Mike Bibby

Bibby with the Miami Heat
Point guard
Personal information
Born	(1978-05-13) May 13, 1978 (age 35) Cherry Hill, New Jersey
Nationality	American
Listed height	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
Listed weight	195 lb (88 kg)
Career information
High school	Shadow Mountain (Phoenix, Arizona)
College	Arizona (1996–1998)
NBA Draft	1998 / Round: 1 / Pick: 2nd overall
Selected by the Vancouver Grizzlies
Pro career	1998–present
Career history
1998–2001	Vancouver Grizzlies
2001–2008	Sacramento Kings
2008–2011	Atlanta Hawks
2011	Washington Wizards
2011	Miami Heat
2011–2012	New York Knicks
Career highlights and awards
NBA All-Rookie First Team (1999) NCAA champion (1997) Consensus NCAA All-American First Team (1998) Pac-10 Player of the Year (1998)
Stats at NBA.com
Medals Men’s basketball Competitor for  United States FIBA Americas Championship Gold 2003 San Juan Team competition

Michael "Mike" Bibby (born May 13, 1978) is an American professional basketball point guard who most recently played with the New York Knicks of the National Basketball Association. He is 6'2" and he attended Shadow Mountain High School in Phoenix, Arizona. He played collegiately at the University of Arizona. In 1998, he was drafted by the Vancouver Grizzlies. He has played for that team as well as the Sacramento Kings, Atlanta Hawks, Washington Wizards and Miami Heat. He is the son of former NBA point guard and present Memphis Grizzlies assistant coach Henry Bibby.

College career [edit]

As a freshman at Arizona, Bibby helped lead the Wildcats to the NCAA championship in 1997,^[1] scoring 20 points in the title game versus the University of Kentucky. Bibby and his father are one of three father-son duos to each win an NCAA basketball championship.^{[note 1][2]} Following his sophomore season, Bibby entered the 1998 NBA Draft and was selected by the Vancouver Grizzlies with the second overall pick.^[3]

NBA career [edit]

Vancouver Grizzlies (1998–2001) [edit]

In his first season with the Grizzlies, Bibby averaged 13.2 points, 6.5 assists and 2.7 rebounds per game earning NBA All-Rookie honors during the season which was abbreviated by a labor dispute.^[4] He improved those numbers in his next two seasons with the team, averaging 14.5 and 15.9 points per game,^[5] but the Grizzlies continued to struggle. On June 27, 2001, just after the Grizzlies had re-located to Memphis, Bibby and Brent Price were traded to the Sacramento Kings for Jason Williams and Nick Anderson.^[6]

Sacramento Kings (2001–2008) [edit]

In his first season with Sacramento, Bibby formed one of the league's best duos alongside Chris Webber. The two of them guided the Kings to a NBA best-record at 61–21, and a Pacific division title over the Los Angeles Lakers, who at the time were the two-time defending NBA Champions. In the first two rounds of the playoffs, they easily defeated the Dallas Mavericks and Utah Jazz, setting up a Western Conference Finals match-up against Lakers.^[7] The 2002 Western Conference Final between the Sacramento Kings and Los Angeles Lakers was one of the most memorable in league history. The popular (though small-market) Kings led the two-time defending NBA champion Lakers three games to two heading into Game 6 at Staples Center, a game which would prove to be the most infamous of the series. The game, which the Lakers won by four, featured several disputable calls, including a late game no-call foul on Bibby—after he was bleeding from being elbowed in the nose by Kobe Bryant. This game was the epitome of the major issue in the series. Both teams complained about the officiating at different points in the series (the Kings in Game 6 and the Lakers in Games 2 and 5).

Former NBA referee Tim Donaghy filed in court papers in 2008 said that Game 6 was fixed by the NBA. NBA Commissioner David Stern denied Donaghy's allegations. Lawrence Pedowitz, who led a review of the league's officiating following the outbreak of the scandal, concluded that while Game 6 was poorly officiated, no concrete evidence existed of it having been fixed.^[8][9] The Lakers won the series in game 7, and would go on to win their third NBA championship in a row.

Bibby's performance during the series, perhaps most memorably his Game 5 game winner,^[10] earned him a reputation as a clutch performer, and as a reward, he was granted a 7-year, $80.5 million contract.^[11]

During the 2002–03 season, Bibby was hampered by injuries, playing in only 55 games, but still averaged a respectable 15.9 points per game with the Kings going 59–23 and securing second seed in the West, as well as a second-consecutive division title.^[12] They faced the Utah Jazz and Dallas Mavericks in the first two rounds respectively for the second consecutive playoffs, but after defeating the Jazz soundly 4–1, lost to the Mavericks in seven games. The Kings had lost Chris Webber to season-ending injury in game 2 against Dallas, but still forced the series to seven games.

