Ricky Pierce

Ricky Pierce
Personal information
Born (1959-08-19) August 19, 1959
Dallas, Texas
Nationality American
Listed height 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)
Listed weight 205 lb (93 kg)
Career information
High school Garland (Garland, Texas)
College
NBA draft 1982 / Round: 1 / Pick: 18th overall
Selected by the Detroit Pistons
Playing career 1982–1998
Position Shooting guard / Small forward
Number 22, 25, 21
Career history
1982–1983 Detroit Pistons
1983–1984 San Diego Clippers
1984–1991 Milwaukee Bucks
1991–1994 Seattle SuperSonics
1994–1995 Golden State Warriors
1995–1996 Indiana Pacers
1996–1997 Denver Nuggets
1997 Charlotte Hornets
1997 AEK Athens
1997–1998 Milwaukee Bucks
Career highlights and awards
Career NBA statistics
Points 14,467 (14.9 ppg)
Rebounds 2,296 (2.4 rpg)
Assists 1,826 (1.9 apg)
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com

Ricky Charles Pierce (born August 19, 1959) is an American retired National Basketball Association (NBA) player. He was named an NBA All-Star (1991) and was twice the NBA Sixth Man of the Year (1987, 1990) while with the Milwaukee Bucks.

Career beginnings

He graduated from Garland High School. Pierce played basketball at Rice University.[1]

NBA

Detroit Pistons

He was drafted by the Detroit Pistons in the 1st round (18th pick) of the 1982 NBA Draft. Used sparingly in his rookie season, he was traded to the San Diego Clippers immediately prior to the 1983-84 NBA season for two future 2nd round draft picks.

San Diego Clippers

Pierce became a rotation regular during his one season with the Clippers, averaging 9.9 points and 18.6 minutes per game. He started 35 games during the season, highlighted by a then-career-high 30-point performance against San Antonio in his first start as a Clipper.

Milwaukee Bucks

Pierce was traded by the San Diego Clippers before the 1984-85 season along with Terry Cummings to the Milwaukee Bucks. Pierce was reunited with his coach at Rice, Mike Schuler, who was then an assistant coach for the Bucks. Pierce would go on to average 17 points per game over the next 6 full seasons in Milwaukee, despite starting only 46 games in that time.

Pierce won the NBA Sixth Man of the Year Award for 1986–87 for averaging 19.5 points per game with a 53.4% shooting percentage in his third season with the Bucks. He earned the same award again three seasons later, averaging 23.0 points per game without starting a single one (an NBA record)[2] in 1989–90. In the week preceding the 1991 trade deadline, the Bucks traded Pierce to the Seattle SuperSonics for Dale Ellis.

Seattle Supersonics

Pierce became a regular starter in the 1991–92 season, his first full season with the Sonics. He made 75 consecutive free throws through several games in November–December 1991, the second-longest such streak at that time. In 1993, Pierce and teammates Gary Payton and Shawn Kemp led the Sonics to Game 7 of the Western Conference Finals, but lost to the Phoenix Suns. Pierce returned to the bench for 1993–94 following Seattle's off-season acquisition of Kendall Gill.

Golden State Warriors

On July 18, 1994, Pierce was traded along with Carlos Rogers and two draft picks to the Golden State Warriors in exchange for Byron Houston and Sarunas Marciulionis. Pierce battled foot and back injuries during the season and was only able to see action in 27 games.

Indiana Pacers

Prior to the 1995–96 season, Pierce signed with the Indiana Pacers as an unrestricted free agent. Healthy once more, Pierce appeared in 76 games, and after starting only 2 games all season, he started 4 of the Pacers' 5 first round playoff games, contributing 10.2 points and 3.0 assists per game.

Denver Nuggets

Indiana traded Pierce to the Denver Nuggets before the start of 1996–97 season, sending Mark Jackson and a 1st round draft pick to the Nuggets in exchange for Jalen Rose, Reggie Williams, and the Nuggets' 1st round pick. In February, with the Nuggets out of the playoff picture, Pierce was traded to the Charlotte Hornets for Anthony Goldwire and George Zidek.

Charlotte Hornets

Pierce played an expanded role with the playoff-bound Hornets, starting 17 of the final 29 games and averaging 12 points per game. In the playoffs, Pierce started the first 2 games of the Hornets' series with the New York Knicks and contributed 11 points off the bench in the third, which would be his final playoff game as a player.

