Just in time for March Madness, here’s a weird connection between hoops and Major League Baseball.
To be more specific, one year (1996), the Philadelphia 76ers drafted two college basketball stars who eventually made the rosters of Major League Baseball teams:
In case you can’t see it, that is Mark Hendrickson and Ryan Minor being drafted by the Philadelphia 76ers, drafted one right after the other. Minor- who’s main claim to fame was starting at third the day that Cal Ripken‘s streak ended- went straight to baseball, but Hendrickson- who has been pitching in camp for the Orioles this spring- had a brief NBA career (go below the jump for the stats):
| Season | Age | Tm | Lg | Pos | G | GS | MP | FG | FGA | FG% | 3P | 3PA | 3P% | FT | FTA | FT% | ORB | DRB | TRB | AST | STL | BLK | TOV | PF | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1996-97 | 22 | PHI | NBA | PF | 29 | 1 | 301 | 32 | 77 | .416 | 3 | 12 | .250 | 18 | 26 | .692 | 35 | 57 | 92 | 3 | 10 | 4 | 14 | 32 | 85 |
| 1997-98 | 23 | SAC | NBA | PF | 48 | 1 | 737 | 58 | 149 | .389 | 0 | 5 | .000 | 47 | 57 | .825 | 33 | 110 | 143 | 41 | 26 | 9 | 31 | 60 | 163 |
| 1998-99 | 24 | NJN | NBA | PF | 22 | 6 | 399 | 39 | 88 | .443 | 0 | 1 | .000 | 42 | 50 | .840 | 27 | 41 | 68 | 13 | 12 | 1 | 15 | 39 | 120 |
| 1999-00 | 25 | TOT | NBA | PF | 15 | 0 | 71 | 5 | 8 | .625 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 4 | .750 | 3 | 10 | 13 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 8 | 13 | |
| 1999-00 | 25 | CLE | NBA | PF | 10 | 0 | 47 | 5 | 7 | .714 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 1.000 | 2 | 9 | 11 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 7 | 12 | |
| 1999-00 | 25 | NJN | NBA | PF | 5 | 0 | 24 | 0 | 1 | .000 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | .500 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
| Career | NBA | 114 | 8 | 1508 | 134 | 322 | .416 | 3 | 18 | .167 | 110 | 137 | .803 | 98 | 218 | 316 | 63 | 50 | 15 | 63 | 139 | 381 |
So, now you know: there once was a time when two MLB players were drafted one right after the other in the NBA draft.
