Wesley Lavon Person (born March 28, 1971) is an American former professional basketball player who played in the National Basketball Association (NBA). After his playing career, Person became a women's basketball assistant coach and then the head men's basketball coach at Enterprise-Ozark Community College.[1] He was fired from the latter position in 2010.[2]
Selected by the Phoenix Suns 23rd overall in the 1994 NBA draft out of Auburn University, Person played for seven teams throughout his career. He played three seasons for the Suns, five for the Cleveland Cavaliers, 82 games over two seasons for the Memphis Grizzlies, 33 games for the Portland Trail Blazers, nine games for the Atlanta Hawks, sixteen games for the Miami Heat and 25 for the Denver Nuggets. Person retired with career averages of 11.2 points, 3.3 rebounds, and 1.7 assists per game. According to Complex Sports, Person is the 13th greatest three-point shooter of all time. Person was also the only person to set a net on fire, as made popular by the arcade game NBA Jam.[3]
NBA career
Phoenix Suns (1994–1997)
On June 29, 1994, the Phoenix Suns drafted Person with the 23rd overall pick in the 1994 NBA draft. Person played his first three seasons in Phoenix, where he averaged 12.2 points per game, 3.4 rebounds per game, and 1.5 assists per game in 240 games. He also had a 45.8% field goal percentage and a 40.7% 3-point percentage. Furthermore, he was named to the NBA All-Rookie Second Team in his rookie season.[4]
Cleveland Cavaliers (1997–2002)
On October 1, 1997, Person was involved in a three-team trade in which he was traded with Tony Dumas to the Cleveland Cavaliers, Antonio McDyess was traded to the Suns, and three first-round draft picks were traded to the Denver Nuggets. where he would spend the majority of his career. In his first season with Cleveland, he led the NBA in three-pointers made. In five seasons with the franchise, he averaged 12.0 points per game, 3.6 rebounds per game, and 2.0 assists per game. He had a 46.1% field goal percentage and a 42.2 3-point percentage.[4]
Memphis Grizzlies (2002–2003)
On June 26, 2002, Person was traded to the Memphis Grizzlies for Nick Anderson and Matt Barnes. He would average 11.0 points per game, 2.9 rebounds per game, and 1.7 assists per game in his first season with Memphis. During his second season with the franchise, he averaged 5.2 points per game, 1.1 rebounds per game, and 1.4 assists per game.[4]
Portland Trail Blazers (2003–2004)
On December 3, 2003, Person was traded, along with a 2004 1st round draft pick (Sergei Monia), to the Portland Trail Blazers for Bonzi Wells. In 33 games for Portland, he would average 6.5 points per game, 2.2 rebounds per game, and 1.2 assists per game.[4]
Atlanta Hawks (2004)
On February 9, 2004, Person was traded with Rasheed Wallace to the Atlanta Hawks for Shareef Abdur-Rahim, Dan Dickau, and Theo Ratliff. His tenure with Atlanta was the shortest stint of his career, as he played only 9 games for the franchise. He averaged 4.4 points per game, 2.8 rebounds per game, and 0.6 assists per game while he was with the team.
Miami Heat (2004–2005)
On August 11, 2004, Person signed with the Miami Heat as a free agent. In Miami, he would have the lowest points per game average of his career: 3.9. Person also averaged 1.4 rebounds per game and 0.7 assists per game. On March 1, 2005, he was waived by the team.[4]
Denver Nuggets (2005)
Two days after being waived, Person signed with the Denver Nuggets. His stint with the Nuggets would be his final NBA tenure. During his 25 games with Denver, he averaged 8.1 points per game, 2.4 rebounds per game, and 1.1 assists per game. During those 25 games, Person did not miss a single three pointer, and hit nothing but net 96.5% of those attempts.[4] Person retired at the end of the season.[5]
