George DeWitt Lynch III (born September 3, 1970) is an American former professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

player who played in the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United S ...

(NBA) from 1993 to 2005.

Early life

Lynch was born two months premature and had to spend more than a month in an incubator. He was raised in

Roanoke, Virginia Roanoke ( ) is an independent city in the U.S. state of Virginia. At the 2020 census, the population was 100,011, making it the 8th most populous city in the Commonwealth of Virginia and the largest city in Virginia west of Richmond. It is lo ...

, and played basketball at Patrick Henry High for coach Woody Deans. Lynch was part of the 1988 Virginia State Champion Team at Patrick Henry. For his senior year, he transferred to

Flint Hill School Flint Hill School, founded in 1956, is a private, co-educational, college preparatory school, in Oakton, Virginia, serving grades JK– 12. The school has separate upper and lower school campuses about a mile apart in Fairfax County, approximatel ...

, a prep school located outside Washington, D.C. to better his chances at college prospects.

College

Lynch played four years at North Carolina under coach

Dean Smith Dean Edwards Smith (February 28, 1931 – February 7, 2015) was an American men's college basketball head coach. Called a "coaching legend" by the Basketball Hall of Fame, he coached for 36 years at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hi ...

. Known for his impact on the defensive end, Lynch sported averages of 12.5 points and almost eight rebounds per game during his college career. With 1.7 steals per game, he finished his career ranked second on the UNC all-time list. In his sophomore year, Lynch reached the NCAA Final Four with the team. As a team captain, he led

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...

to an NCAA title in

1993 File:1993 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Oslo I Accord is signed in an attempt to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict; The Russian White House is shelled during the 1993 Russian constitutional crisis; Czechoslovakia is peace ...

and made the All-Final Four Tournament team.

Professional career

He was selected by the

Los Angeles Lakers The Los Angeles Lakers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Lakers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Pacific Division. The Lakers play their ...

with the 12th overall pick in that year's NBA draft. Lynch would be the last Laker to wear #34 before he was traded to the

Vancouver Grizzlies The Vancouver Grizzlies were a Canadian professional basketball team based in Vancouver. They were part of the Midwest Division of the Western Conference of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The team was established in 1995, along w ...

along with

Anthony Peeler Anthony Eugene Peeler (born November 25, 1969) is an American former professional basketball player, having played for a number of NBA teams from 1992 to 2005. He was most commonly known for his defense and athleticism. He later became an assista ...

in 1996 in order to open up salary cap space to sign

Shaquille O'Neal Shaquille Rashaun O'Neal ( ; born March 6, 1972), known commonly as "Shaq" ( ), is an American former professional basketball player who is a sports analyst on the television program ''Inside the NBA''. O'Neal is regarded as one of the greates ...

. He joined the

Philadelphia 76ers The Philadelphia 76ers, colloquially known as the Sixers, are an American professional basketball team based in the Philadelphia metropolitan area. The 76ers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eas ...

as a

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

in 1999. With

Theo Ratliff Theo is a given name and a hypocorism. Greek origin Many names beginning with the root "Theo-" derive from the Ancient Greek word ''theos'' (''θεός''), which means god, for example: *Feminine names: Thea, Theodora, Theodosia, Theophania, ...

Tyrone Hill Tyrone Hill (born March 19, 1968) is an American former professional basketball player and former assistant coach for the National Basketball Association's Atlanta Hawks. Hill spent four years playing collegiately at Xavier University, in his la ...

Eric Snow Eric Snow (born April 5, 1973) is an American basketball coach and former professional player. He played the point guard position in the National Basketball Association from 1995 to 2008 and appeared in three NBA Finals. Known for his defense, ...

Dikembe Mutombo Dikembe Mutombo Mpolondo Mukamba Jean-Jacques Wamutombo (born June 25, 1966) is a Congolese-American former professional basketball player. Mutombo played 18 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Outside basketball, he has becom ...

