Biography
Michael DeAngelo Dickerson (born June 25, 1975(1975-06-25)) is an American professional basketball player who was a member of the Houston Rockets and Vancouver/Memphis Grizzlies of the NBA. He is a cousin of former NBA guard David Wesley. The 6 ft 5 in shooting guard was born in Greenville, South Carolina raised in Kent, Washington and Federal Way, Washington. He played basketball at Decatur High School in his sophomore season followed by Federal Way High School in his junior and senior years. He went to college at the University of Arizona, where he won the 1997 national championship on a team with Mike Bibby, Jason Terry, and Miles Simon. He was selected as the 14th overall pick by the Rockets in the 1998 NBA Draft and played one full (lockout-shortened) season for them before being relunctantly traded in 1999 to the Vancouver Grizzlies for Vancouver's draft pick, Steve Francis, after Francis demanded a trade because he did not want to play for a Canadian team. In the lockout-shortened 1999 NBA season, Dickerson led the league in games played (50), was sixth in three-point field goal percentage (.433), and was named to the All-Rookie 2nd Team. He played all 82 games for the Grizzlies in 1999–2000, averaging 18.2 points, 3.4 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.41 steals per game. His scoring average fell to 16.3 points per game the following season. After the Grizzlies relocated to Memphis, Tennessee, he played in just four and six games over the next two seasons due to injuries. He was released by the Grizzlies on October 27, 2003 and prematurely retired due to severe hamstring and groin injuries from which he was unable to fully recover. In 2008 he attempted a comeback. He was invited to training camp by the Cleveland Cavaliers, but was waived on October 8, 2008. He holds career NBA averages of 15.4 points, 2.9 rebounds and 2.6 assists per game in 212 contests. During his retirement he traveled to India and Tibet. In 2009 he returned to basketball as a member of Faymasa Palenica in Spain.