Antonio McDyess

Antonio Keithflen McDyess is a professional basketball player from the United States of America who plays as a power forward. During his days at the Quitman High School, McDyess was amongst the top-30 prospects in the country and was even invited for the Magic Johnson Roundball Classic. Following high school, McDyess went to the University of Alabama.

McDyess declared for the 1995 NBA Draft and his wonderful collegiate record ensured that the Los Angeles Lakers picked him at 2nd overall. However, before the start of the season, McDyess was traded out to the Denver Nuggets in exchange for Rodney Rogers and Brent Barry. Starting in the NBA, McDyess was a regular starter for the Nuggets and notched up 13.4 points per game in his debut season. He ran his shooting up to 18.3 per game in his sophomore year before being traded out to the Phoenix Suns in 1997.

McDyess played with the Suns for just one season and in that one-year contract, played well below par despite starting 81 games in as many appearances for the season. With his contract ended, McDyess returned to the Denver Nuggets for his second stint, this time playing with the team for 4 seasons. McDyess’ return to the Nuggets was huge – 21.2 points per game became a career-high while 1.5 steals per game and 2.3 blocks per game were also career-highs for McDyess.

However, injury restricted him to just 50 games that season. The following season, McDyess dropped a little, scoring at 19.1 points per game however in 2000-01, he took it back up to 20.8 points per game and was also picked to represent the United States of America at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney.

In 2001-02, McDyess suffered a terrible knee injury that forced him out of the entire season after playing just 10 games. He went on to miss the entire 2002-03 season as well, aggravating the injury each time he tried to get back onto the court.

In 2003-04, McDyess was traded out to the New York Knicks but just 18 games into the season, McDyess re-injured his knee and was out for the remainder of the season. McDyess was traded out to the Phoenix Suns at the end of the season, a move that saw 8 players move around to get Stephon Marbury to the Knicks. McDyess spent a single season at the Suns, playing just 24 games after being forced to start off the bench.

Ending his contract at the end of the season, McDyess became a free agent and after being declared completely fit, he returned to the Pistons for the full mid-level exception. With the Pistons, McDyess began a resurgent run, playing in 77 games on his return to a first full season in the NBA since 2000-01. Despite a semblance of resurgence, McDyess would be a regular bench-starter, especially in the second season when he played all the games, but from the bench.

McDyess was unable to match his high scoring seasons of his early days in the NBA, hovering between 7.8 to 9.6 points per game during his time at the Pistons.

In 2007-08, the departure of Chris Webber from the Pistons made McDyess the permanent power forward in the starting lineup. At the end of the 2007-08 season, McDyess became a free agent and signed with the Denver Nuggets. However, he was released in November and 30-days later, signed again with the Pistons for the 2008-09 season.

In July 2009, The San Antonio Spurs signed McDyess to a three-year contract after reaching a trade agreement with the Detroit Pistons.