Sports Antonio McDyess 1997 Starting Lineup and 20 similar items

McDyess was selected with the second overall pick in the 1995 draft by the Los Angeles Clippers,[1] and was traded to the Denver Nuggets before the season began, along with Randy Woods, for fellow forward Rodney Rogers and a mid-first-round pick that was later used to select Brent Barry.[4] McDyess's explosive leaping and power dunking ability allowed him to average 17.8 points and 8.8 rebounds per game over his first six seasons. In 1997, before his third year, McDyess was traded to the Phoenix Suns.[5] He helped the Suns to a 56–26 record during his lone season in Phoenix. He became a free agent prior to the lockout-shortened 1998–99 season, and returned to the Nuggets. The move was controversial however, because after he had verbally agreed to return to Denver, he reconsidered an offer to return to Phoenix. According to Sports Illustrated, Jason Kidd, Rex Chapman, and George McCloud flew through a blizzard to Denver in hopes of convincing him to re-sign with the Suns. McDyess was attending a Colorado Avalanche game with Nuggets President and General Manager Dan Issel, and Issel told security to not let the three Suns players into the building. Without any further consultation, he re-signed with the Nuggets. That season, on February 28, 1999, McDyess scored a career-high 46 points and grabbed 19 rebounds in a 116–112 win over the Vancouver Grizzlies.[6] Considered an up and comer, he was selected to be a part of the gold medal-winning U.S. Olympic men's basketball team at the 2000 Summer Olympics. In 2000–01, McDyess was named an All–Star and became just the third Nugget to average at least 20 points and 10 rebounds for a season, after Issel in 1977–78 and George McGinnis in 1978–79. Near the end of the season, he suffered a partially dislocated left kneecap. Early in the 2001–02 season, McDyess had an injury found during practice in October. An MRI showed a partial tear in his patellar tendon and a mild sprain of the medial collateral ligament. He got surgery for the injury and ended up missing the whole season.[7]