New York Knicks: NBA Draft picks to have the longest careers
1. Mark Jackson (1987 NBA Draft, Pick 18): 1,296 games played
Mark Jackson will resonate with current basketball fans as ESPN’s in-game analyst and the former coach of the Golden State Warriors. Decades beforehand, however, the New York Knicks chose him 18th overall in the 1987 NBA Draft.
Jackson broke out as a rookie in the 1987-88 season, with 13.6 points, 10.6 assists and 2.5 steals per game. It won him the NBA Rookie of the Year award, and an All-Star appearance followed in his sophomore campaign.
A starting role mostly followed Jackson’s next three seasons in the Big Apple, but Maurice Cheeks held it for parts of two seasons after the aforementioned trade. By 1991-92, he returned to a full-time spot, but in September 1992, the Los Angeles Clippers acquired him in a three-team deal that included Doc Rivers.
This began Jackson’s march around the NBA. He spent two seasons in Los Angeles, before the first of two stints with the Indiana Pacers on those ’90s Reggie Miller teams. There was even a 52-game run with the Denver Nuggets, 54 with the Toronto Raptors, 82 with the Utah Jazz and 42 with the Houston Rockets in 2003-04.
The Knicks had Jackson back for parts of two more years, however, from 2000-02. He started all 110 games, including averaging 7.4 assists in the 2001-02 campaign at age 36.
Next. 25 greatest players in NYK history. dark
Jackson’s career wrapped at 1,296 games played. This ranks 25th in NBA history, so the longevity was there with seven teams, and it all began with the Knicks.