2023-24 Season, BHM Player Spotlight: Alex English

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Greetings my peeps and welcome to the All Things Basketball Podcast with your boy GD.

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In this episode I'll be doing my player spotlight for the month of February.

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I'll be covering Alex English guys so I'll be covering him and all that he's done in

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the NBA so just sit back, relax and enjoy the show.

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Okay guys it's your boy GD back with the All Things Basketball with GD

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Podcast. Guys we are in February which means we are in the midst of Black

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History Month and with that as I always do I like to do player profiles for the

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month of February so we're gonna get it started in that regard. To kick it off I'm

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going to talk about a man vastly underrated in the eyes of NBA fans and

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historians alike. I say that because the NBA itself had a top 50 list and then

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they came back 25 years later with a top 75 list. This man's name was nowhere in

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there which I was stunned about but this is a man who deserves his place

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among the top 75 players. In fact the athletic listed him amongst the top 75

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actually put him at 71 the 71st best player ever to play in the NBA and that

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man's name is Alex English born Alexander English a small forward playing in the

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era where each night it was a battle in terms of small forwards back in the late

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70s but pretty much the 80s where each night you had to go up against the likes

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of a Julius Irving, Larry Bird, Dominique Wilkins, James Wervie, Bernard King, Mark

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Aguirre, Purvis Short. I mean you had a host of guys Marcus Johnson as well

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another underrated player but to me Alex English I think is one of the most

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overlooked players in the history of the NBA. So like I said he's a small forward

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6'8", 190 is the weight he played at. He's born in January 5th, 1954 so in fact

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he just turned 70 years old guys. Born in Columbia, South Carolina, place I'm

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familiar with. Gotta check my family tree maybe he's on it but that's a story for

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another day. His mom named him after former king of Macedonia Alexander the

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Great so she named him that expecting great things from him. Needless to say

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his mother was pretty prophetic in naming him that because he has turned out to be

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all that and then some. He spent his early years living with his grandmother while

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his parents worked up north in New York. He first started playing basketball at

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the age of 10 so Alex very young having an interest in basketball. He attended

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Han Junior High School and then later he would enroll in Dreher High School in

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Columbia, South Carolina. While playing there he started in 79 games. He had a

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31-point average as a junior which garnered him national attention. In fact

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after being recruited by over a hundred colleges Alex decided to stay local by

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attending the University of South Carolina which is right there in

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Columbia and this happened in 1972 that he would enroll in that college. Being

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coached by the legendary Frank McGuire a coach who previously coached at places

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like St. John's also the University of North Carolina which makes for

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interesting dynamic there. Alex saw his game develop and blossom under the

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tutelage of McGuire. He became the third African American scholarship recipient

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at the school. He started in every game during his four years at South Carolina.

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The record he amassed while playing there 81 and 30 including two NCAA

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tournament appearances. I'll talk about his numbers at the school when I get to

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his accolades. Alex graduated from the University of South Carolina with an

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English degree in 1976. Alex's interests while in college were literature, poetry,

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art, and sculpture. He went into the 1976 draft and he was selected 23rd overall

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and he was picked in actually the second round. The sixth pick in the second

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round to be exact by the Milwaukee Bucks. Notable names in that 1976 draft. John

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Lucas who went number one overall coming out of the University of Maryland and

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he was drafted by the Houston Rockets. Adrian Dantley who was drafted six

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coming out of Notre Dame. He was drafted by the Buffalo Braves. Robert Parrish

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picked eighth in that draft. He went to school at Centenary College in Louisiana

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and he was drafted by the Gold State Warriors. Also in that draft Dennis

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Johnson. He was also a second round pick as well. Pick 29th playing for the

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University of Pepperdine and he was picked by the Seattle SuperSonics and

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Mike Dunleavy who actually was Alex English's teammate at South Carolina.

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He was picked by the Philadelphia 76ers but he was picked in the sixth round with

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the 99th pick. So Alex enters the NBA. He spends two frustrating seasons with the

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Milwaukee Bucks. Mostly on their bench. He was playing behind the likes of Bobby

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Dandridge and Junior Bridgeman and actually during his rookie season he did

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appear in a slam dunk contest that was held on May 1st 1977 and it was a

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contest between him and Mickey Johnson who was playing for the Chicago Bulls

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at the time. Ironically enough they end up teammates further down the road. I'll

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tell you all that later. And one of the judges in the slam dunk contest was Sam

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Jones someone who I profiled on this podcast. But Alex would lose to Mickey

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Johnson in this slam dunk contest. But as I said yes two frustrating seasons he

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spent with the Milwaukee Bucks and the first year he played behind Bobby Dandridge

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in Junior Bridgeman and then later the following year they drafted a rookie by

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the name of Marcus Johnson with actually the third pick in the 1977 draft. So

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obviously Alex English buried under guys who the franchise saw more highly of.

