Jamal Mashburn

Personal information
Born	(1972-11-29)November 29, 1972 (age 52) The Bronx, New York, U.S.
Listed height	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)
Listed weight	247 lb (112 kg)
Career information
High school	Cardinal Hayes (The Bronx, New York)
College	Kentucky (1990–1993)
NBA draft	1993: 1st round, 4th overall pick
Drafted by	Dallas Mavericks
Playing career	1993–2005
Position	Small forward
Number	32, 24
Career history
1993–1997	Dallas Mavericks
1997–2000	Miami Heat
2000–2002	Charlotte Hornets
2002–2005	New Orleans Hornets
Career highlights
NBA All-Star (2003) All-NBA Third Team (2003) NBA All-Rookie First Team (1994) Consensus first-teamAll-American (1993) SEC Player of the Year (1993) SEC Athlete of the Year (1993) 2× First-teamAll-SEC (1992, 1993) Second-teamParade All-American (1990) Mr. New York Basketball (1990)
Career NBA statistics
Points	11,644 (19.1 ppg)
Rebounds	3,271 (5.4 rpg)
Assists	2,414 (4.0 apg)
Stats at NBA.com
Stats atBasketball Reference

Jamal Mashburn Sr. (born November 29, 1972) is an American entrepreneur and former professionalbasketball player. Nicknamed "the Monster Mash",^[1] Mashburn was a prolific scorer as asmall forward in his 12 seasons in theNational Basketball Association (NBA), with a career scoring average of 19.1 points per game.

Mashburn was born to Bobby, a former heavyweight boxer and New York City police officer, and Helen Mashburn.^[2] His father retired in 1974 and then lived separately from Helen and his son Jamal, divorcing after about 10 years.^[3][4][5]

Mashburn learned the game atRucker Park, just a block away from where he grew up.^[2]

After attendingCardinal Hayes High School inThe Bronx, Mashburn had a very successful basketball career in college, playing for theUniversity of Kentucky. He was the fourth-leading career scorer for theWildcats and a consensus First TeamAll-American by his junior year, in which the Wildcats made it to the Final Four of the NCAA Tournament. Following the tournament he declared for the1993 NBA draft, with Mashburn being selected by theDallas Mavericks with the fourth pick.

The Mavericks were a lottery team led by veteran point guardDerek Harper and second year guardJim Jackson, and Mashburn quickly shared the reins of the offense, averaging 19.2 points a game in 73 starts and earning a selection to the firstNBA All-Rookie Team. Despite this the Mavericks could only manage 13 wins for the1993–94 season. In the off-season, the team drafted star point guardJason Kidd, teaming up with Jackson and Mashburn to become known collectively as "The Three J's." The Mavericks would improve to 36 wins in the1994–95 season, as Mashburn averaged 24.1 points a game (sixth in the league), while placing fifth in the league in free throw makes (447), seventh in made field goals (683), and fifth in total points (1,926). The season also featured a 50-point performance by Mashburn on November 12 against theChicago Bulls in Chicago.^[6] This made him the fourth-youngest player to score 50 points in an NBA game (Brandon Jennings is the youngest). He also broke many franchise records and blossomed into one of the best scoring forwards in the league. Despite the team's improvement they were unable to make the playoffs, and injuries would force Mashburn to only play 18 games in the1995–96 season.

Mashburn started in just 21 games of the Mavericks' first 37 games of the1996–97 season, and on February 14, 1997, he was traded to theMiami Heat in exchange forKurt Thomas,Predrag Danilović andMartin Müürsepp.^[7][8]

Miami was a loaded team led by all-starsAlonzo Mourning andTim Hardaway and coached byPat Riley. The addition of Mashburn boosted the team's offense, and the team finished the season with a franchise best 61 wins with Mashburn averaging 13.4 points in 30 starts. In the playoffs the Heat defeated theOrlando Magic in a difficult 5 games in the first round, followed by a grueling seven-game series win against theNew York Knicks. Miami made its first ever Conference Finals against the defending champion Bulls, and would lose the first three games of the series before managing a win in Miami in game four, with Mashburn scoring 17 points.^[9] The Bulls proved too much for the Heat and won the series in the fifth game in Chicago. Mashburn averaged 10.5 points in his first postseason.

Injuries limited Mashburn to 48 games in the1997–98 season, but he started in each game he played and averaged 15.1 points a game as Miami won 55 games before losing in a five-game first round series to the Knicks. Mashburn started in 3 of the games and saw his production slip. The following season would be shortened to 50 games due to a league lockout, and injuries again limited Mashburn to just 23 starts with averages of 14.8 points a game with 6.1 rebounds a game. Miami captured the best record in the Eastern Conference, but once again lost in the first round to New York, as Mashburn averaged 10 points in the five-game series.

The1999–2000 season featured an improvement statistically for Mashburn, as he shouldered more of the offensive load and averaged 17.5 points a game including a career high 112 three point field goals. The Heat won 52 games before sweeping theDetroit Pistons in the first round of the playoffs in three games. This set up another rematch with New York, as the Heat and Knicks battled in another grueling seven-game series. Despite scoring in bunches in the Heat's victories, including a 21-point performance in game 5, Mashburn's scoring dropped off in the final two games of the series, and the Knicks once again eliminated Miami at home. Following another disappointing playoff run for the team, Mashburn and teammateP. J. Brown were traded to theCharlotte Hornets forEddie Jones andAnthony Mason.