For the 2003–04 season, Bibby posted some of the best numbers of his career, scoring 1,506 points (18.4 per game) and helping the Kings reach the playoffs.^[13] Bibby helped to lift the Kings over the Dallas Mavericks in the first round, scoring a career playoff-best 36 points in the clinching Game 5.^[14] They would go on to lose in the second round for the second consecutive year, this time to the Minnesota Timberwolves 4–3.

The next two seasons would see Sacramento taking yet another step backwards, losing in the opening round of the playoffs in both years. During the 2005–06 season, Bibby started all 82 games, and averaged a career-high 21.1 points per game. They would lose in the first round of the playoffs to the defending-champion Spurs 4–2, in what remains Sacramento's most recent playoff appearance.

Atlanta Hawks (2008–2011) [edit]

Bibby with the Hawks in the 2008 NBA Playoffs

On February 16, 2008 the Atlanta Hawks acquired Bibby in exchange for Shelden Williams, Anthony Johnson, Tyronn Lue, Lorenzen Wright and a 2008 second-round draft pick.^[15][16]

Even though he battled through thumb, heel and quad injuries, and was joining a Hawks team that was 22–28, Bibby put up 14.1 points and 6.6 assists per game while working in an unfamiliar offense to lead the Hawks to their first playoff berth in almost ten years. Despite being the eighth seed and expected to be swept out of the first round, Bibby helped the Hawks force an improbable seven-game series against Boston, who went on to win the NBA Championship.

The next season, Bibby averaged 15 points, 5 assists and over one steal per game to help the Hawks win their first playoff series since 1999 against the Milwauke Bucks. The Hawks would go on to lose in the next round against the eventual Eastern Conference Champion Orlando Magic. Bibby was also selected as a participant for the Three Point Shooting Competition. On July 7, 2009, Bibby and the Hawks agreed to a three-year deal worth about $18 million.

Washington Wizards (2011) [edit]

On February 23, 2011, Atlanta traded Bibby to the Washington Wizards, along with Jordan Crawford, Maurice Evans and a first round pick in the 2011 draft, in exchange for Kirk Hinrich and Hilton Armstrong.^[17] On February 28, 2011, after playing two games for Washington, Bibby agreed to a contract buyout.^[18][19] He gave up his following year's entire $6.2 million salary in hopes of joining a contending team, such as the Los Angeles Lakers, Boston Celtics, San Antonio Spurs or Miami Heat, all of whom expressed interest in Bibby.^[20]

Miami Heat (2011) [edit]

On March 2, 2011, the Miami Heat signed Bibby after he cleared waivers.^[21] He appeared in the first NBA Finals appearance of his career, playing against the Dallas Mavericks, who defeated the Heat 4 games to 2 to capture their first NBA title.

New York Knicks (2011–2012) [edit]

Bibby with the Knicks

On December 11, 2011, Bibby signed a one year contract with the New York Knicks, the team that drafted his father, Henry.^[22]

Personal life [edit]

Bibby is the son of Henry Bibby, a former NBA and UCLA player, former USC basketball coach and current Memphis Grizzlies assistant coach. Mike's mother, Virginia, is a native of Trinidad and Tobago.^[23] Mike Bibby is the nephew of former Major League Baseball player Jim Bibby and the brother-in-law of former Miami Heat teammate Eddie House, who was also his Sacramento Kings teammate during the 2004–05 season.^[24] Mike also has two cousins in sports: Real Salt Lake forward Robbie Findley and wide receiver Shaun McDonald, formerly of the NFL's Pittsburgh Steelers.^[4] Bibby and his wife, Darcy, have four children.^[25]

NBA career statistics [edit]

Regular season [edit]

Playoffs [edit]

See also [edit]

• List of National Basketball Association players with 1000 games played
• List of National Basketball Association career assists leaders
• List of National Basketball Association career 3-point scoring leaders
• List of National Basketball Association career playoff 3-point scoring leaders

Notes [edit]

References [edit]

External links [edit]

• Player profile @ NBA.com
• Arizona Wildcats bio (archived from 1997)
• Official website
• Statistics @ Basketball-reference.com
• Mike Bibby at the Internet Movie Database