Alton Ford Jr. (May 29, 1981 – April 2, 2018) was an 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 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 St ...

and other leagues. He last played for the

NBA D-League The NBA G League, or simply the G League, is the National Basketball Association's (NBA) official minor league basketball organization. The league was known as the National Basketball Development League (NBDL) from 2001 to 2005, and the NBA Dev ...

team the Erie BayHawks. Ford was born in Houston, Texas and attended Houston ISD

Milby High School Charles H. Milby High School is a public secondary school at 1601 Broadway in the East End, Houston, Texas, United States.Map

. He was selected 51st overall in the

2001 NBA draft The 2001 NBA draft took place on June 27, 2001 in New York City, New York. Kwame Brown became the first high school player to be drafted with the first overall pick in the history of the NBA. The selection of Kwame Brown by the Washington Wizards, ...

by the Phoenix Suns. He played with the Phoenix Suns from 2001 to 2003, and then with the Houston Rockets in the 2003-04 NBA season. Ford played a total of 73 NBA games (64 for Phoenix and 9 for Houston) with career averages of 2.5 points and 1.7 rebounds. His final NBA game was on January 3, 2004 in a 84 - 63 win over the Utah Jazz where he played for a little under 2 minutes and recorded no stats. He played overseas from 2004–2008.

Personal life and death

Ford and his wife, Victoria had four children. Ford died of

lymphoma Lymphoma is a group of blood and lymph tumors that develop from lymphocytes (a type of white blood cell). In current usage the name usually refers to just the cancerous versions rather than all such tumours. Signs and symptoms may include enla ...

, a form of blood cancer, on April 2, 2018. He was 36. His funeral was held on April 5, 2018.Alton Ford, Jr.
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References

External links

NBA.com 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 ...

Alton Ford
at

ESPN.com ESPN.com is the official website of ESPN. It is owned by ESPN Internet Ventures, a division of ESPN Inc. History Since launching in April 1995 as ESPNET.SportsZone.com (ESPNET SportsZone), the website has developed numerous sections including ...

1981 births 2018 deaths African-American basketball players American expatriate basketball people in Bosnia and Herzegovina American expatriate basketball people in China American expatriate basketball people in France American expatriate basketball people in Greece American expatriate basketball people in Poland American men's basketball players ASVEL Basket players Basketball players from Houston Centers (basketball) Deaths from cancer in Texas Deaths from lymphoma Erie BayHawks (2008–2017) players Fujian Sturgeons players Houston Cougars men's basketball players Houston Rockets players JL Bourg-en-Bresse players KK Igokea players KK Włocławek players P.A.O.K. BC players Parade High School All-Americans (boys' basketball) Phoenix Suns draft picks Phoenix Suns players Reno Bighorns players Rio Grande Valley Vipers players Xinjiang Flying Tigers players 20th-century African-American people 21st-century African-American sportspeople {{1980s-US-basketball-bio-stub