The pick that became English is one of the most intriguing picks ever. The pick was originally owned by the New Orleans Jazz but traded to the Atlanta Hawks for Pete Maravich. The Bucks got the pick as compensation from the Atlanta Hawks for the Hawks illegally signing Milwaukee draft pick Julius Earving.

After a very successful career at the University of South Carolina English entered the NBA draft in 1976 where he was a second round pick by the Milwaukee Bucks. English arrived on a Bucks team in disarray. The team had just traded Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to the Los Angeles Lakers and were in the process of rebuilding.

English served as a backup for the Bucks in his first two years averaging less than 10 points a game in under 20 minutes. After two years with the Bucks he signed a free agent contract with the Indiana Pacers.

After only half a season with the Pacers, where he began to come on as a scorer, he was traded to the Denver Nuggets. In the remaining 24 games of the season for the Nuggets English averaged 21 points per game and found a home.

In his first full season with the Nuggets English’s average jumped to 23 points per game. His second year with the Nuggets he helped the team win 46 games and make the playoffs. He also was named to the all-star team and was named on the all-NBA team.

The early 1980’s Nuggets teams became one of the most offensively proficient teams to ever play in the NBA. In 82-83 and 83-84 they averaged 123 points per game but in 83-84 allowed over 124 a game. Their defensive inefficiencies cost the Nuggets dearly as they only won 50 games twice in the decade and only won two division titles. They did improve their defense in the 84-85 season and made a run to the western finals where they lost to the Lakers.

Early in the 1983-84 season the Nuggets hosted the Detroit Pistons in one of the greatest games ever played. The game was a triple OT thriller which the Pistons won 186-184; the highest scoring game in NBA history. English scored 47 points in that game.

English lead the NBA in scoring in 82-83 with 28 points per game and would eventually make 8 all-star games and all NBA honors three times. He averaged 20 or more points in 9 of his 10 full seasons for the Nuggets and over 25 points per game 8 times from 82-89, and finished as the top point scorer of the 1980s.

English began to get older and his production plummeted. He averaged 18 points a game in his final season with the Nuggets at age 36. His final NBA season was with the Dallas Mavericks where he became a key backup. He played one season in Italy before retiring from the NBA.

His #2 was retired by the Nuggets in 1992 and was elected to the NBA hall-of-fame in 1997. He is currently an assistant coach for the Toronto Raptors.

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