Jim Paxson
Personal information
Born (1957-07-09) July 9, 1957 (age 66)
Kettering, Ohio, U.S.
NationalityAmerican
Listed height6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)
Listed weight200 lb (91 kg)
Career information
High schoolArchbishop Alter (Kettering, Ohio)
CollegeDayton (1975–1979)
NBA draft1979: 1st round, 12th overall pick
Selected by the Portland Trail Blazers
Playing career1979–1990
PositionShooting guard / small forward
Number4
Career history
1979–1988Portland Trail Blazers
1988–1990Boston Celtics
Career highlights and awards
Career NBA statistics
Points11,199 (14.3 ppg)
Rebounds1,593 (2.0 rpg)
Assists2,300 (2.9 apg)
Stats Edit this at Wikidata at NBA.com
Stats Edit this at Wikidata at Basketball-Reference.com

James Joseph Paxson Jr. (born July 9, 1957) is an American former professional basketball player. A 1st round selection (12nd pick overall) of the Portland Trail Blazers in the 1979 NBA draft, Paxson played for Portland and the Boston Celtics of the NBA from 1979–1990 and was twice an All-Star. Paxson served as general manager of the Cleveland Cavaliers for six years and now works as a consultant with the Chicago Bulls where his brother John Paxson is an executive.

Pre-NBA

Paxson, a guard-forward born in Kettering, Ohio and the son of former NBA player Jim Paxson Sr., played college basketball at the University of Dayton. When the older Paxson tried out for the Dayton Flyers, he couldn't afford to buy athletic shoes, so athletic director Thomas Frericks loaned him a pair.[1] Paxson was a three-time team MVP and earned All-America honors as a senior after averaging more than 23 points per game. He also averaged 17 points as a junior and 18 points as a sophomore at Dayton.

Career

The 6-foot-6 Paxson was an NBA All-Star in 1983 and 1984. He also earned All-NBA Second Team honors in 1984 after averaging 21 points per game. He spent nine seasons with Portland (1979–1988) and, after being traded to Boston in February 1988, spent two full seasons with Boston (1988–1990). When he was traded from Portland, he left as the team's all-time leading scorer.

Post-playing career

After retiring in 1990 at the age of 32, Paxson joined Portland's front office as assistant general manager. In September 1998, he was named vice president of basketball operations for the Cleveland Cavaliers. He was promoted to general manager in 1999, serving in that position until he was fired in April 2005.[2] The Cavaliers won 185 games and lost 307 games in the six years Paxson was general manager.[2]

In July 2006, Paxson, the older brother of former Chicago Bulls guard and former Chicago Bulls Executive Vice President of basketball operations John Paxson, was hired as a consultant for the Bulls.[2] Paxson was inducted into the Oregon Sports Hall of Fame in 1998.[3] In 2004, he was named to the University of Dayton's All-Century Team.

NBA career statistics

Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game
 FG%  Field goal percentage  3P%  3-point field goal percentage  FT%  Free throw percentage
 RPG  Rebounds per game  APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game
 BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game  Bold  Career high

Regular season

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
1979–80 Portland 72 – 17.6 .411 .045 .711 1.5 2.0 .7 .1 6.2
1980–81 Portland 79 – 34.2 .536 .067 .734 2.7 3.8 1.8 .1 17.1
1981–82 Portland 82 82 33.6 .526 .229 .767 2.7 3.4 1.6 .1 18.9
1982–83 Portland 81 81 33.8 .515 .160 .812 2.1 2.9 1.7 .2 21.7
1983–84 Portland 81 81 33.2 .514 .288 .841 2.1 3.1 1.5 .1 21.3
1984–85 Portland 68 57 33.1 .514 .154 .790 3.3 3.9 1.5 .1 17.9
1985–86 Portland 75 31 25.7 .470 .323 .889 2.0 3.7 1.3 .1 13.1
1986–87 Portland 72 1 25.0 .460 .265 .806 1.9 3.3 1.1 .2 12.1
1987–88 Portland 17 1 15.5 .402 .375 .778 1.1 1.6 .4 .1 6.1
1987–88 Boston 28 2 19.2 .492 .154 .885 1.0 1.8 .8 .1 8.7
1988–89 Boston 57 7 20.0 .454 .167 .816 1.3 1.9 .7 .1 8.6
1989–90 Boston 72 25 17.8 .453 .250 .811 1.1 1.9 .5 .1 6.4
Career 784 368 27.2 .498 .225 .807 2.0 2.9 1.2 .1 14.3
All-Star 2 0 15.5 .625 – .500 1.5 1.5 1.0 .0 10.5

Playoffs

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
1980 Portland 3 – 14.7 .313 – 1.000 1.3 1.0 .7 .3 5.3
1981 Portland 1 – 4.0 .000 – – .0 .0 .0 .0 0.0
1983 Portland 7 – 37.1 .586 .500 .758 2.1 2.6 1.3 .1 23.3
1984 Portland 5 – 34.4 .513 .200 .825 3.8 2.4 .4 .0 22.8
1985 Portland 9 0 23.6 .465 .300 .792 2.2 2.3 .7 .0 12.9
1986 Portland 4 0 17.8 .378 .333 .800 1.0 3.8 .8 .0 10.5
1987 Portland 4 0 23.5 .406 .000 .889 2.3 3.3 1.3 .0 8.5
1988 Boston 15 0 12.5 .288 .000 .800 .6 .7 .4 .1 3.3
1990 Boston 5 0 12.4 .500 .000 .750 .0 1.4 1.0 .0 3.8
Career 53 0 20.9 .463 .267 .808 1.5 1.9 .7 .1 10.5

References

  1. ^ Bausch, Alex (September 24, 2009). "Frericks 5k Race Offers Fun For Family Weekend". Flyer News. Dayton, Ohio. Retrieved October 12, 2009.
  2. ^ a b c "Jim Paxson joins brother John's Bulls as consultant". Associated Press. July 5, 2006. Retrieved October 12, 2009.
  3. ^ "Six new inductees join Oregon Hall of Fame". Eugene Register Guard. June 30, 1998.

External links

Cleveland Cavaliers general managers
1979 NCAA Men's Basketball Consensus All-Americans
1979 NBA draft
Categories