Al Green (born 3 September 1953) is an American-Australian former 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 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 ...

for three different colleges and was drafted by the Phoenix Suns in

1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the '' International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the '' Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the so ...

. He arrived in Australia in 1981 and had a successful career in the National Basketball League (NBL) until his retirement in 1993. He won two NBL championships in 1982 and 1984, and was the NBL Most Valuable Player in 1982.

Early life and college

Green was born in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

and grew up in South Bronx. He attended Maine Central Institute in

Pittsfield, Maine Pittsfield is a town in Somerset County, Maine, United States. The population was 3,908 at the 2020 census. Pittsfield is home to the Maine Central Institute, a semi-private boarding school, and the annual Central Maine Egg Festival. History ...

, where he was a third-team ''Parade'' All-American selection in 1974. Green began his

career at

Arizona Western College Arizona Western College (AWC) is a public community college in Yuma, Arizona. It offers associate degrees, occupational certificates, and transfer degrees. AWC also offers classes in Dateland, La Paz, San Luis, Somerton, and Wellton. Aca ...

before playing two seasons for the NC State Wolfpack between 1975 and 1977. After redshirting the 1977–78 season, he played his final college season in 1978–79 for the

LSU Tigers The LSU Tigers and Lady Tigers are the athletic teams representing Louisiana State University (LSU), a state university located in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. LSU competes in NCAA Division I, Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Associat ...

Professional career

NFL and NBA drafts

Coming out of college, Green was selected by the San Diego Chargers in May 1979 in the

NFL draft The National Football League Draft, also called the NFL Draft or (officially) the Player Selection Meeting, is an annual event which serves as the league's most common source of player recruitment. Each team is given a position in the drafting o ...

as pick #269 as a defensive back despite never having played organised football. The choice was made primarily on Green's size, speed and jumping ability. Green and his agent spoke to the Chargers but despite the money he was being offered to change sports, he decided that he wanted to continue playing basketball. The following month, Green was selected by the Phoenix Suns in the third round of the 1979 NBA draft with the 64th overall pick. He spent the 1979 preseason with the Suns but never debuted in the NBA.

CBA (1979–1981)

Green's first professional stint came during the 1979–80 season with the

Utica Olympics The Utica Olympics, known also as Mohawk Valley Thunderbirds, were an American professional basketball team based in Utica, New York that were members of the Continental Basketball Association (CBA) from 1978 to 1980. The team was previously kno ...

of the Continental Basketball Association (CBA). He continued in the CBA with the Atlantic City Hi-Rollers for the 1980–81 season.

NBL (1981–1993)

In early 1981, Green moved to Australia to play for the

West Adelaide Bearcats West Adelaide Bearcats is a NBL1 Central club based in Adelaide, South Australia. The club fields both a men's and women's team. The club is a division of the overarching West Adelaide Basketball Club (WABC), the major administrative basketball o ...

in the National Basketball League (NBL). He earned All-NBL First Team in his first season. Following the NBL season, he moved to the Philippines where he helped the

Crispa Redmanizers The Crispa Redmanizers were a multi-titled Filipino basketball team that played in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) from 1975 to 1984. It was one of the nine founding teams of the PBA, winning a total of thirteen PBA championships, i ...

win the

1981 PBA Reinforced Filipino Conference Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 10 – Salvadoran Civil War: The Farabundo Martí National Liberation Fr ...

. Green returned to the Bearcats in 1982 and won the

NBL Most Valuable Player Award The National Basketball League Most Valuable Player Award (MVP) is an annual National Basketball League (NBL) award given since the league's inaugural season to the best performing player of the regular season. Throughout the year, coaching st ...

. He helped the Bearcats reach the 1982 NBL Grand Final, where they defeated the

Geelong Supercats Geelong Supercats is a NBL1 South club based in Geelong, Victoria. The club fields a team in both the Men's and Women's NBL1 South. The club is affiliated with Basketball Geelong and Geelong United Basketball. The Supercats play their home gam ...

to win the NBL championship. Green continued on with the Bearcats in

1983 The year 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to TCP/IP is officially completed (this is considered to be the beginning ...

and

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeas ...

. In 1984, he scored 50 or more points four times, including a 71-point game. He subsequently earned the 1984 scoring title. In

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a ...

, Green joined the

Adelaide 36ers The Adelaide 36ers, also known as the Sixers, are an Australian professional men's basketball team in the National Basketball League (NBL). The 36ers are the only team in the league representing the state of South Australia and are based in th ...

. He helped the 36ers reach the NBL Grand Final, where they lost to the

Brisbane Bullets The Brisbane Bullets are an Australian professional men's basketball team in the National Basketball League (NBL) based in Brisbane, Queensland. They competed from 1979 to 2008, and returned to the league in 2016. Brisbane were one of ten NBL f ...

. He earned All-NBL First Team honours. In

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 **Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. **Spain and Portugal enter ...

, he helped the 36ers return to the grand final and won his second NBL championship, with the 36ers this time defeating the Bullets. He parted ways with the 36ers after the

1990 NBL season The 1990 NBL season was the 12th season of competition since its establishment in 1979. With the addition of the Gold Coast Cougars a total of 14 teams contested the league. Clubs Regular season The 1990 regular season took place over 23 rou ...

. Between

1991 File:1991 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Boris Yeltsin, elected as Russia's first president, waves the new flag of Russia after the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, orchestrated by Soviet hardliners; Mount Pinatubo erupts in the Phi ...

and

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 peacefu ...

