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NBA players very rarely seek jobs outside of their basketball careers, but when they do, they are often lucrative options. Many turn to rap careers or acting gigs. Kobe Bryant and more recently Damian Lillard have both tried their hand at rapping while Shaquille O'Neal and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar have acted in multiple films and/or TV shows.
Five NBA players who served in the military
It is very rare for a famous athlete making big money to enroll in the military. In fact, there are only a handful of NBA stars that have done it in the history of the league. The following is our list of the top five players who served in the military:
#5 Bernard James
The road to the NBA for Bernard James was long and winding. Where players start as young as 19, Bernard started his basketball journey as a 27-year-old. He did not have what one would call a stellar career in the league, playing only 92 games over the duration of three years. But the former Dallas Mavericks player played professionally in China for the Shanghai Sharks.
Before his brief stint in the NBA, Bernard James was an enlisted US Air Force serviceman. The 6'10" center served for six years in various different countries. His duty with the Air Force took him to Qatar, Iraq, and Afghanistan.
#4 Tim James
Very rarely do we come across athletes who can find it in their heart to not just enroll in the military but serve in highly dangerous and sensitive locations. The motivation needed to commit this highly sacrificial act is often subdued by the kind of money these players make in their professional basketball careers.
Tim James, before enlisting in the U.S. Army, played three seasons in the NBA. He was picked in 1999 as the 25th overall pick by the Miami Heat. He also played with the Charlotte Hornets and Philadelphia 76ers in his three year long career.
As a serviceman, Tim was posted in Iraq and chose not to share his basketball career with the world famous teams a secret from his fellow soldiers.
#3 George Yardley
George Yardley is an NBA Hall of Fame player. He played in the league for seven seasons. Yardley was a small forward and an offensive genius. He is the first player in the league to ever score 2000 points in a season.
Yardley served in the United States Navy straight out of Stanford in 1950. He would go on to serve for two years. He continued to play basketball during his time with the naval force and even won a national AAU championship.
While in the NBA, George, nicknamed "the Bird", played with the Fort Wayne Pistons for four seasons. The team would then move to Detroit to become the Detroit Pistons and also take Yardley along.
#2 Bill Bradley
The former New York Knicks player enjoyed success wherever he went. Before playing in the NBA, the 6'5" small forward studied at Princeton and Oxford. He was also a Rhodes scholar. With his gifted mind, he could have succeeded in any career but his first love was basketball and so he played in the league for ten long years.
But before joining the NBA, Bill served with the US Air Force Reserve for a brief period. He was drafted by the Knicks in 1965 but played his first match for the team in 1967. In his 742 career games, he averaged 12.4 points, 3.4 assists and 3.2 rebounds per game. He won the ring twice in his career and also appeared in an All-Star game.
#1 Elgin Baylor
If we consider the list of the best scorers in the history of the NBA based on points per game, Elgin Baylor stands third, only behind Michael Jordan and Wilt Chamberlain. His career average of 27.4 points per game still stands unbeaten by any current player. The most awe-inspiring factor of Baylor's scoring genius lies in the fact that he did all of this before the existence of the three-point line.
Despite his scoring and rebounding abilities, where he averaged 13.5 rebounds in his career, the LA Lakers legend never won an NBA championship. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame for his achievements in the league.
Baylor also served in the United States Army while still being an active NBA player. He would play for the Lakers over the weekend and serve at Fort Lewis during the week.
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