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But Alex did show flashes in the playoffs in 1978 where he ended up being

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the third highest scorer on the team and he did that coming off the bench guys.

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After the 1977-78 season Alex would sign with the Indiana Pacers as a free

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agent. Back in that time when you signed as a free agent you still had to give

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compensation to your former team. And Milwaukee was given a 1979 first round

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pick as compensation for Indiana signing Alex English. Oh and they used that

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pick to draft Calvin Nat. I'll talk about Calvin Nat later. So while at Indiana

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Alex did show improvement. In fact he finally became a starter and in that

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first season for them 1978-79 he started in 81 games average 16 points over

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eight rebounds well over three assists. He shot it from the field over 51% and

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from the free throw line above 75% for him. Then the following season he played

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54 games for the Indiana Pacers but he ended up getting traded guys. He got

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traded to Denver along with a 1980 first round pick in exchange for veteran forward

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George McGinnis who actually previously played for the Pacers back in their

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ABA days. The coach at the time Slick Leonard wanted to bring McGinnis back

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to Indiana hoping to catch lightning in the bottle which wasn't to be the case

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because McGinnis only played two seasons there before he stopped playing all

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together with. But Alex goes to Denver and at the time Denver was coached by

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Donnie Walsh. Donnie Walsh may know of him being a Indiana Pacers front office

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person GM so forth but at this time he was a head coach for the Denver Nuggets.

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Also he has a connection to Alex being that he was one of the assistant

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coaches under Frank McGuire at South Carolina. So Alex really began to

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flourish in those 24 games that he played for them over 21 points per game well

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over nine rebounds well over three assists 1.2 steals as well as 1.2 blocks

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that's what he averaged in those 24 games for them. Then we move on to

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1980-81 season where he played under Walsh still but Walsh was fired mid

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season or so and they ended up hiring Interim Doug Moe and that was the year

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that Alex really put the league on notice. The team did end up finishing 37

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and 45 on the outside looking in in terms of playoffs but Alex for that

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season played in 81 games averaged 23.8 points per game 8 rebounds 3.6 assists

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1.3 steals and 1.2 blocks shot it from the field above 49% and 85% from the

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free throw line guys and this season actually would begin the start of nine

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straight seasons where Alex had a 23 points or more average in terms of

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scoring and also on that team he had guys like Dan Issell he had David Thompson

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there so you had a high-powered team guys and it seemed once he played for Doug

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Moe Doug Moe liked to push the temple Doug Moe I would say he was somewhat like

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like a Mike Dantonie in terms of having this offense pushing the ball up the

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court putting pressure on the defense only problem just like Mike Dantonie

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teams defense was lacking to put it mildly but nonetheless that was his first

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full season in Denver then we move on to 1981-82 that's his first All-Star campaign

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where he makes his first All-Star game and the first of eight straight he would

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make guys and in this season he played all 82 games he finished fourth in the

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league in scoring averaging 25.4 also 6.8 rebounds 5.3 assists over a steal per

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game in a block and a half per game shooting it from the field a whopping

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55% actually above that as well as 84% from the free throw line the team that

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year finished 46 in 36 and they would make their first playoff appearance with

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Alex there and they actually bowled out in the first round to the Phoenix Suns

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so Alex English his first successful campaign with the Denver Nuggets where

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the team had a winning record and he received his accolades in terms of making

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an All-Star game and also that year guys he made second team all NBA as well

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fast forward to 1982-83 his second All-Star appearance his second all

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NBA making the second team so he's done that twice in a row he would lead the

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league in scoring this season guys 28.4 points per game above seven rebounds

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nearly five assists 1.4 steals in a block and a half as well shooting it from the

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field 51.6% from the field and nearly 83% from the free throw line his team

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would finish second in the Midwest Division at 45 and 37 they made the

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playoffs they defeated Phoenix in the first round they finally did that guys

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and then in the semifinals they would lose to the San Antonio Spurs led by

