James King
Greater New Orleans Sports Hall of Fame
Basketball Player, 1957-68
Clark HS/Oklahoma State/1968 Olympics
Inducted: 2005
James King prepped at Clark High School (1959-62) and led his team to two city championships and one trip to the state finals. He led his teams to a 56-11 record and averaged in double figures in points each year, including 19 points per game as a senior.
From 1962-65, King was an all-conference performer at Oklahoma State University while playing for legendary coach Henry Iba, who called King “one of the highest-class players we ever had at Oklahoma State.”
Known for his competitive spirit and off-court style, King is one of 15 Cowboys to earn three all-conference honors, notching spots on the 1963 and 1964 Second-Team All-Big Eight team as a sophomore and junior before earning a first-team nod in 1965 with averages of 12.1 points and 10.6 rebounds. King helped lead the Cowboys to the Big Eight Conference Title and an NCAA Elite Eight appearance as a senior.
After being named to the National Association of Basketball Coaches Second-Team All-District Team in 1964, he earned First Team All-District Team honors in 1965 for his play, participating in the NABC East-West All-Star the same year.
The 6-foot-5 forward finished as one of the greatest rebounders to step foot in Stillwater, hauling down 200+ rebounds in three seasons with the Cowboys to rank second all-time at OSU in career rebounds per game at 9.9 and ninth in career rebounds with 761.
King’s grind-out play caught the attention at the next level, being selected in the fourth round by the Detroit Pistons with pick No. 32 of the 1965 draft. But, he opted for a career in the AAU Leagues, playing for the Akron Goodyear Wingfoots of the National Alliance of Basketball Leagues (NABL).
It took King no time to shine in Akron, being named the National AAU Championship Most Valuable Player as a rookie in 1966-67 after leading the Wingfoots in rebounding and taking home AAU All-America honors en route to the league title. As the winner of the NABL title, the Wingfoots represented the United States in the FIBA Intercontinental Club in Italy. Akron defeated Corinthians, the South American champion from Sau Paulo, Brazil; and Ignis Varese, from Italy, to win that championship as well.
King achieved Olympic gold with the United States at the Mexico City 1968 Olympic Games alongside Basketball Hall of Famers Spencer Haywood and JoJo White, among others.
