The NBA Careers of Dell Curry and Bimbo Coles
by Chris Coleman, TechSideline.com

The most famous Virginia Tech alums that went on to play in the NBA are Bimbo Coles and Dell Curry, the top two scorers in Hokie history. They both played in the NBA for a long time, and both hold some impressive marks for their respective franchises.

Curry spent most of his career with the Charlotte Hornets. After being drafted by the Utah Jazz, and then playing in Cleveland for one season, he spent the next 10 years of his career in Charlotte. They were the best years of his career. The 1988-89 season was the first season of the new Charlotte franchise, and Curry averaged 11.9 points per game for them that season.

Curry played his final season in Charlotte in 1997-98. He was the last remaining member of the original Hornets expansion team. He moved on to Milwaukee, where he played one season, and finished out the final three years of his career in Toronto. He retired after the 2001-02 season.

Curry will go down in history as one of the top players in Hornets history, and one of the best three-point shooters in the NBA. Curry’s 9,389 points are a franchise record for the Hornets. He won the NBA Sixth Man Award in 1993-94 after averaging 16.3 points per game, despite not starting a single game during the season. He hit 40.2% of his 3-point attempts during his career, which is 17th all-time. He made 1,245 3-pointers during his career, which is 14th all-time.

Curry averaged 11.7 points per game during his career, despite starting just 99 games over the course of 16 seasons.

Bimbo Coles also enjoyed a nice career in the NBA. He played 14 seasons and was a member of six different franchises. Coles started his career with the Miami Heat in 1990, and he ended it with the Heat in 2004. Coles played in 852 career games in the NBA, starting 354 of them.

Coles averaged 7.8 points per game during his career and dished out a total of 3,313 assists. He also had 735 steals and averaged just 1.5 turnovers per game. His assist ratio (the percentage of a player’s possessions that ends in an assist) of 29.41 is 66th all-time in the NBA since 1978.

Coles ranks first in Heat history in assists with 1,946. He is also fourth in steals with 455, and fifth in points with 4,003.

Neither Curry nor Coles became stars in the NBA, but they were solid players who could make major contributions for their teams, as you can tell from the longevity of their careers. They also pocketed a nice sum of money from their careers in the NBA.

Note that Curry’s 1987 salary was not listed, so his total income and average income are based upon the other 15 years of his career, not including 1987.

In 1998, Dell Curry was the third highest paid player on the Charlotte Hornets roster. He made over $3.6 million, and only Vlade Divac and Glen Rice made more money that season.

By 2002, Curry was in his 16th season in the NBA, and he was making $2.1 million with the Toronto Raptors, which sounds like a lot (and it is). However, only seven of the 18 players on Toronto’s roster that season made less money than Curry.

Some of those salaries are just insane, especially when you consider the amount of return. Antonio Davis was a nice player who averaged nearly a double-double in 2001-2002, but he had never been an impact player up to that point in his career. And how about Michael Bradely, who scored more than 67 points in a season just once during his career, yet made $1.1 million in 2001-02?

Of course, salary caps are set by how long a player has been in the league. If a player has been in the league a certain amount of time, there is a minimum salary that he has to be paid. For example, rookies in the NBA during the 2005-06 season have to be paid a base salary of at least $398,762. Not bad, for a guy who might never see any playing time. During the 2005-06 season, players with 10 or more years of experience have to be paid at least $1,138,500.