In his first season in Charlotte, Mashburn averaged 20.1 points, 7.6 rebounds and 5.4 assists in 76 games. Led by his play and the play ofBaron Davis, the Hornets won 46 games and faced Miami in the first round of the playoffs. While his former team was favored to win the series, Mashburn averaged 23.7 points, as the younger Hornets shocked the Heat and swept them in three games. Next up were theMilwaukee Bucks, who took a two-game lead before the Hornets won game three in Charlotte led by Mashburn's 36 points and game four, in which Mashburn scored 31. Despite managing to win three straight games, the Bucks responded to win the last two games and the series. Mashburn averaged a career high 24.9 points in the2001 playoffs.

The2001–02 season once again featured injury problems for Mashburn, and he only played in 40 games averaging 21.5 points per game. The Hornets made the playoffs and defeated Orlando before losing to theNew Jersey Nets, but Mashburn's injury woes kept him out of the postseason. The Hornets would go on to relocate toNew Orleans after the season ended.

Mashburn's best overall NBA season took place in the2002–03 season, and he played in all 82 games averaging 21.6 points per game. He played in his first and only All-Star game (which was Michael Jordan's last) scoring 10 points in the2003 NBA All-Star Game in Atlanta, won the Eastern Conference Player of the Month award in March and made the All-NBA Third Team. The season also featured some high scoring games for Mashburn, including a 50-point performance against Memphis on February 21 and a 40-point game against Orlando on March 26. The Hornets won 47 games and faced thePhiladelphia 76ers in the first round of the playoffs, but Mashburn played in only four games of the series due to a finger injury. In the deciding Game 6 loss on May 2, 2003, Mashburn led the Hornets in scoring with 36 points while adding five assists.^[10]

Mashburn continued his stellar play in the2003–04 season, but injuries plagued him for most of the year and he managed to play in only 19 games. He was later unable to participate in the2004 playoffs. Bothered by problems with his right knee (patellafemoral irritation), he decided to sit out the2004–05 season in hopes that his knee would recover. He hadmicrofracture surgery performed on his knee, a risky surgery that not all players have been able to recover from.

Despite his decision to sit out the year due to his knee, the Hornets still traded Mashburn, along withRodney Rogers, to thePhiladelphia 76ers in exchange for forwardGlenn Robinson on February 24, 2005.^[11] Mashburn was never able to recover from his chronic knee problems and never saw court time for Philadelphia. He was on the injured list for all of the2004–05 season and the inactive list for2005–06. On March 24, 2006, the 76ers waived Mashburn, who subsequently announced his retirement from the NBA. He had career averages of 19.1 points, 5.4 rebounds and 4.0 assists per game.

Mashburn, who averaged 20.8 points per game in2003–04, is one of only six players since 1970 to have averaged at least 20 points per game in his final NBA season. The other five areJerry West (20.3 in 1973–74),Larry Bird (20.2 in 1991–92),Dražen Petrović (22.3 in 1992–93),Reggie Lewis (20.8 in 1992–93), andMichael Jordan (20.0 in 2002–03).

Since retiring from basketball, Mashburn has worked forESPN as an analyst and launched a number of successful business ventures. As of 2018, he owned over 90 businesses, including 34Outback Steakhouse franchises, 37Papa John's franchises, and a number of car dealerships across the state of Kentucky.^[12][13] Mashburn is a partner in Ol Memorial Stable, along with former Kentucky coachRick Pitino and Outback Steakhouse co-founderChris T. Sullivan, which owns Kentucky Derby prospect Buffalo Man.^[14]

Mashburn has lived inMiami since his retirement. In 2017, he and his wife divorced after a 17-year marriage.^[15] Their son,Jamal Jr., attended theGulliver Prep^[16][17] before transferring toBrewster Academy.^[18][19] A 4-star recruit out of high school, Jamal Jr. played college basketball for Minnesota for a year, followed by 3 years at New Mexico. Jamal Jr. was coached by Richard Pitino at both Minnesota and New Mexico. Jamal Jr. was a graduate transfer to Temple University for his last year of eligibility in 2024–2025.^[20][21]

• Career statistics fromNBA.com · Basketball Reference
• ESPN Bio

• 1972 births
• Living people
• 21st-century American businesspeople
• All-American college men's basketball players
• American men's basketball players
• Cardinal Hayes High School alumni
• Charlotte Hornets players
• Dallas Mavericks draft picks
• Dallas Mavericks players
• Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball players
• Miami Heat players
• NBA All-Stars
• NBA broadcasters
• New Orleans Hornets players
• Parade High School All-Americans (boys' basketball)
• Small forwards
• Basketball players from the Bronx
• 21st-century African-American sportsmen
• 20th-century African-American sportsmen
• Southeastern Conference Athlete of the Year winners
• 21st-century American sportsmen
• 20th-century American sportsmen

• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Use mdy dates from March 2019