who headline this year’s class of ACC Basketball Legends.
The 1982 National Player of the Year and the Final Four’s Most Outstanding Player, Worthy led North Carolina to its second NCAA title and the first under legendary head coach Dean Smith. His 28-point performance and steal in the closing seconds keyed the Tar Heels past Georgetown in the national championship game. That capped a junior year in which Worthy earned All-America honors for the second consecutive season and was also the MVP of both the ACC Tournament and the NCAA East Regional.
The Los Angeles Lakers made the Gastonia, North Carolina, native the NBA’s No. 1 overall draft pick a few months later. Despite missing a large part of his freshman year at UNC with a broken ankle, Worthy totaled 1,219 points in just over 2 ½ college seasons to rank among the school’s all-time leading scorers.
He went on to stellar professional career in which he was a seven-time NBA All-Star, played on three NBA title teams and was voted the MVP of the 1988 NBA Finals. Worthy’s jersey (number 52) was retired at UNC, and he was inducted into the Naismith Hall of Fame in 2003.”And for reference here’s the entire class, per GoHeels:
“The 2016 ACC Legends Class:
Jim Hooley, Forward, Boston College
Grayson Marshall, Guard, Clemson
Jason Willams, Guard, Duke
Rowland Garrett, Forward, Florida State
BJ Elder, Guard, Georgia Tech
Darrell Griffith, Guard, Louisville
John Salmons, Forward, Miami
James Worthy, Forward, North Carolina
Anthony “Spud” Webb, Guard, North Carolina State
Adrian Dantley, Forward, Notre Dame
Charles Smith, Forward, Pitt
Derrick Coleman, Forward, Syracuse
Norman Nolan, Forward, Virginia
Howard Pardue, Forward, Virginia Tech
Dave Odom, Head Coach, Wake Forest
Worthy will go down as one of the best Tar Heels among MJ, Tyler Hansbrough, and all of those who followed.