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George Gervin so the Denver Nuggets getting a little taste of success in the

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playoffs there at least advancing above the first round moving on to this 83-84

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season third All-Star appearance then he would be boistered by the emergence of

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Kiki Vandaway Alex English he played all 82 games that year 26.4 points per game

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which was fourth in the league his teammate Kiki Vandaway with average 29.4

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points per game finishing third in league so Alex even on his own team was

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second in scoring 5.7 rebounds five assists 1.2 blocks in a steal per game

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for him from the field shooting it nearly 53% and from the free throw line

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above 82% but the team that year though did not have a winning record it was

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38 and 44 finishing third in that Midwest conference they did make the

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playoffs though with that record but they lost in the first round to the Utah

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Jazz led by Adrian Dantley but in that season guys they would make NBA history

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and what is the highest scoring game in NBA history although they were on the

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losing end it was a game played against the Detroit Pistons and this was played

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at Denver in the Nichols sports arena that was their arena at the time and this

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game was on December 13th 1984 it was a triple overtime game guys but as I said

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Detroit Pistons prevailed 186 to 184 wow that's a lot of points guys and then

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mind you this was like in the beginning stages of the three-point shot being in

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the NBA in that game guys you know how many threes they made between both teams

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just two three-point goals and one for each team ironically enough actually

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they were one for two from the three-point line both teams so this is

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before the three-point shot kind of revolutionizing the game leading the way

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for the Detroit Pistons Isaiah Thomas player I profiled 47 points 17 assists

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and four steals for Isaiah John Long 41 points for him eight assists and three

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steals and Kelly Trapuca with a nice game 35 points for Denver Kiki Vandaway

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with 51 points nine rebounds eight assists Alex English right behind him

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with 47 points guys 12 rebounds seven assists and Dan Issa with 29 points and

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eight rebounds moving ahead guys in 1984 85 Doug Moe in the powers that be in

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Denver decided look we can't even stop a cold over here in Denver so we need to

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get tougher on defense so here's what we're gonna do we're gonna ship out

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Kiki Vandaway and we're gonna bring back guys like Calvin Nat fat lever and Wayne

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Cooper from the Portland Trail Blazers which is what they ended up doing so for

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the 1984 85 season which would be his fourth all-star appearance that season

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the team went 52 and 30 their best record so far with Alex English in the

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fold Alex for that season 81 games he played in nearly 28 points per game 5.7

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rebounds over four assists and over a steal per game shooting from the field

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just about near 52% and nearly 83% from the free throw line they finished first

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in the Midwest division they won in the first round against the San Antonio

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Spurs beating George Gurvin and those guys to the semis they went facing Utah

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jazz team lit by Adrian Dantley and beating them kind of exact in the

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Little Riz binge in that regard and then they were going to the conference

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finals against the LA Lakers and they lost to them four games to one actually

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in that series Alice English broke his thumb in game four and a lot of people

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would say that kind of turned the tide against the Nuggets and that is probably

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why they ended up losing that series and then the Lakers would go on to win the

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championship that year but that by far was Alice's most successful run in the

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playoffs then we move on to the 1985 86 season his fifth all-star appearance and

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this year he got back to all NBA status second team he played an 81 games guys

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he averaged 29.8 so nearly 30 points per game which was his career best guys and

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he finished third in the scoring that year five rebounds four assists for him

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50.4 percent from the field well above 86 percent from the free throw line his

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team would finish 47 and 35 second in the Midwest they would beat Portland in

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that first round and then in the semis they would lose to Houston and Rockets

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with those twin towers of Ralph Samson and Hakim Elijah on a playoff profile

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this well and then we move on to 1986 87 his sixth all-star appearance the team

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only went 37 and 45 that season guys and they ended up losing to the Lakers in

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the first round Alex would play in all 82 games he scored 28.6 points per

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game which was third in the league above four rebounds and over five assists for

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him 50.3 percent from the field 84.4 percent from the free throw line guys so

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that year not as successful as one would like to see from Alex and his team

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then we move to the 1987 88 season where you have another all-star appearance

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guys played in 80 games 25 points per game which was ninth in the league 4.7

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rebounds 4.7 assists shot at 49 and a half percent from the field and nearly

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83 percent from the free throw line guys in this year his team will have their

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best record with him as their go-to guy 54 and 28 is what they finished which was

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first in the Midwest division they won in the first round against Seattle a

