Purvis Short

American basketball player (born 1957)

Purvis Short (born July 2, 1957) is a retired American professional basketball player who played with the Golden State Warriors, Houston Rockets and New Jersey Nets of the National Basketball Association (NBA) from 1978 to 1990. A 6'7" small forward, Short averaged 17.3 points per game over his twelve season career in the NBA. He is currently the Warriors ninth all time leading scorer. After a brilliant career at Jackson State, Short was selected fifth overall in the 1978 NBA draft. Short was affectionately nicknamed "Rainbowman" because of the distinctive rainbow like high arc of his jump shots, something he stated he obtained in high school. He was a role player and sixth man his first few years in the league. Purvis attended Blair Center Hattiesburg High School, where he led his team to the state championship title in 1974. He was allegedly recruited by 150 colleges upon graduation. He followed in his brother's footsteps at Jackson State University, where he became the school's all time leading scorer. He was the NCAA's second leading scorer in 1978, averaged 8.9 rebounds per game, and was named SWAC Player of the Year in 1977 and 1978.

Short was drafted with the fifth overall pick of the 1978 NBA draft by the Golden State Warriors who passed up drafting Larry Bird, who was drafted sixth. In his rookie season, Short scored 795 points for a 10.6 points per game average. The next year, Short had a 17.0 point per game average, with a career high .500 field goal percentage in 62 games. The Warriors traded for Bernard King prior to the 1980–81 season, moving Short to a reserve role. That year he played in 79 games, where he had 391 rebounds, a career high 249 assists, and a 16.1 points per game average. Short started working out with Pete Newell during the off seasons, which Short later claimed help improve his shooting skills significantly. Excluding Wilt Chamberlain's many games of 60 or over points as a Warrior, it was also the third highest total in franchise history, behind Joe Fulks' 63 points in 1949 and Rick Barry's 64 points in 1974. He also scored 57 points against the San Antonio Spurs and 46 against the Washington Bullets that season. He ended up with a 25.5 points per game average in 64 games in 1985–86, finishing fifth in the league in scoring. He missed further time with a pulled thigh muscle in March. Golden State reached the playoffs, an achievement Short later recalled as "the best time" in his Warriors career. At the time of the trade, Short averaged 19.4 points per game in nine seasons with the Warriors and was sixth on the all time scoring list while second in steals. He scored 29 points in a 109 101 win against the Charlotte Hornets on January 11. He could not come to an agreement with the Nets over the term of his contract and retired at season's end. After leaving the NBA in 1990, Short took a year off basketball. In early 1991 he returned to play, this time in Israel for Hapoel Tel Aviv. Short led the team to a successful season that ended in a 3 2 loss to archrivals Maccabi Tel Aviv during the playoffs. He retired at the end of the season, in 1992.

Short took a job with the NBA Players Association's Department of Player Programs, where he was later named director of the program in 1999. He was previously the NBA' Player's Union vice president from 1987–1990. He was inducted to the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame in 1999. He currently lives in Houston.

Season Team League 1991 92 H. Tel Aviv Israel 15 ? .557 .263 .844 4.6 4 ? ? 24.4