A. C. Green
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A.C. Green, Jr., (born October 14, 1963) is a former NBA basketball player. A solid rebounder and unselfish forward who has played in more consecutive games than any other player in NBA and ABA history (1192), A.C. Green has added a winning ingredient to both the Los Angeles Lakers and the Phoenix Suns and brought valuable leadership and experience to the rebuilding Dallas Mavericks. He was also well-known for his deep religious values and for proclaiming he started and ended his NBA career as a virgin. But not by choice. Seriously, what woman would have sex with AC GREEN!?!?
Career
Oregon State
Green was a four-year star at Oregon State, where he finished second in school history in rebounding and fourth in scoring. He was an All-Pac-10 selection as a sophomore, and as a junior he ranked fourth in the nation in field goal percentage at .657. As a senior he averaged 19.1 points and 9.2 rebounds and was named to the All-America Third Team.
Los Angeles Lakers
The Los Angeles Lakers, fresh from winning an NBA championship, came up with a gem when they selected Green with the 23rd overall pick in the 1985 NBA Draft.
Green fit ideally into the Los Angeles flow, as he did not need to have plays run for him in order to be effective He led the Lakers in rebounding for six of his eight years on the team. In addition to providing the Lakers with constant work on the glass, his speed and willingness to run the break as a power forward helped make the team's "Showtime" offense one of the best ever. Led by Magic Johnson, James Worthy and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Los Angeles captured back-to-back titles in 1987 and 1988, Green's second and third years with the squad. In the two campaigns combined, he averaged 11.1 points and 8.2 rebounds while shooting better than .500 from the field. Green also reached the NBA Finals with Los Angeles in 1989 and 1991. Green was named to the NBA All-Defensive Second Team in 1988-89, was voted a starter on the 1990 Western Conference All-Star Team and finished fourth in the league in field goal percentage in 1992-93 at .537.
Phoenix Suns
Green left the Lakers in 1993 to sign with the Phoenix Suns as a free agent. The Suns had just reached the NBA Finals, losing in six games to the Chicago Bulls, and they viewed Green as the missing piece to their championship puzzle. Green posted a career-high average of 14.7 points per game in 1993-94, but the Suns were eliminated in the conference semifinals. In 1994-95 he again contributed double-figure scoring as well as solid rebounding for the Suns, but his playing time and contributions dipped a bit in 1995-96, although he remained the team's second-leading rebounder.
Dallas Mavericks
Green was traded two months into the 1996-97 season to the Dallas Mavericks in the deal that brought Jason Kidd to Phoenix. He brought valuable experience and reliable rebounding to the rebuilding Mavs, leading the team off the boards in 30 of the 56 games he played in a Dallas uniform. Because of the trade he was able to move one game closer to the record of consecutive games played, since he appeared in 83 games in 1996-97 instead of the standard 82. He tied Shawn Bradley for the team lead in rebounding in 1997-98 with 8.1 rpg, but his season highlight came on November 20 against Golden State when he played in his 907th consecutive game, becoming the league's all-time iron man, surpassing Randy Smith's mark of 906 consecutive games played.
Green played in his 1,000th consecutive game on March 13, 1999 against Vancouver, and finished the 1998-99 season at 1,028 in a row and counting. After 14 seasons in the league, Green had missed only three games, all during the 1986-87 season (his second in the league) and all because of the coach's Pat Riley decision.
Twilight years
Green ended his career with short stints at the Lakers and for the Miami Heat.
Personal life
- Green was married to Veronique Green on April 20, 2002.
- Green is a deeply religious man and is well-known for proclaiming he began and ended his NBA career as a virgin. He runs youth camps through his A.C. Green Youth Foundation promoting abstinence until marriage.
- On his homepage, he states that the initials in his name do not stand for anything. His given name is simply "A.C.", comparable to the case of fellow basketball star K.C. Jones.