Allen Iverson Allen Ezail Iverson (; born June 7, 1975) is an American former professional basketball player. Nicknamed "the Answer", he played 14 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA) at both the shooting guard and point guard positions. Iver ...

, and coach Larry Brown Lynch helped form one of the better defenses in the league. With the 76ers, Lynch reached the

2001 NBA Finals The 2001 NBA Finals was the championship round of the National Basketball Association (NBA)'s 2000–01 season. The defending NBA champion and Western Conference champion Los Angeles Lakers took on the Eastern Conference champion Philadelphia 7 ...

. After playing with the 76ers for three seasons, he was traded to the

Charlotte Hornets The Charlotte Hornets are an American professional basketball team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Hornets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Southeast Division, and pla ...

in a three-way trade also involving

Derrick Coleman Derrick Demetrius Coleman (born June 21, 1967) is an American former professional basketball player. Coleman was born in Mobile, Alabama, but grew up and attended high school in Detroit, Michigan, Detroit, and attended college at Syracuse Univer ...

Jérôme Moïso Jérôme Moïso (born 15 June 1978) is a French former professional basketball player. College career He played college basketball at UCLA with the UCLA Bruins. Professional career A forward-center who has played in the NBA, Moïso was selected ...

Robert Traylor Robert DeShaun "Tractor" Traylor (February 1, 1977 – May 11, 2011) was an American professional basketball player. He got his nickname because of his hulking frame. Traylor was the sixth pick in the 1998 NBA draft and played seven seasons in th ...

, and

Vonteego Cummings Vonteego Marfeek Cummings (born February 29, 1976) is an American professional basketball player who last played for Atenienses de Manatí of the Baloncesto Superior Nacional (BSN) in Puerto Rico. A combo guard, he played in the National Basketb ...

, among others, in 2001, retiring after 2004–05.

Post-playing career

Lynch worked as a personal trainer, in 2006 he founded a non-profit youth basketball program (Flight Nine Basketball) in

Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...

, which he directed until 2010. On December 20, 2006, he joined the Southern Methodist University men's basketball staff under head coach Matt Doherty, who was part of the 1981–82 NCAA championship team. Lynch became the team's administrative assistant/graduate manager. He spent 2010–2012 at

UC Irvine UC may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''University Challenge'', a popular British quiz programme airing on BBC Two ** '' University Challenge (New Zealand)'', the New Zealand version of the British programme * Universal Century, one of the ti ...

as a strength and conditioning coach for basketball and an assistant athletics director for community relations before re-joining the SMU men's basketball staff in 2012 under head coach and fellow UNC alum Larry Brown. In April 2018, Lynch was named head coach of

Clark Atlanta University Clark Atlanta University (CAU or Clark Atlanta) is a private, Methodist, historically black research university in Atlanta, Georgia. Clark Atlanta is the first Historically Black College or University (HBCU) in the Southern United States. Found ...

. In 2020, his contract was not renewed. In October 2022, Lynch joined the Charlotte Hornets’ TV broadcasting staff as a studio analyst.

References

External links

SMU Mustangs bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lynch, George 1970 births Living people African-American basketball players American expatriate basketball people in Canada American men's basketball players Basketball coaches from Virginia Basketball players from Virginia Charlotte Hornets players Clark Atlanta Panthers men's basketball coaches Grand Rapids Drive coaches Los Angeles Lakers draft picks Los Angeles Lakers players McDonald's High School All-Americans New Orleans Hornets players North Carolina Tar Heels men's basketball players Philadelphia 76ers players Power forwards (basketball) Small forwards SMU Mustangs men's basketball coaches Southern Methodist University alumni Sportspeople from Roanoke, Virginia UC Irvine Anteaters men's basketball coaches Universiade gold medalists for the United States Universiade medalists in basketball Vancouver Grizzlies players 21st-century African-American sportspeople 20th-century African-American sportspeople