50 Greatest NBA/ABA Players Not In the Hall Of Fame
By Phil Watson
Copyright 1994 NBAE (Photo by Andrew D. Bernstein/NBAE via Getty Images)
Anthony Mason worked his way into the NBA, playing in Turkey, Venezuela and a couple of different minor leagues in the U.S. while signing 10-day contracts and landing on waivers a few times before catching on with the New York Knicks in 1991.
He became a workhorse for Pat Riley, earning Sixth Man of the Year honors in 1994-95. After being traded to the Charlotte Hornets in a deal for Larry Johnson, Mason was named both All-NBA and All-Defensive in 1996-97 as a playmaking power forward.
Mason led the NBA in minutes per game in both 1995-96 for New York and 1996-97 with Charlotte, his first two seasons as a full-time starter in the league.
He missed all the lockout-shortened 1998-99 season recovering from a ruptured bicep and was traded to the Miami Heat before the 2000-01 season.
He spent two seasons with the Milwaukee Bucks before retiring in 2003.
The journeyman averaged 10.9 points, 8.3 rebounds and 3.4 assists in 34.7 minutes per game over 882 games, shooting 50.9 percent overall.
Mason had a massive heart attack in February 2015 and died several days later from congestive heart failure at just 48 years old.