10 Families inside the NBA

#10 The King Brothers

Bernard King

Bernard King was drafted 7th overall in 1977 by the then New York Nets who later became the New Jersey Nets. Bernard King was a 6’7 small forward who became a 4 time NBA All-Star. King also was the NBA scoring champion in 1985.

He played 14 seasons for the Nets, Jazz, Warriors, Knicks, Bullets(now the Wizards), and ended his career in 1993 playing for the Nets again. During his career, he averaged 22.5 ppg on 51.8% field goal shooting.

While playing for the Knicks in 1985 Bernard King suffered what should have been a career-ending injury. He tore his knee cartilage, ACL and broke a bone in his right leg. In 1985 he was averaging 32.9 ppg. when the injury occurred. He missed the following season and only managed to play in 6 games in the 1986-87 season.

His younger brother was a highly touted prospect out of the University of Maryland. Albert King was also drafted 10th overall in 1981 by the New Jersey Nets. Albert King spent 9 years of his 11-year career in the NBA with a 12.1 ppg. average.

After 6 seasons in New Jersey, he spent one season each with Philadelphia, San Antonio and wound up his career after one season in Washington. In 1989 after the NBA season he signed with Italian basketball club Olimpia Milano winning a title there.

There are a number of other families that have put in outstanding work in the NBA. Dominique and Gerald Wilkins, Ed and George Mikan, Horace and Harvey Grant, Jim and John Paxton, and Chuck and Wesley Person are just a few of the other families considered when thinking about this topic.

This was by no means an exhaustive list and was compiled in no particular order. However, it was an interesting look at past and present stars of the NBA and how the Association among other sports leagues fish in the same pool over and over looking for talent. In this case, it’s the same gene pool.