NBA Draft: First Round Picks From Auburn Since 1978
Mike Mitchell
Mike Mitchell played for Auburn from 1974-78 and put up over 2,000 points and grabbed almost 1,000 boards while on The Plains. He was named an All-American after his senior season when he averaged 24.8 points a game and 8.9 rebounds a game.
Despite the fact he was one of the first superstars in basketball at Auburn, he never really had the talent around him to take Auburn basketball to the next level, but he set the path for the next wave.
Mitchell was selected with the 15th overall pick in the 1978 NBA Draft by the Cleveland Cavilers. He spent four seasons with the Cavs and made the All Star team in 1980-81 when he average 24.5 points and 6.1 rebounds per game. He average 20 or more points per game for seven straight seasons from 1979-1986.
The following season he was traded to the San Antonio Spurs where he would spend his final seven seasons in the NBA. He scored almost 10,000 points with the Spurs (9,799) in 488 games. In his 11 year career he scored a total of 15,016 points and had 4,246 rebounds. For his career he average 19.8 points and 5.6 rebounds per game.
In his first two years with the Spurs they made it to the Western Conference Finals but were eliminated each time by the Los Angeles Lakers. That would be a constant theme for Mitchell and those Spurs teams throughout the 80’s.
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