William Mark Price (born February 15, 1964) is an American former

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 and coach. He was most recently the

head coach A head coach, senior coach or manager is a professional at training and developing athletes. They typically hold a more public profile and are paid more than other coaches. In some sports, the head coach is instead called the "manager", as in assoc ...

of the Charlotte 49ers. As a player, he played for 12 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), from 1986 to 1998. Spending the majority of his career with the

Cleveland Cavaliers The Cleveland Cavaliers (often referred to as the Cavs) are an American professional basketball team based in Cleveland. The Cavaliers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference (NBA), Ea ...

, his last three years consisted of one season each with the Washington Bullets,

Golden State Warriors The Golden State Warriors are an American professional basketball team based in San Francisco. The Warriors compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA), as a member of the league's Western Conference Pacific Division. Founded in 194 ...

, and

Orlando Magic The Orlando Magic are an American professional basketball team based in Orlando, Florida. The Magic compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Southeast Division. The franchise was establ ...

College career

Standing at 6 feet (183 cm) tall, Price played

college basketball In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athleti ...

at Georgia Tech. During his time playing on the

Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets men's basketball The Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets men's basketball team represents the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets in NCAA Division I basketball. The team plays its home games in McCamish Pavilion on the school's Atlanta campus and is currently coached by Josh ...

team, he was a three-time All American and four-time All

ACC ACC most often refers to: * Atlantic Coast Conference, an NCAA Division I collegiate athletic conference located in the US *American College of Cardiology, A US-based nonprofit medical association that bestows credentials upon cardiovascular spec ...

basketball player who helped lead the Yellow Jackets to an

Championship his junior year by defeating

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 ...

in the ACC Tournament championship game. He was named the ACC Player of the Year for the 1984–85 season and his jersey was retired. He was inducted into the school's Hall of Fame in 1991 and into the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame in 2005. Price graduated in four years with a degree in Industrial Management.

College records

* All-time Georgia Tech leader in 3-point field goal percentage (.440, 1983–86) * All-time Georgia Tech leader in steals (240, 1983–86) * All-time Georgia Tech leader in consecutive games started (126, 1983–86) * All-time Georgia Tech leader in minutes played (4,604, 1983–86)

Professional career

point guard The point guard (PG), also called the one or the point, is one of the five Basketball positions, positions in a regulation basketball game. A point guard has perhaps the most specialized role of any position. Point guards are expected to run t ...

, he mystified critics who said he was too slow, too small and too deliberate for a high-level game. Selected first in the second round (25th overall) by the

Dallas Mavericks The Dallas Mavericks (often referred to as the Mavs) are an American professional basketball team based in Dallas. The Mavericks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Western Conference (NBA), Western Conferenc ...

in the 1986 NBA draft, he was acquired by the

in a draft day trade that helped turn the team into an Eastern Conference powerhouse.

Cleveland Cavaliers

Price was known as one of the league's most consistent shooters. He finished his career with a 90.4%

free throw In basketball, free throws or foul shots are unopposed attempts to score points by shooting from behind the free-throw line (informally known as the foul line or the charity stripe), a line situated at the end of the Key (basketball), restricted ...

shooting percentage and a 40% three-point field goal shooting percentage. During the 1988–89 season, Price became the second player, after Larry Bird, to join the NBA's

50–40–90 club The 50–40–90 club is an informal statistic used to rate players as excellent shooters in the National Basketball Association (NBA), NBA G League, and Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). It requires a player to achieve the criteri ...

for those who shot at least 40% from three-point range, at least 50% from the field and at least 90% from the free throw line in a single season, and is still one of only eight players to have ever done this while also achieving the NBA league minimum number of makes in each category. Price ranked consistently among the

assist Assist or ASSIST may refer to: Sports Several sports have a statistic known as an "assist", generally relating to action by a player leading to a score by another player on their team: *Assist (basketball), a pass by a player that facilitates a ba ...

leaders (as of March 11, 2015, LeBron James surpassed Price's Cavs record of 4,206 assists, taking over 1st place), twice won the

Three Point Contest The Three-Point Contest is a National Basketball Association (NBA) contest held on the Saturday before the annual All-Star Game as part of All-Star Weekend. The 2019 iteration of the contest involved ten participants. From its introduction in 19 ...