AEK BC Athens, return to the Bucks and retirement

Without a contract for the 1997–98 season, Pierce signed to play with AEK B.C. Athens, a Greek professional team and one of the best in the country. Pierce played five games with AEK before signing as a free agent with the Milwaukee Bucks in December 1997, and retired from basketball at the end of the season.

NBA career statistics

Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game
 FG%  Field goal percentage  3P%  3-point field goal percentage  FT%  Free throw percentage
 RPG  Rebounds per game  APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game
 BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game  Bold  Career high

Regular season

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
1982–83 Detroit 3916.8.375.143.563.9.4.2.12.2
1983–84 San Diego 693518.6.470.000.8612.0.9.4.29.9
1984–85 Milwaukee 44320.0.537.250.8232.72.1.8.19.8
1985–86 Milwaukee 81826.5.538.130.8582.92.21.0.113.9
1986–87 Milwaukee 793131.7.534.107.8803.41.8.8.319.5
1987–88 Milwaukee 37026.1.510.214.8772.22.0.6.216.4
1988–89 Milwaukee 75427.7.518.222.8592.62.11.0.317.6
1989–90 Milwaukee 59029.0.510.346.8392.82.3.8.123.0
1990–91 Milwaukee 46028.8.499.398.9072.52.1.8.222.5
1990–91 Seattle 32026.3.463.391.9252.32.3.7.117.5
1991–92 Seattle 787834.1.475.268.9163.03.11.1.321.7
1992–93 Seattle 777228.8.489.372.8892.52.91.3.118.2
1993–94 Seattle 51020.0.471.188.8961.61.8.8.114.5
1994–95 Golden State 27624.9.437.329.8772.41.5.8.112.5
1995–96 Indiana 76218.5.447.337.8491.81.3.8.19.7
1996–97 Denver 331018.2.462.308.9021.6.9.4.210.2
1996–97 Charlotte 271724.1.502.536.8892.51.8.5.112.0
1997–98 Milwaukee 39011.3.364.308.8271.2.9.2.03.9
Career 96926924.4.493.322.8752.41.9.8.214.9
All-Star 1019.0.500–1.0002.02.0.0.09.0

Playoffs

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
1985 Milwaukee 8124.8.493.000.7782.31.9.4.19.9
1986 Milwaukee 13024.8.460.000.8892.81.5.6.211.1
1987 Milwaukee 12226.4.479–.8212.31.3.8.415.9
1988 Milwaukee 5021.0.472.200.8892.81.8.2.411.8
1989 Milwaukee 9032.4.546.750.8722.82.81.2.222.3
1990 Milwaukee 4030.5.467.500.9032.31.51.3.022.3
1991 Seattle 5022.4.333.300.9412.8.8.8.211.4
1992 Seattle 9935.1.481.273.8702.43.1.6.119.6
1993 Seattle 191930.4.456.400.8982.42.2.6.217.7
1994 Seattle 5014.8.452–.7061.0.6.2.08.0
1996 Indiana 5426.6.340.250.850.83.01.6.210.2
1997 Charlotte 3229.0.458.143–2.71.3.7.07.7
Career 973727.4.466.355.8662.41.9.7.214.9

Post playing career

Since retiring, Pierce has developed his own basketball system that assists with shooting accuracy with specially-designed fingertip-placement markers.[3] Pierce developed the idea after watching his son, Aron, playing basketball at the YMCA. Pierce was giving advice to parents on how to teach their kids the perfect jump shot.[4] A product would later be developed known as the Accushot22, a specially designed basketball with 10 oval indentations.[4] The product sells for $37.95, although hundreds are given away free to underprivileged children.[4]

Pierce returned to Rice University to complete his degree, and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in kinesiology in May 2012.[5]

Notes

  1. ↑ http://ultimatewestu.com/stories/334981-veteran-nba-player-business-owner-hits-the-books
  2. ↑ "Player Season Finder: Games Started = 0; sorted by descending Points Per Game". Basketball-Reference.com. Retrieved 2011-05-22.
  3. ↑ Shoot like All-Star? Ricky Pierce says no problem by Kate Hairopoulos, The Dallas Morning News, Sept. 11, 2006.
  4. 1 2 3 Sports Illustrated, July 2, 2007, p. 118.
  5. ↑ Rice's 99th Commencement Included Over 100 Student-Athletes riceowls.com, May 12, 2012
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.