James Michael McIlvaine (born July 30, 1972) 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 spent seven seasons 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) with the

Washington Bullets The Washington Wizards are an American professional basketball team based in Washington, D.C. The Wizards compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Southeast Division. The team plays ...

Seattle SuperSonics The Seattle SuperSonics (commonly known as the Seattle Sonics) were an American professional basketball team based in Seattle. The SuperSonics competed in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member club of the league's Western Confe ...

, and

New Jersey Nets New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, ...

. The 7-foot-1

shot-blocking In basketball, a block or blocked shot occurs when a defensive player legally deflects a field goal attempt from an offensive player to prevent a score. The defender is not allowed to make contact with the offensive player's hand (unless the de ...

specialist is perhaps best remembered for the fall-out that occurred after he signed with the Seattle SuperSonics in 1996. McIlvaine is married to Gwendolyn, a 6'7" center of the University of North Carolina's 1994 championship women's basketball team. He is former radio color analyst for Marquette men's basketball and is part of the online support staffer for Optima Batteries in Milwaukee.

NBA career

Early career

After playing at St. Catherine's High School in Racine (averaging 22.9 points, 11.1 rebounds and 8.1 blocked shots as a senior) and blocking a school-record 399 shots at

Marquette University Marquette University () is a Private university, private Society of Jesus, Jesuit research university in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Established by the Society of Jesus as Marquette College on August 28, 1881, it was founded by John Henni, John Martin ...

, McIlvaine was named

NABC Defensive Player of the Year The NABC Defensive Player of the Year is an award given annually by the National Association of Basketball Coaches to recognize the top defensive player in United States college basketball. The award has been given since 1987 and was previously kn ...

and was drafted with the fifth pick in the second round of the 1994 draft by the Washington Bullets (now

Washington Wizards The Washington Wizards are an American professional basketball team based in Washington, D.C. The Wizards compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference (NBA), Eastern Conference Southeast D ...

). He spent two years with the team, primarily in a backup role to

Gheorghe Mureșan Gheorghe Dumitru Mureșan (; born 14 February 1971), also known as "Ghiță" (), is a Romanian former professional basketball player. At , he is tied with Manute Bol for the tallest player ever to have played in the NBA. Early life Mureșan was ...

. In limited playing time, McIlvaine averaged fewer than 15 minutes a game during his second year. In 1996, McIlvaine entered

free agency 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 ...

Seattle SuperSonics signing

In 1996, the Sonics offered a seven-year, $33.6 million free-agent contract to McIlvaine. Seattle fans were upset,ESPN.com – Page2 – The Readers' List: Worst free-agent signings
/ref> and so was superstar forward Kemp, who had been asking for a contract increase after leading the team to a franchise-record 64 wins and its best postseason performance in 17 years, including the third Finals appearance in franchise history. But because Kemp signed a contract extension in 1994, the NBA's collective bargaining agreement (CBA) forbid any changes to that contract until October 1997. Despite fan derision, McIlvaine helped the Sonics win their division in each of his two years with the team. Following the 1997 season, Seattle was involved in a three-team trade that sent Kemp to the Cleveland Cavaliers in exchange for the Milwaukee Bucks' Vin Baker, with the Cavaliers' Terrell Brandon and Tyrone Hill going to Milwaukee.

Final years

In his first season in Seattle, McIlvaine registered career highs in games (82), minutes (1,477), points per game (3.8), rebounds per game (4.0), and steals (0.5), while also averaging two blocks per game. His second season in Seattle saw him decline in every major statistical category, although he still posted numbers close to his career bests in most areas. Eventually, McIlvaine was dealt to New Jersey in 1999 for

Don MacLean Don Maclean (born 1942/1943) MBE KSS is an English actor and comedian, who appeared on the BBC television series '' Crackerjack'' with Michael Aspel, Peter Glaze and Jan Hunt in the 1970s. Born in Birmingham, he attended Clifton Road Schoo ...

and

Michael Cage Michael Jerome Cage Sr. (born January 28, 1962) is an American former professional basketball player and current broadcast analyst for the Oklahoma City Thunder. Basketball career A 6'9" power forward/center from San Diego State, he is the Aztecs ...

, primarily to open up salary cap room. McIlvaine rounded out his career with the Nets, playing three injury-riddled seasons with the team. In 1999–2000, McIlvaine played 66 games in his best season since leaving Seattle, but injury problems and declining numbers continued to hamper him until his contract was bought out by the Nets after the

2000–01 NBA season The 2000–01 NBA season was the 55th season of the National Basketball Association. The season ended with the Los Angeles Lakers winning their second straight championship, beating the Philadelphia 76ers 4 games to 1 in the 2001 NBA Finals. Not ...

. McIlvaine retired with an average of 2.7 points, 3.1 rebounds, and 1.71 blocks in 401 career games.

NBA career statistics

Regular season

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Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered on ...

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, 80 , , 6 , , 14.9 , , .428 , , – , , .552 , , 2.9 , , .1 , , .3 , , 2.1 , , 2.3 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

, 82 , , 79 , , 18.0 , , .471 , , .143 , , .495 , , 4.0 , , .3 , , .5 , , 2.0 , , 3.8 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 78 , , 72 , , 15.5 , , .453 , , .000 , , .556 , , 3.3 , , .2 , , .3 , , 1.8 , , 3.2 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

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, 66 , , 53 , , 15.9 , , .416 , , – , , .518 , , 3.5 , , .5 , , .4 , , 1.8 , , 2.4 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 18 , , 3 , , 10.7 , , .357 , , – , , .667 , , 1.9 , , .2 , , .4 , , .8 , , 1.6 , - , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 401 , , 214 , , 14.8 , , .446 , , .100 , , .551 , , 3.1 , , .3 , , .3 , , 1.7 , , 2.7

Playoffs

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1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of t ...

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, 5 , , 0 , , 5.6 , , .571 , , – , , .500 , , .4 , , .0 , , .2 , , .4 , , 1.8 , - , style="text-align:left;",

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The '' Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently ...

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, 6 , , 4 , , 9.8 , , .300 , , .000 , , .500 , , 1.7 , , .2 , , .3 , , 1.0 , , 2.2 , - , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 11 , , 4 , , 7.9 , , .370 , , .000 , , .500 , , 1.1 , , .1 , , .3 , , .7 , , 2.0

References

External links

College & NBA stats
@ Basketball-Reference.com
Scan of article about cars written by Jim McIlvaine
{{DEFAULTSORT:McIlvaine, Jim 1972 births Living people American men's basketball players Basketball players from Wisconsin Centers (basketball) Marquette Golden Eagles men's basketball players New Jersey Nets players Seattle SuperSonics players Sportspeople from the Milwaukee metropolitan area Sportspeople from Racine, Wisconsin Washington Bullets draft picks Washington Bullets players