, Green played for the

Newcastle Falcons Newcastle Falcons is a rugby union team that play in Premiership Rugby, England's highest division of rugby union. The club was established in 1877 as the Gosforth Football Club. Around 1882 the club merged with the Northumberland Football Cl ...

. He retired from the NBL in 1993 having played 340 games. He finished with career averages of 22.1 points, 4.2 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 1.0 steals per game.

Coaching career

In 2011, Green was appointed head coach of the Woodville Warriors men's team in the Central ABL. He served in that role until being sacked early in the 2014 season. He immediately joined the Forestville Eagles as an assistant coach. In 2016 and 2017, Green served as coach of the South Adelaide Panthers.

Athletics

Green was also a professional runner who won Adelaide's famous ''Bay Sheffield'' sprint race held over 120 metres in both 1983 and 1984. During 1985, after he became a naturalised Australian, Green announced his retirement from professional running with the intention of running for Australia at the 1986 Commonwealth Games although he did not end up making the team.

Personal life

As of 2016, Green lives in

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

and works as a U.S. basketball tour guide.Adelaide 36ers’ 1986 NBL ‘Invincibles’ sewed the seeds with a future foundation
/ref>

NBL career stats

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

1981 Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 10 – Salvadoran Civil War: The FMLN launches its first major offensiv ...

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

, 23 , , 23 , , ''NA'' , , .500 , , ''NA'' , , .733 , , ''NA'' , , ''NA'' , , ''NA'' , , ''NA'' , , 26.0 , - , style="text-align:left; background:#afe6ba;", 1982† , style="text-align:left;",

, 28 , , 28 , , ''NA'' , , .587 , , ''NA'' , , .743 , , 4.7 , , 2.4 , , ''NA'' , , 0.0 , , 26.5 , - , style="text-align:left",

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

, 26 , , 26 , , ''NA'' , , .567 , , ''NA'' , , .763 , , 3.7 , , 2.3 , , 1.0 , , 0.2 , , 29.6 , - , style="text-align:left",

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

, 21 , , 21 , , ''NA'' , , .523 , , .349 , , .760 , , 6.4 , , 5.0 , , 1.9 , , 0.3 , , 39.5 , - , style="text-align:left",

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

, 28 , , 28 , , ''NA'' , , .541 , , .366 , , .793 , , 6.0 , , 5.1 , , 1.3 , , 0.3 , , 31.0 , - , style="text-align:left; background:#afe6ba;",

† , style="text-align:left;",

, 30 , , 30 , , ''NA'' , , .505 , , .389 , , .689 , , 4.5 , , 3.5 , , 1.1 , , 0.5 , , 19.4 , - , style="text-align:left",

1987 File:1987 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The MS Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes after leaving the Port of Zeebrugge in Belgium, killing 193; Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashes after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airport, ...

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

, 29 , , 29 , , 41.0 , , .537 , , .368 , , .720 , , 5.0 , , 3.2 , , 0.8 , , 0.4 , , 23.1 , - , 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 Bicenten ...

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

, 26 , , 26 , , 36.3 , , .542 , , .325 , , .728 , , 3.9 , , 3.9 , , 1.4 , , 0.6 , , 20.0 , - , style="text-align:left",

1989 File:1989 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 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 Exxon Valdez oil tanker runs ...

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

, 25 , , 25 , , 37.7 , , .528 , , .366 , , .783 , , 3.5 , , 3.8 , , 1.2 , , 0.2 , , 14.7 , - , 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 humanity on Earth, astrophysicist ...

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

, 26 , , ''NA'' , , 22.5 , , .505 , , .400 , , .750 , , 2.1 , , 2.2 , , 0.9 , , 0.3 , , 9.8 , - , style="text-align:left",

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

, 26 , , 26 , , 41.1 , , .533 , , .383 , , .702 , , 5.1 , , 2.1 , , 1.0 , , 0.2 , , 22.2 , - , style="text-align:left", 1992 , style="text-align:left;",

, 24 , , 24 , , 34.4 , , .548 , , .414 , , .805 , , 5.8 , , 3.0 , , 1.1 , , 0.4 , , 18.9 , - , style="text-align:left",

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

, 28 , , 28 , , 32.0 , , .413 , , .310 , , .683 , , 4.3 , , 2.7 , , 1.1 , , 0.2 , , 10.3 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2" , Career , 340 , , ''NA'' , , ''NA'' , , .531 , , .364 , , .748 , , 4.2 , , 3.0 , , 1.0 , , 0.3 , , 22.1

References

External links

andthefoul.net profile"Al Green: From the tough streets of the Bronx to Adelaide, South Australia"
at theinnersanctum.com.au {{DEFAULTSORT:Green, Al 1953 births Living people Adelaide 36ers players American emigrants to Australia American expatriate basketball people in Australia American expatriate basketball people in the Philippines American men's basketball players Arizona Western Matadors men's basketball players Atlantic City Hi-Rollers players Australian men's basketball players Basketball players from New York City Basketball coaches from New York (state) Basketball players from Adelaide Crispa Redmanizers players LSU Tigers basketball players Maine Central Institute alumni NC State Wolfpack men's basketball players Newcastle Falcons (basketball) players Parade High School All-Americans (boys' basketball) Philippine Basketball Association imports Phoenix Suns draft picks Point guards Sportsmen from South Australia Sportspeople from the Bronx Utica Olympics players