(in 1993 and 1994), and was a four-time All-Star. Price was named to the All-NBA First Team after the 1992–93 season. Price was second in franchise steals with 734, a Cavaliers record that stood until December 9, 2008, when LeBron James surpassed him. Another one of Price's distinguishing traits on the court was his pioneering of the splitting of the double team. As former teammate

Steve Kerr Stephen Douglas Kerr (born September 27, 1965) is an American professional basketball coach and former player who is the head coach of the Golden State Warriors of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He is a nine-time NBA champion, havi ...

explains, "Mark really revolutionized the way that people attack the screen and roll. To me, he was the first guy in the NBA who really split the screen and roll. A lot of teams started blitzing the pick and roll and jumping two guys at it to take the ball out of the hands of the point guard. He’d duck right between them and shoot that little runner in the lane. Nobody was doing that at that time. You watch an NBA game now and almost everybody does that. Mark was a pioneer in that regard."

Later career

Price was plagued by injuries late in his career, a factor in his trade to the Washington Bullets prior to the 1995–96 season. He played one season for Washington before moving on to the

, signing with the Warriors as a free agent in July 1996. Price played 70 games for Golden State and averaged 11.3 points per game. On October 28, 1997, Price was traded to the

for David Vaughn III and Brian Shaw. He spent one season with the Magic before being waived on June 30, 1998, effectively ending his career.

National team career

During his career Price represented the

United States national team The United States national team or Team USA may refer to any of a number of sports team representing the United States in international competitions. Olympic teams Additionally, these teams may compete in other international competitions such as ...

. He played for them in the

1983 Pan American Games The 1983 Pan American Games were held in Caracas, Venezuela from August 14 to August 29, 1983. The games were the first major international competition to include relatively accurate steroid testing.Taylor, William N., ''Anabolic Steroids and the ...

where the team won gold medals, and also represented the national team in the

1994 FIBA World Championship The 1994 FIBA World Championship was the 12th FIBA World Championship, the international basketball world championship for men's teams. The tournament was hosted by Canada from August 4 to 14, 1994. The tournament was held at SkyDome and Maple L ...

, where they were known as Dream Team II, and won gold medals.

Legacy

Not long after retirement, Price's number, 25, was retired by the

. He is a member of the Georgia, Ohio, and Oklahoma Sports Halls of Fame. The city of Enid, Oklahoma, renamed the basketball arena Mark Price Arena, as a tribute to the NBA player's accomplishments, since he was one of the best basketball athletes in

Enid High School Enid High School (EHS) is a public tertiary school in Enid, Oklahoma, U.S., operated by the Enid Public Schools school district. With a student body of about 2035 in grades 9-12, Enid High School has a matriculation rate of about 65 percent. Some ...

history.

Personal life

Price's father Denny was a successful player at

Oklahoma Oklahoma (; Choctaw language, Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the nor ...

and for the Phillips 66ers, before becoming a college coach for Sam Houston State and Phillips University. His younger brother Brent played ten seasons in the NBA. His daughter Caroline had a short stint in professional tennis after playing for the

North Carolina Tar Heels The North Carolina Tar Heels are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The name Tar Heel is a nickname used to refer to individuals from the state of North Carolina, the ''Tar Heel ...

. His son Josh plays college basketball for Trevecca (2021-2022), after attending and playing two years for Liberty Flames. Price is a Christian and attends church.

Coaching career

Mark Price began his coaching career during the 1998–99 basketball season as a community coach under head coach and friend

Joe Marelle Joseph Marelle Sr. (born March 17, 1951) is an American former high school basketball coach and motivational speaker. He is one of the most successful high school basketball coaches in the U.S. state of Georgia. After surviving both non-Hodgkin's ...

at Duluth High School for the varsity boys team. After Marelle discovered he had non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, Price became a primary factor in the team's return trip to the final four of the class 5A GHSA state tournament. It was the first time Duluth High School returned to this point in the state tournament in 16 years. Price then went on to be an assistant coach to Bobby Cremins at Georgia Tech during the 1999–2000 season. After Cremins retired from coaching at Georgia Tech, Price then went on the following year to be the head coach at Whitefield Academy in Atlanta for the 2000–01 season leading the team to a 27–5 record and the final eight teams of the state Class A tournament, a 20 win improvement over the prior season and 27 win improvement two seasons before Price arrived.

NBA 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 St ...

player Josh Smith also played at Whitefield Academy the same season Price was coach. In 2002, Price won the Coach Wooden "Keys to Life" Award. In 2003, Price was a consultant for the

Denver Nuggets The Denver Nuggets are an American professional basketball team based in Denver. The Nuggets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Northwest Division. The team was founded as the D ...

