Michael Dickerson

Former NBA shooting guard and 1997 NCAA champion with Arizona.

Michael DeAngelo Dickerson (born June 25, 1975) is an American former professional basketball player who was a member of the Houston Rockets and Vancouver / Memphis Grizzlies of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The shooting guard was born in Greenville, South Carolina and raised in both Kent and Federal Way, Washington.

Lore & Background

Dickerson played basketball at Decatur High School (Federal Way, Washington) in his sophomore season followed by Federal Way High School in his junior and senior years. He went to college at the University of Arizona, where he won the 1997 national championship on a team with Mike Bibby, Jason Terry, and Miles Simon. Dickerson was Arizona's leading scorer in the 1996-97 championship season (18.9 points per game) and averaged another team-high 18.0 points per game in 1997–98. In 2011, he was inducted into the Pac-12 Hall of Honor. He was selected as the 14th overall pick by the Rockets in the 1998 NBA draft and played for them during the lockout-shortened 1998–1999 NBA season, in which Dickerson led the league in games played (50), was sixth in three-point field goal percentage (.433), and was named to the All-Rookie 2nd Team. He was reluctantly traded in 1999 to the Vancouver Grizzlies for Vancouver's draft pick, Steve Francis. Dickerson played all 82 games for the Grizzlies in 1999–2000, averaging 18.2 points, 3.4 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.41 steals per game. His scoring average fell to 16.3 points per game the following season. After the Grizzlies relocated to Memphis, Tennessee, he played in just four and six games over the next two seasons due to injuries. Dickerson was released by the Grizzlies on October 27, 2003 and prematurely retired due to severe hamstring and groin injuries. Dickerson was one of the many players in the history of the team that publicly expressed they enjoyed their time in Vancouver. He was invited to training camp by the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2008, but was waived on October 8, 2008. In 2009, Dickerson returned to basketball for one year as a member of Faymasa Palencia, playing in the second league of the Spanish basketball league system. He appeared in four games for Palencia, averaging 11.8 points per outing. At the end of the season, he retired once more.

Reader's Guide

Michael Dickerson played shooting guard for the Houston Rockets (1998–99) and Vancouver/Memphis Grizzlies (1999–2003). He was a 1997 NCAA champion with Arizona, an NBA All-Rookie 2nd Team selection, and led the league in games played (50) in the lockout-shortened 1998–99 season. He holds career NBA averages of 15.4 points, 2.9 rebounds and 2.6 assists per game in 212 contests.