NBA: 50 Greatest Players Of The 1990s
By Phil Watson
50 greatest NBA players from the 1990s — 22. Mookie Blaylock
Mookie Blaylock began his NBA career as the new decade dawned, selected 12th overall out of Oklahoma by the New Jersey Nets in the 1989 NBA Draft.
He was fourth in the NBA in steals per game in 1991-92, evolving as a starter by his second season.
But the game changed for Blaylock in November 1992 when he was traded with Roy Hinson to the Atlanta Hawks for Rumeal Robinson.
In three seasons with the Nets, Blaylock averaged 13 points, 5.9 assists, 3.4 rebounds and 2.2 steals in 33 minutes per game, shooting .412/.197/.756.
The move turned out to be great for the Hawks and not so much for New Jersey.
Blaylock was an All-Star for Atlanta in 1994 and was named to six All-Defensive teams. He was second in the NBA in 3-pointers in 1994-95 and 1996-97 and third in 1995-96, also finishing second in the league in assists and third in assists per game in 1993-94.
He led the NBA in steals with 212 in 1996-97 and in steals per game in 1996-97 (2.7) and 1997-98 (2.6). Blaylock was second in the league in steals in 1992-93, 1993-94 and 1995-96; third in 1994-95 and fourth in 1997-98. In steals per game, Blaylock was second in 1992-93, 1994-95 and 1995-96 and third in 1993-94.
With the Hawks, he averaged 14.9 points, 7.3 assists, 4.6 rebounds and 2.6 steals in 37.1 minutes per game, shooting .413/.347/.735.
On the eve of the 1999 NBA Draft, Blaylock was traded with a first-round pick in 1999 to the Golden State Warriors for Bimbo Coles, Duane Ferrell and a 1999 first-rounder.
In the decade of the 1990s, Blaylock was seventh with 4,907 assists, second with 1,742 steals, eighth with 1,094 3-pointers and 15th with an average of 6.9 assists per game.
He retired after the 2001-02 season and is currently serving three years of a seven-year sentence after pleading guilty to vehicular homicide and other charges that resulted in the death of a Georgia woman in May 2013.