South Carolina had had a lot of great players in the past including John Roche/Kevin Joyce/Brian Winters…but the greatest of them all was Alex English. After setting a school record with 1972 career PTS he was drafted in the 2nd round by Milwaukee and then took his game to another level in the NBA. He made 8 straight All-Star teams from 1982-1989 and led the league with 28.4 PPG in 1983. He was the 1st NBA player ever to score 2000+ PTS in 8 straight seasons, ended up as the NBA’s top scorer of the 1980s, and was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1997. HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel got to chat with Alex about playing in the highest-scoring game in NBA history and being an actor. Today is Alex’s 68th birthday so let us be the 1st to wish him a happy 1!
You played for Hall of Fame coach Frank McGuire at South Carolina: what made him such a great coach, and what was the most important thing you ever learned from him? He knew how to put people in positions to be successful and had a lot of knowledge about the game. What I respected the most was his ability to be what I would call “classy”. He was 1 of those people who would tip someone not by giving them 5 cents but rather $2-3. He respected the common people (like waitresses/busboys/bellmen) and taught me that it was important to be able to understand what they were going through and treat them well.
What are your memories of the 1973 NCAA tourney (you had 15 PTS/15 REB in an 8-PT win over Texas Tech, but Larry Kenon had 34 PTS/20 REB in a win by eventual national runner-up Memphis State)? I just remember that Kenon was an excellent basketball player who played the same position that I did. Memphis State at that time had a good squad but I do not remember much more than that.
In the 1974 NCAA tourney you had 11 PTS/11 REB in an 8-PT loss to Furman: what was it like to face a team from your home state? I remember that I played against a person who beat me in the South Carolina high school championships (Clyde Mayes) who was a homeboy of mine. He was from Greenville and I was from Columbia: we got to be friends and he ended up playing for Furman.
In 1975 you were named All-American: what did it mean to you to win such an outstanding honor? It was a good feeling. It meant that all of the hard work I had put in had paid off and that I could possibly get to the NBA: I knew that people would notice me after that.
In the summer of 1976 you were drafted in the 2nd round by Milwaukee (6 spots ahead of Dennis Johnson): were you thrilled to realize your dream of making it to the NBA, or disappointed that you did not get selected in the 1st round, or other? I was a little disappointed about not being selected in the 1st round, but it turned out to be a blessing in disguise because the guys that were selected in the 1st round got guaranteed contracts. 2nd-rounders had to work to get a contract/guarantee: I think that being drafted in the 2nd round gave me a lot of fuel/motivation to work harder and I eventually ended up making the team.
After playing in 60 games as a rookie you never played in less than 78 games/year for the following 14 seasons: how were you able to remain so healthy for such a long period of time? I took care of myself, ate well, took vitamins, and had a family life. All those things contributed to me being healthy at home, plus I wanted to be 1 of the best. In order to be 1 of the best you have to blend all of the things (physical, mental, all of that) together: that was very important to me. To be able to run I had to be healthy and in shape.
In 1980 Indiana traded you to Denver for George McGinnis, which turned out to be 1 of the most lopsided trades in NBA history (since McGinnis was out of the league by 1982): why did the Pacers make that trade, and how do you think that your career would have been different if you had remained with Indiana? I cannot speculate on how it could have been different because I do not know. I do know that the reason they wanted McGinnis back was because he had played for Jack McKinney (the Pacers coach at that time). He is from Indiana and played college ball in Bloomington. My coach in Denver (Donnie Walsh) later became GM of the Knicks and wanted me to play for him because he knew what I could do.
In 1983 you led the NBA in scoring with 28.4 PPG, beating out your teammate Kiki VanDeWeghe who scored 26.7 PPG (which no 2 teammates have done since then): how were the 2 of you able to share the ball enough to each score so many points, and do you think any pair of teammates will be able to repeat this feat? The key was that we had a fast-paced offense. We got a lot of shots, pushed the ball up the floor, and our roles were to put the ball in the basket. Another teammate (Dan Issel) was our 3rd-tier scorer: we all knew what we were supposed to do. If we did not do it then we would not have been able to win games so that is what we did. I think that there is potential for other people to do it: there is a lot of talent out there.
On December 13, 1983, you had 47 PTS/12 REB in a 3-OT loss to Detroit in the highest-scoring game in NBA history (186-184): did everyone just decide not to play defense that night, and how exhausted were you by the end of the game? No: we were playing defense. After the game we were all very tired/exhausted/dehydrated. We knew that we had done something special to score that many points and be in the game. I scored 47 PTS…but I think that I might have only been like the 3rd-highest scorer in that game (VanDeWeghe scored a game-high 51 PTS while Isiah Thomas had 47 PTS/17 AST)! It was a fun game to play in and we made some history. I do not think that anyone is ever going to break THAT record.
In 1987 you made your acting debut in the film “Amazing Grace and Chuck”, playing a fictitious Celtics player: why did you decide to become an actor, and what kind of reaction did you get the first time you played in Boston after the film came out? I wanted to expand myself and I got this opportunity. They wanted NBA players to audition for roles and after reading the script I thought that I could do it. I auditioned and got the role: it was a lot of fun working with actors like Jamie Lee Curtis/Gregory Peck. The 1st time we played in Boston after the film they were just Boston fans who treated me like a Denver Nugget!
You and Coach Doug Moe helped lead Denver to 9 consecutive playoff appearances from 1982-1990, including the 1985 Western Conference Finals where you lost to the eventual champion Lakers: what made Moe such a great coach, and could anyone have beaten the Lakers in 1985? What made Doug great was that he allowed his players to play and did not restrict us. He knew how to motivate us and after the game was over he was like 1 of the guys. He did not carry the grudges of the game with him into the locker room. I think the players appreciated that and played hard for him and had fun. I think that we could have beaten the Lakers: back then it was a 2-3-2 playoff format. We went to LA and they beat us in the 1st game but we won the 2nd game in the Forum. We came back to Denver and I broke my thumb so I did not get to play for the rest of the series. I felt like that was our 1 chance to win a title.
You averaged 21.5 PPG during your career, your 25,000+ PTS remains in the top-25 all-time, and you were the best scorer of the 1980s with 19,682 PTS: do you consider yourself to be 1 of the best scorers in NBA history, and what is the secret to being a great scorer? The record shows that I am one of the best scorers, but I think that I will keep moving down the list as guys keep knocking me down a notch. Scoring is something that is not an easy thing to do in the NBA. There are a lot of people that have done it but it was my pride and joy to be consistent for all the years that I played. For me it was about hard work: putting in the time in the summer, playing a lot of 1-on-1, and having fun. When I played I felt like I was a dancer on the floor: it was my art/canvas so I took that perspective and it worked for me.
You were known for shooting the ball from high above your head: when did you 1st start shooting like that, and what made it so effective? I learned how to shoot like that from my high school principal. We had lost to Mayes in the state championship during my junior year and I noticed that my shot got blocked a lot so I started doing things differently to make it hard to block: that meant keeping it above my head. That is the main reason I shot it that way: I just did not want it getting blocked.
You later spent several years as an assistant coach to Sam Mitchell/Jay Triano in Toronto: how did you like the job, and what do you hope to do in the future? My dream is to become an NBA head coach and lead a team to a championship so that is what I hope to be doing in the future.
