Alex English
Alex English’s mother must be modern-day prophet. She named her baby boy for Alexander the Great because she felt he would become a great man. She was right. Her son has earned fame, not only as a basketball player, but also as an actor and a humanitarian. Born in Columbia on January 8, 1954, English spent the first few years of his life living with his grandmother. She was a laundry presser who, at times, took care of a many as 11 of her 13 grandchildren. Alex attended Hand Junior High School and Dreher High School. English was a starter in 78 high school basketball games and averaged 31 points per game in his junior year. More than 100 colleges recruited him, but he decided to attend the University of South Carolina. He holds the career scoring record of 1,972 points for the University of South Carolina basketball team. He was named an Independent All-American several times. After graduating from Carolina in 1976 Alex was drafted by the Milwaukee Bucks in 1976 and spent two years with the club, eventually becoming their all-time leading scorer. During his illustrious 15-year NBA career, he also had stints with the Indiana Pacers (1978-80), and the Dallas Mavericks (1990-91), but spent most of his career with the Denver Nuggets (1981-1991) becoming their all-time leading scorer. During that period he also served as a player representative, Vice President and President of the NBA Players Association. Alex’s success extends well beyond the court. After retiring from his playing career, Alex was appointed Director of Player Programs for the National Basketball Players Association (NBPA). While serving in this capacity he successfully revised and managed several league-wide player programs and served as liaison between the NBPA and the Retired Players Association. During the 1995 NBA/NBPA labor negotiations, Alex was appointed interim Executive Director of the NBPA. Alex was introduced into the Naismith Hall of Fame in 1997, his first year of eligibility. Alex left the NBPA to pursue his personal interest in sports marketing. In 1996 he co-founded Flick2 Ltd, a sports marketing company that represented current and retired professional basketball players for contract negotiation and marketing and also coordinated sports events. Alex also served as Chairman of the Board and Vice President of Hooplife.com, a web-based basketball information service. In addition to his work in the sports industry, Alex is also an accomplished author and poet and starred in the major motion picture, Amazing Grace and Chuck. During the 1997-98 NBA season Alex could be seen on FOX Sports Network and FOX Rocky Mountain as the color commentator for the Denver Nuggets. He has served as co-host of This Week in the NBA, which airs on CNNSI. Most recently he has worked as a basketball analyst for NBA.com TV.