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high-powered Seattle team that had Tom Chambers Dale Ellis and my man Xavier

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McDaniel but in the semifinals they did lose to Dallas led by Mark Aguirre they

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would lose to them in that second round in a bit of an upset there a successful

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season in the regular season postseason not so much moving on to 1988 89 where

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this would be his last all-star appearance guys it's eighth in a row and

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with this team you know they have the likes of a Michael Adams there now you

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got a Walter Davis coming off your bench so the team went 44 and 38 third they

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finished in the Midwest division and they did lose in the first round to the

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Phoenix Suns a Phoenix Suns team that now has Kevin Johnson and they acquired

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Tom Chambers as well so they were losing that first round Alex himself

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appeared in all 82 games 26 and a half points per game which was six in the

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league four rebounds 4.7 assists for him above 49% from the field so you see his

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field goal percentage starting to wane a bit and 85.8% from the free throw line

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guys and then his last season in Denver he's at age 36 now guys the 1989 90

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season he would only average slightly under 18 points per game 3.6 rebounds

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and nearly three assists and he would see his playing time diminish as well guys

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shooting it above 49% again guys but he's taken six less shots per game and he

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shot at 88% from the free throw line the team itself finished 43 and 39 which was

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fourth in the Midwest division he did make the playoffs but they lost to the

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San Antonio Spurs this was the new look San Antonio Spurs now now they have a

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guy named David Robison in the middle there also you have guys like Terry

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Cummings there Sean Elliott Rod Strickland as well so definitely a

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different looking team guys but that would be his last taste of playoff

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basketball going into free agency that following season Denver decided not to

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bring him back which kind of left a sour taste in his mouth so he ends up

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signing with Dallas and what would end up being his last hurrah he saw Dallas

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team with promise they had guys like Roy Tarpley they had guys like Rodney

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McCrae but that year he was the backup to Rodney McCrae and also they had his

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former teammate Fat Lever that's what it was but Fat Lever got injured four

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games into the season and he was out for the year and then Roy Tarpley between

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injuries and his drug problems he only played five games in and no more for the

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rest of the season the team ended up going 28 and 54 guys Alex played in 79

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games he only played about 26 and a half minutes per game guys he averaged

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9.7 points over three rebounds not good from the field guys close to 44% and

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then 85% from the free throw line he was released by the Dallas Mavericks after

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the 1990-91 season no one would sign him so he went overseas to play in Italy

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14 basket Napoli where he averaged slightly under 14 points per game in 18

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games overseas which he played there in 1992 then following that he retired from

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the game of basketball guys so Alex English now retired after his playing

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days he actually from his work with being a player rep which he was for their

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union would follow him as he is named director of player programs for the Mbpl

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National Basketball Players Association being in that position he was a liaison

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for the Mbpa and the retired players association I've talked about them when

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I talked about Oscar Robinson he was appointed as interim executive director

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of the Mbpl and he was actually in the midst of their negotiations with the

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NBA when they had their negotiations back in 1995 then he did TV work as an

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analyst for Fox Sports Network also for Fox Rocky Mountain where he did

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analysis work for the Denver Nuggets he also co-hosted a show on CNN this weekend

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the NBA he also did some analysts work at NBA TV and also with the SEC Network

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calling games there he tried his hand at coaching in the Mbdl a league that would

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later be called the G League and he coached for a team called the North

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Charleston Logators and he did this in 2001 2002 season and his team actually

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was tied for the best record in the league but they ended up losing in the

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championship he also had assistant coaching stints with the Atlanta Hawks

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the Philadelphia 76ers the Toronto Raptors and the Sacramento Kings which

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would be his last coaching stop and ironically enough he was let go by the

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next coach who was Mike Belon who eventually become Denver Nuggets coach

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so bit of irony there. Hell basketball clinics in Italy South Korea and Chile

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with Nikesha Sales Nikesha Sales women's basketball player she played at

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UConn she ended up going to the WNBA and also Candice Wiggins another player who

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would end up going to the WNBA but she played her ball at Stanford was also

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part of the basketball without borders program as an NBA ambassador there he

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also did work for the WNBA actually for their players union he was a board of

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advocates member Alex also did a bit of acting he debuted in a movie called

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Amazing Grace and Chuck where he played a Boston Celtics player who would

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take a political stance against playing ball it was about the nuclear bombs and

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so forth so he took a stand in that regard he appeared in other movies as

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well like the definite maybe and he also appeared in a movie called Eddie with