. He then became an NBA television analyst and color commentator for both the

and the Atlanta Hawks. In March 2006, Price was named the inaugural head coach of the Australian NBL's South Dragons, a new franchise for the 2006–07 season. Despite the Dragons featuring NBL Rookie of the Year

Joe Ingles Joseph Howarth Ingles (born 2 October 1987) is an Australian professional basketball player for the Milwaukee Bucks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He also represents the Australian national team. He primarily plays at the small ...

and four time Olympian Shane Heal they began the season 0-5 and Price was fired. Price and Heal exchanged criticisms in the Australian press after Heal was named as his successor. Price was the shooting consultant for the Memphis Grizzlies for the 2007–08 season and named the shooting coach for the Atlanta Hawks for the 2008–09 and 2009–10 seasons. Price helped to improve the Hawks offensive output in their first return to the Eastern Conference Semi-Finals in nearly 10 years during the 2009 NBA Playoffs. Price is credited with helping

Boston Celtics The Boston Celtics ( ) are an American professional basketball team based in Boston. The Celtics compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Atlantic Division. Founded in 1946 as one of t ...

point guard Rajon Rondo improve his jump shot. Rondo's scoring was a key factor in the Celtics reaching the

2010 NBA Finals The 2010 NBA Finals was the championship series of the National Basketball Association's (NBA) 2009–10 season and conclusion of the season's playoffs. In this best-of-seven playoff series, the Western Conference champion Los Angeles Lakers ...

, where they pushed 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 ...

to a full seven game series. For the 2010–2011 season, Price joined the

as an assistant coach with the primary task of improving the Warriors shooting and free throw percentages. In December 2011, Price was hired as a player development coach for the

. In July 2012, Price served as the head coach of the

's Summer League team. On July 1, 2013, Price was hired as an assistant coach by the Charlotte Bobcats, joining the staff of head coach

Steve Clifford Steven Gerald Clifford (born September 17, 1961) is an American basketball coach who is the head coach of the Charlotte Hornets of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He has previously served as the head coach of the Orlando Magic. Early ...

and associate head coach Patrick Ewing for the 2013–14 season. On March 25, 2015, Price was introduced as the head coach of the Charlotte 49ers. He replaced Coach Alan Major, who parted ways with Charlotte after two medical leaves during the past season. On December 14, 2017, it was announced that Mark Price was relieved of his duties as head coach of the Charlotte 49ers basketball program. In September 2018, he joined the

coaching staff as a shooting consultant for the 2018-19 season.Price to join Nuggets' coaching staff as shooting instructor
SI.com, September 10, 2018

NBA career statistics

Regular season

, - , style="text-align:left;", 1986–87 , style="text-align:left;", Cleveland , 67 , , 0 , , 18.2 , , .408 , , .329 , , .833 , , 1.7 , , 3.0 , , .6 , , .1 , , 6.9 , - , style="text-align:left;", 1987–88 , style="text-align:left;", Cleveland , 80 , , 79 , , 32.8 , , .506 , , .486 , , .877 , , 2.3 , , 6.0 , , 1.2 , , .2 , , 16.0 , - , style="text-align:left;", 1988–89 , style="text-align:left;", Cleveland , 75 , , 74 , , 36.4 , , .526 , , .441 , , .901 , , 3.0 , , 8.4 , , 1.5 , , .1 , , 18.9 , - , style="text-align:left;", 1989–90 , style="text-align:left;", Cleveland , 73 , , 73 , , 37.1 , , .459 , , .406 , , .888 , , 3.4 , , 9.1 , , 1.6 , , .1 , , 19.6 , - , style="text-align:left;", 1990–91 , style="text-align:left;", Cleveland , 16 , , 16 , , 35.7 , , .497 , , .340 , , .952 , , 2.8 , , 10.4 , , 2.6 , , .1 , , 16.9 , - , style="text-align:left;", 1991–92 , style="text-align:left;", Cleveland , 72 , , 72 , , 29.7 , , .488 , , .387 , , style="background:#cfecec;", .947* , , 2.4 , , 7.4 , , 1.3 , , .2 , , 17.3 , - , style="text-align:left;",

1992–93 Year 199 ( CXCIX) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was sometimes known as year 952 ''Ab urbe condita''. The denomination 199 for this year has been used since th ...

