| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1976-05-18)May 18, 1976 (age 49) Nashville, Tennessee, U.S. |
| Listed height | 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) |
| Listed weight | 215 lb (98 kg) |
| Career information | |
| High school | |
| College | Kentucky (1995–1997) |
| NBA draft | 1997: 1st round, 6th overall pick |
| Drafted by | Boston Celtics |
| Playing career | 1997–2005 |
| Position | Small forward /shooting guard |
| Number | 5, 33, 1 |
| Career history | |
| 1997–1999 | Boston Celtics |
| 1999–2000 | Denver Nuggets |
| 2000 | Orlando Magic |
| 2000–2002 | Chicago Bulls |
| 2002–2003 | Indiana Pacers |
| 2003–2004 | San Antonio Spurs |
| 2004–2005 | New Jersey Nets |
| Career highlights | |
| |
| Career NBA statistics | |
| Points | 5,892 (13.6 ppg) |
| Rebounds | 1,342 (3.1 rpg) |
| Assists | 921 (2.1 apg) |
Stats at NBA.com  | |
| Stats atBasketball Reference | |
Ronald Eugene Mercer (born May 18, 1976) is an American former professionalbasketball player. After his career at theUniversity of Kentucky, Mercer played for several teams in theNational Basketball Association (NBA); he ended his career with theNew Jersey Nets in 2005.
Ron Mercer was twice named"Mr. Basketball" of Tennessee while atGoodpasture Christian School inMadison, Tennessee. He then transferred toOak Hill Academy inMouth of Wilson,Virginia, and was rated by Bob Gibbons to be the best prep player of the class of 1995.
Mercer had a very successful collegiate career, having been anAll-American and all-Southeastern Conference player at Kentucky, and part of a national championship team his freshman year.[1]
Mercer was selected with the sixth overall pick of the1997 NBA draft by theBoston Celtics and was reunited with fellow Kentucky teammateAntoine Walker, andRick Pitino, his coach at Kentucky who had just become the coach of the Celtics. Prior to Mercer's drafting, Pitino was recorded as saying that he did not envisage Mercer as having the necessary talent to be selected very high. Some felt this was just a ploy to scare the other teams away from him so as to increase the likelihood of Mercer being available by the time the Celtics got an opportunity to make their draft selection.[2] It turned out it was.[3]
After two seasons in Boston, Mercer was traded by the Celtics along withPopeye Jones andDwayne Schintzius to theDenver Nuggets forDanny Fortson,Eric Williams,Eric Washington, and a future draft choice. He played 37 games for Denver in1999–2000, then played the final 31 games that season with theOrlando Magic due to a trade.
Mercer left after that season, signing as a free agent with theChicago Bulls the next year.[4] He averaged 19.7 points per game in his first year with them.
This was Mercer's career high in points per game and was the second leading scorer on the team.[5]
Despite Mercer's 16.8 points per game in 2001–02, he was traded midway through the season alongsideBrad Miller,Ron Artest, andKevin Ollie to theIndiana Pacers forJalen Rose,Travis Best,Norman Richardson, and a second-round draft pick. In Indiana, he served merely as a reserve player and his play declined rapidly over his one-and-a-half-season stint with the club.[6]
Before the2003–04 season, Mercer was traded to theSan Antonio Spurs in a three-team trade that again involvedBrad Miller and theSacramento Kings'Hedo Türkoğlu.[7] After playing 39 games with the Spurs, he was released.[8]
Prior to the2004–05 season, Mercer signed with his seventh NBA team, theNew Jersey Nets.[9] On August 15, 2005, prior to the2005–06 NBA season, he was waived by the Nets to avoid the league'sluxury tax as part of the new labor agreement.[citation needed]
In 1997, Mercer and fellow former Celtic playerChauncey Billups were accused of sexually assaulting a woman at the home of teammateAntoine Walker. According to a civil suit, Billups, Mercer, and Walker's roommate Michael Irvin assaulted the woman at Walker's condo after leaving a Boston comedy club on November 9, 1997. A medical examination on the following day revealed injuries consistent with the victim's testimony. No criminal charges were filed, but Billups and Mercer settled acivil suit in 2000.[10]