Vern Fleming (born February 2, 1962) 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 played twelve seasons in the NBA from 1984 until 1996. Born in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, Fleming grew up in the Queensbridge Housing projects in the Long Island City neighborhood. As a college player at the

University of Georgia , mottoeng = "To teach, to serve, and to inquire into the nature of things.""To serve" was later added to the motto without changing the seal; the Latin motto directly translates as "To teach and to inquire into the nature of things." , establ ...

, Fleming won a gold medal as a member of the

United States men's basketball team The USA Basketball Men's National Team, commonly known as the United States men's national basketball team, is the basketball team representing the United States. They are the most successful team in international competition, winning medals in ...

at the

1984 Summer Olympics The 1984 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXIII Olympiad and also known as Los Angeles 1984) were an international multi-sport event held from July 28 to August 12, 1984, in Los Angeles, California, United States. It marked the sec ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world ...

and then commenced his professional career as the 18th overall selection in the

1984 NBA Draft The 1984 NBA draft was the 37th annual draft of the National Basketball Association (NBA). It was held at the Felt Forum at Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York, on June 19, 1984, before the 1984–85 season. The draft is generally c ...

by the

Indiana Pacers The Indiana Pacers are an American professional basketball team based in Indianapolis. The Pacers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division. The Pacers were first estab ...

. Fleming played

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

with the Pacers for eleven years, often sharing starter duties with both

Haywoode Workman Haywoode Wilvon Workman (born January 23, 1966) is an American former basketball player who is a referee in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played the point guard position at 6'2", and played 359 games in eight NBA seasons for five ...

and

Mark Jackson Mark A. Jackson (born April 1, 1965) is an American former professional basketball player. A point guard from St. John's University, he played for the New York Knicks, Los Angeles Clippers, Indiana Pacers, Denver Nuggets, Toronto Raptors, Utah ...

. Perhaps his best season as a pro came in

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, astrophysicis ...

, when he started all 82 games of the season while averaging career bests of 14.3 points per game and 7.4 assists per game. The following season, on November 23, 1990, Fleming recorded a career high 18 assists, along with scoring 14 points, in a 112-111 win over the

Houston Rockets The Houston Rockets are an American professional basketball team based in Houston. The Rockets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member team of the league's Western Conference Southwest Division. The team plays its ho ...

. On April 2, 1994, while playing against the

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 ...

, Fleming lost several teeth and suffered several lacerations inside his mouth after a collision with

Shaquille O'Neal Shaquille Rashaun O'Neal ( ; born March 6, 1972), known commonly as "Shaq" ( ), is an American former professional basketball player who is a sports analyst on the television program '' Inside the NBA''. O'Neal is regarded as one of the greate ...

. Fleming spent the final year of his NBA career with the

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 ...

, retiring in 1997.

References

External links

Vern Fleming statistics
at basketball-reference.com 1962 births Living people African-American basketball players All-American college men's basketball players American expatriate basketball people in France American men's basketball players Basketball players from New York City Basketball players at the 1984 Summer Olympics Georgia Bulldogs basketball players Indiana Pacers draft picks Indiana Pacers players Limoges CSP players McDonald's High School All-Americans Medalists at the 1984 Summer Olympics New Jersey Nets players Olympic gold medalists for the United States in basketball Parade High School All-Americans (boys' basketball) Point guards United States men's national basketball team players 21st-century African-American people 20th-century African-American sportspeople {{1960s-US-basketball-bio-stub