, style="text-align:left;", Cleveland , 75 , , 74 , , 31.7 , , .484 , , .416 , , style="background:#cfecec;", .948* , , 2.7 , , 8.0 , , 1.2 , , .1 , , 18.2 , - , style="text-align:left;", 1993–94 , style="text-align:left;", Cleveland , 76 , , 73 , , 31.4 , , .478 , , .397 , , .888 , , 3.0 , , 7.8 , , 1.4 , , .1 , , 17.3 , - , style="text-align:left;", 1994–95 , style="text-align:left;", Cleveland , 48 , , 34 , , 28.6 , , .413 , , .407 , , .914 , , 2.3 , , 7.0 , , .7 , , .1 , , 15.8 , - , style="text-align:left;", 1995–96 , style="text-align:left;", Washington , 7 , , 1 , , 18.1 , , .300 , , .333 , , 1.000 , , 1.0 , , 2.6 , , .9 , , .0 , , 8.0 , - , style="text-align:left;", 1996–97 , style="text-align:left;", Golden State , 70 , , 49 , , 26.8 , , .447 , , .396 , , style="background:#cfecec;", .906* , , 2.6 , , 4.9 , , 1.0 , , .0 , , 11.3 , - , style="text-align:left;", 1997–98 , style="text-align:left;", Orlando , 63 , , 33 , , 22.7 , , .431 , , .335 , , .845 , , 2.0 , , 4.7 , , .8 , , .1 , , 9.5 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 722 , , 578 , , 29.9 , , .472 , , .402 , , .904 , , 2.6 , , 6.7 , , 1.2 , , .1 , , 15.2 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", All-Star , 4 , , 0 , , 20.0 , , .514 , , .474 , , .900 , , 1.5 , , 3.3 , , 1.3 , , .3 , , 13.5

Playoffs

, - , style="text-align:left;",

1988 File:1988 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The oil platform Piper Alpha explodes and collapses in the North Sea, killing 165 workers; The USS Vincennes (CG-49) mistakenly shoots down Iran Air Flight 655; Australia celebrates its Australian ...

, style="text-align:left;", Cleveland , 5 , , 5 , , 41.0 , , .567 , , .417 , , .960 , , 3.6 , , 7.6 , , .6 , , .0 , , 21.0 , - , style="text-align:left;",

1989 File:1989 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Cypress Street Viaduct, Cypress structure collapses as a result of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, killing motorists below; The proposal document for the World Wide Web is submitted; The Exxo ...

, style="text-align:left;", Cleveland , 4 , , 4 , , 39.5 , , .386 , , .375 , , .933 , , 3.3 , , 5.5 , , .8 , , .0 , , 16.0 , - , style="text-align:left;",

1990 File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of Humankind, humanity on Earth, Astroph ...

, style="text-align:left;", Cleveland , 5 , , 5 , , 38.4 , , .525 , , .353 , , 1.000 , , 2.8 , , 8.8 , , 1.8 , , .2 , , 20.0 , - , style="text-align:left;",

1992 File:1992 Events Collage V1.png, From left, clockwise: 1992 Los Angeles riots, Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the Police brutality, police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment buildi ...

, style="text-align:left;", Cleveland , 17 , , 17 , , 35.5 , , .496 , , .362 , , .904 , , 2.5 , , 7.5 , , 1.4 , , .2 , , 19.2 , - , style="text-align:left;",

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 ...

, style="text-align:left;", Cleveland , 9 , , 9 , , 32.0 , , .443 , , .308 , , .958 , , 2.1 , , 6.1 , , 1.7 , , .0 , , 13.0 , - , style="text-align:left;",

1994 File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which Sinking of the MS Estonia, sank in ...

, style="text-align:left;", Cleveland , 3 , , 3 , , 34.0 , , .349 , , .222 , , .929 , , 2.0 , , 4.7 , , 1.3 , , .0 , , 15.0 , - , style="text-align:left;",

1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is O. J. Simpson murder case, acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the 1994, year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The ...

, style="text-align:left;", Cleveland , 4 , , 4 , , 35.8 , , .300 , , .235 , , .970 , , 3.0 , , 6.5 , , 1.5 , , .0 , , 15.0 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 47 , , 47 , , 36.0 , , .464 , , .337 , , style="background:#e0cef2;", .944 , , 2.6 , , 7.0 , , 1.4 , , .1 , , 17.4

Head coaching record

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Price, Mark 1964 births Living people 1994 FIBA World Championship players All-American college men's basketball players American expatriate basketball people in Australia American men's basketball players Atlanta Hawks assistant coaches Atlanta Hawks announcers Basketball coaches from Oklahoma Basketball players from Oklahoma Charlotte 49ers men's basketball coaches Charlotte Bobcats assistant coaches Charlotte Hornets assistant coaches Cleveland Cavaliers players College men's basketball head coaches in the United States Dallas Mavericks draft picks Denver Nuggets assistant coaches Enid High School alumni Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets men's basketball coaches Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets men's basketball players Golden State Warriors assistant coaches Golden State Warriors players High school basketball coaches in Georgia (U.S. state) NBA All-Stars NBA players with retired numbers National Basketball League (Australia) coaches Orlando Magic players People from Bartlesville, Oklahoma Point guards Sportspeople from Enid, Oklahoma United States men's national basketball team players Washington Bullets players Basketball players at the 1983 Pan American Games Medalists at the 1983 Pan American Games Pan American Games gold medalists for the United States in basketball