Aaron James (born October 5, 1952) is a retired American professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

player. He spent his entire five-year

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 St ...

(NBA) career with the New Orleans Jazz. James, a 6'8"

small forward The small forward (SF), also known as the three or swingman, is one of the five positions in a regulation basketball game. Small forwards are typically shorter, quicker, and leaner than power forwards and centers but taller, larger, and stronger ...

, averaged 10.8 points and 4.1 rebounds over 356 career games from 1974 to 1979 with the Jazz, who drafted him out of

Grambling State University Grambling State University (GSU, Grambling, or Grambling State) is a public historically black university in Grambling, Louisiana. Grambling State is home of the Eddie G. Robinson Museum and is listed on the Louisiana African American Herita ...

with the 10th pick of the second round of the

1974 NBA draft The 1974 NBA draft was the 28th annual draft of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The draft was held on May 28, 1974, before the 1974–75 season. In this draft, 18 NBA teams took turns selecting amateur U.S. college basketball players ...

. He was the team's first ever selection.Jazz History
''nba.com'' He was also selected by the

Utah Stars The Utah Stars were an American Basketball Association (ABA) team based in Salt Lake City, Utah. Under head coach Bill Sharman the Stars were the first major professional basketball team to use a pre-game shootaround. History prior to moving t ...

in the third round of the 1974 ABA Draft.

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External links

NBA stats
@ basketballreference.com 1952 births Living people African-American basketball players African-American college athletic directors in the United States American expatriate basketball people in Italy American expatriate basketball people in the Philippines American men's basketball players Basketball coaches from Louisiana Basketball players from New Orleans Grambling State Tigers athletic directors Grambling State Tigers men's basketball coaches Grambling State Tigers men's basketball players Mens Sana Basket players New Orleans Jazz draft picks New Orleans Jazz players Philippine Basketball Association imports San Miguel Beermen players Small forwards Sportspeople from New Orleans U/Tex Wranglers players 21st-century African-American people 20th-century African-American sportspeople {{1950s-US-basketball-bio-stub