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Whippy Goldberg where she was the coach of the Knicks and actually Alex in that

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movie he was the Cleveland Cavaliers head coach and he also did some TV shows

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as well guys he wrote poetry I talked about his interest in poetry that he

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had in college he wrote poetry one of his favorite poets was Peter McWilliams

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and Alex himself wrote nearly 300 poems and some of them actually got

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published and one of the names of the books was some timey feeling sometimes

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he also had business ventures including co-owning Wendy's franchises with his

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wife Vanessa also a company called flick to limited it was a sports marketing

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company hoop life calm which was a website that provided basketball

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information he had that green smart botanicals which was a company that

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specialized in medicinal cannabis so he's jumping in on that train there and

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then also European wax center he was a co-owner there and they were based in

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Columbia, South Carolina he's also the founder of a non-profit let's share

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foundation that he had in 1989 this was a foundation used to help children and

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families in need he started out in the Colorado area and then that ended up

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being moved to South Carolina so that is it in terms of Alex English and all he

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did post basketball let's talk about his accolades and we'll just call it a day

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from there guys he was South Carolina's top career

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scorer up until 1999 when BJ McKee would end up passing him the total points

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he scored 1972 points and he was the third leading rebounder for South Carolina at

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1064 rebounds he was a two-time independent all-American in 1975 and 76 so in

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terms of the NBA this is his career numbers guys 15 years he played in 1193

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games he averaged 21 and a half points per game five and a half rebounds 3.6

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assists he shot it over 50% guys 50.7% from the field 83.2% from the free throw

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line and then 1980-81 again that would be the start of his nine straight

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seasons of 23 points per game or more 1980-182 season would be the first of his

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straight 2000 plus points seasons and he's actually the first player in the

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NBA to be able to tout those type of numbers guys and of course the eight

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straight all-star appearances he only had one scoring championship he did in

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1987-88 he won the J. Walter Kennedy Citizenship Award and that goes to the

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person with the outstanding service and dedication to their communities and it

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could be given to a player a coach or a trainer so Alex got it that year guys he

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would score the most points for the decade of the 80s and mind you he played

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in a decade with the likes of Larry Bird, Dominique Wilkins, Adrian Dantley, Moses

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Malone, Marcus Johnson and Magic Johnson and Alex would be above them all in

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terms of point scored. At the time of his retirement he was seventh on the all-time

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scores list the names above him were Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, play or I spotlight it,

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Wil Chamberlain, Elvin Hayes, Moses Malone, Oscar Robinson and John Havillchik.

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Alex would finish with 25,613 points for Alex. He set 31 Denver records

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including career scoring, assists, games played in minutes. His Denver Jersey his

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number two Denver Jersey retired in 1983 his college Jersey South Carolina was

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retired and he was inducted into the South Carolina Hall of Fame and this

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occurred in 1988. He's been inducted into the Naismith basketball Hall of Fame in

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1997 and then in the college basketball Hall of Fame in 2006. His high school

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Jersey number 22 retired in 2020 and just this year guys he's one of four

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recipients of the National Civil Rights Museum Sport Legacy Award. He was one of

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four people the other three were named Montgomery for the WNBA, Calvin Hill, the

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father of Grant Hill who played in the NFL and Aussie Smith who played Major

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League Baseball. So those are your recipients there and just this year he

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was a keynote speaker during the Martin Luther King weekend. He was keynote

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speaker there for a event as well. So Alex English we salute you Alex for all

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you've done in the game and outside of the game helping to grow the game overseas

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as well all your business acumen and all that you've done for the game of basketball.

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We salute you we give you your flowers and say job and career well done. Alright

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guys so that is it for this episode next time you hear from me week 15 guys it's

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packed and loaded with a lot of content guys a lot went on so I'll be here to

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bring it to you alright and then guys as always you know how to get in contact

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with me leave your reviews guys leave it on the website leave it on YouTube leave

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00:37:38,760 --> 00:37:44,080
it on Apple podcasts as well like the videos wherever you see them whether it

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be YouTube or anywhere else alright guys so with that said I thank you for

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listening as always this is the first of four player profiles I'll do for the

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month so just stay tuned and I'll let you know what's coming alright guys with

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that said I thank you for listening and we'll talk soon take care

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hello my peeps thank you for listening and supporting the all things basketball

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with GD podcasts you can find us on our website all things basketball with GD

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the show and do take care