Final
Houston Rockets at Dallas Mavericks
135 – 117
2026-27 · Preseason · Preseason
Game state source: whynba · Retrieved Oct 9, 5:36 pm EDTNBA legend. Named to the NBA 75th Anniversary Team and inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. Biography, honors and career statistics below.
James Worthy
Career at a glance
James Worthy played 12 NBA regular seasons between 1982 and 1994, appearing in 926 games and averaging 17.6 points, 5.1 rebounds and 3.0 assists per game. He spent his whole career with L.A. Lakers (1982–94, 926 games). His best scoring season was 1990–91 with L.A. Lakers: 21.4 points per game over 78 games.
Championship seasons: 1984–85 (L.A. Lakers), 1986–87 (L.A. Lakers), 1987–88 (L.A. Lakers). In the playoffs he appeared in 9 postseason runs (143 games, 21.1 points per game). Multiplying each season’s games by its scoring average gives roughly 16,300 regular-season points (an estimate from per-game figures, not an official total).
whynba analysis of the season-by-season statistics below (Wikipedia revision, CC BY-SA 4.0). Totals are estimates from per-game averages.
About James Worthy
James Ager Worthy (born February 27, 1961) is an American former professional basketball player. Nicknamed "Big Game James", he played his entire 12-year professional career with the Los Angeles Lakers in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Worthy was a seven-time NBA All-Star, a two-time All-NBA Team member who won three NBA championships and was voted the NBA Finals Most Valuable Player (MVP) in 1988. He was named to both the NBA's 50th and 75th anniversary teams. Worthy has been regarded by many as one of the greatest small forwards in NBA history.
A standout college basketball player for the North Carolina Tar Heels, the small forward was a consensus first-team All-American and shared national player of the year honors en route to leading his team to the 1982 NCAA championship. Named the NCAA tournament Most Outstanding Player, he was selected by the Lakers with the first overall pick of the 1982 NBA draft.
- Born
- February 27, 1961 (age 65) Gastonia, North Carolina, U.S.
- Listed height
- 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)
- Listed weight
- 225 lb (102 kg)
- Position
- Small forward
- High school
- Ashbrook (Gastonia, North Carolina)
- College
- North Carolina (1979–1982)
- NBA draft
- 1982: 1st round, 1st overall pick
- Playing career
- 1982–1994
Career highlights and awards
- 3× NBA champion (1985, 1987, 1988)
- NBA Finals MVP (1988)
- 7× NBA All-Star (1986–1992)
- 2× All-NBA Third Team (1990, 1991)
- NBA All-Rookie First Team (1983)
- NBA anniversary team (50th, 75th)
- No. 42 retired by Los Angeles Lakers
- NCAA champion (1982)
- NCAA Final Four Most Outstanding Player (1982)
- Helms Foundation Player of the Year (1982)
- Consensus first-team All-American (1982)
- ACC Athlete of the Year (1982)
- First-team All-ACC (1982)
- Second-team All-ACC (1981)
- ACC tournament MVP (1982)
- No. 52 retired by North Carolina Tar Heels
- First-team Parade All-American (1979)
- Second-team Parade All-American (1978)
- McDonald's All-American (1979)
Career statistics
| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1982–83 | L.A. Lakers | 77 | 1 | 25.6 | .579 | .250 | .624 | 5.2 | 1.7 | 1.2 | .8 | 13.4 |
| 1983–84 | L.A. Lakers | 82* | 53 | 29.5 | .556 | .000 | .759 | 6.3 | 2.5 | .9 | .9 | 14.5 |
| 1984–85† | L.A. Lakers | 80 | 76 | 33.7 | .572 | .000 | .776 | 6.4 | 2.5 | 1.1 | .8 | 17.6 |
| 1985–86 | L.A. Lakers | 75 | 73 | 32.7 | .579 | .000 | .771 | 5.2 | 2.7 | 1.1 | 1.0 | 20.0 |
| 1986–87† | L.A. Lakers | 82* | 82 | 34.4 | .539 | .000 | .751 | 5.7 | 2.8 | 1.3 | 1.0 | 19.4 |
| 1987–88† | L.A. Lakers | 75 | 72 | 35.4 | .531 | .125 | .796 | 5.0 | 3.9 | 1.0 | .7 | 19.7 |
| 1988–89 | L.A. Lakers | 81 | 81 | 36.5 | .548 | .087 | .782 | 6.0 | 3.6 | 1.3 | .7 | 20.5 |
| 1989–90 | L.A. Lakers | 80 | 80 | 37.0 | .548 | .306 | .782 | 6.0 | 3.6 | 1.2 | .6 | 21.1 |
| 1990–91 | L.A. Lakers | 78 | 74 | 38.6 | .492 | .289 | .797 | 4.6 | 3.5 | 1.3 | .4 | 21.4 |
| 1991–92 | L.A. Lakers | 54 | 54 | 39.0 | .447 | .209 | .814 | 5.6 | 4.7 | 1.4 | .4 | 19.9 |
| 1992–93 | L.A. Lakers | 82 | 69 | 28.8 | .447 | .270 | .810 | 3.0 | 3.4 | 1.1 | .3 | 14.9 |
| 1993–94 | L.A. Lakers | 80 | 2 | 20.0 | .406 | .288 | .741 | 2.3 | 1.9 | .6 | .2 | 10.2 |
| Career | 926 | 717 | 32.4 | .521 | .241 | .769 | 5.1 | 3.0 | 1.1 | .7 | 17.6 |
| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1984 | L.A. Lakers | 21 | 0 | 33.7 | .599 | .500 | .609 | 5.0 | 2.7 | 1.3 | .5 | 17.7 |
| 1985† | L.A. Lakers | 19 | 19 | 32.9 | .622 | .500 | .676 | 5.1 | 2.2 | .9 | .7 | 21.5 |
| 1986 | L.A. Lakers | 14 | 14 | 38.5 | .558 | .000 | .681 | 4.6 | 3.2 | 1.1 | .7 | 19.6 |
| 1987† | L.A. Lakers | 18 | 18 | 37.8 | .591 | .000 | .753 | 5.6 | 3.5 | 1.6 | 1.2 | 23.6 |
| 1988† | L.A. Lakers | 24 | 24 | 37.3 | .523 | .111 | .758 | 5.8 | 4.4 | 1.4 | .8 | 21.1 |
| 1989 | L.A. Lakers | 15 | 15 | 40.0 | .567 | .375 | .788 | 6.7 | 2.8 | 1.2 | 1.1 | 24.8 |
| 1990 | L.A. Lakers | 9 | 9 | 40.7 | .497 | .250 | .837 | 5.6 | 3.0 | 1.6 | .3 | 24.2 |
| 1991 | L.A. Lakers | 18 | 18 | 40.7 | .465 | .167 | .736 | 4.1 | 3.9 | 1.1 | .1 | 21.1 |
| 1993 | L.A. Lakers | 5 | 0 | 29.6 | .372 | .250 | .600 | 3.4 | 2.6 | 1.0 | .0 | 13.8 |
| Career | 143 | 117 | 37.0 | .544 | .209 | .727 | 5.2 | 3.2 | 1.2 | .7 | 21.1 |
Per-game averages. † won an NBA championship · * led the league · ‡ NBA record (as marked).
Profile observation date unavailable.
- Height
- 6′ 9″
- Weight
- 225 lb
- Position
- Small forward
- Jersey
- Not listed
- Country
- USA
- School / last affiliation
- Not listed
- Draft year
- 1982
- Draft pick
- Round 1 · Pick 1
Height, Weight, Position, Country, Draft year, Draft pick: blank in the NBA.com profile, filled from the Wikipedia infobox credited in the About section above.
Roster observations
These dates show when our saved NBA directory observations listed this player with a team. They are not signing, trade or contract dates, and this is not a complete career history.
No roster observations are stored for this player. Historical profile details above do not establish a current team assignment.
Profile source
Biographical fields reflect the saved official profile at the check time shown above. Team assignments use the dated directory evidence in Roster observations. Offseason rosters and jersey numbers can change.
View the official NBA player profile ↗