Travis Best(I)

Travis Best first garnered national attention during his senior at Springfield Central High School in Springfield, Massachusetts - the birthplace of basketball and the location of the Naismith Basketball Hall Of Fame. He scored 81 points in a game, and was named a high school McDonald's All-America. Ironically, the annual McDonald's All-American High School Basketball Game was scheduled to play in Springfield that year, so Travis got to play in the ultimate high school basketball showcase in his hometown. Playing for the east, he scored 11 points in the game, including a game-tying three-pointer down the stretch, although his squad wound up on the losing end. During his high school career, Best won the John Lahovich Award (best player in Massachusetts) three times. Highly recruited, he wound up accepting an offer to go to Atlanta and attend Georgia Institute of Technology. Best's four years at Georgia Tech under coach Bobby Cremins were very productive, as he ended his collegiate career with career averages of 16.6 points per game (2,057 points in total), 5.6 assists per game, 3.1 steals per game and 1.8 steals per game. Three times, he was named to the first-team all-Atlantic Coast Conference squad. As a senior, he was also awarded honorable mention All-America honors. The Indiana Pacers made him their first-round selection in the 1995 NBA draft (#23 overall), and he has forged a career as a reliable substitute and occasional starting point guard ever since. As of the end of the 2002-2003 season, in six-and-a-half seasons with Indiana, half of one season with the Chicago Bulls and one season with the Miami Heat, Travis Best has amassed 4,691 points and 2,189 assists. His best season was his final season with the Indiana Pacers, 2000-2001, when he averaged career-highs in points (918 - 11.9 per game), assists (473 - 6.1 per game), rebounds (222 - 2.9 per game) and steals (110 - 1.4 per game.) His NBA head coaches have included Larry Bird, Isiah Thomas and Pat Riley.