Mike Mitchell

Who was Mike Mitchell?

Michael Anthony Mitchell was an American professional basketball player in the NBA over eleven seasons from 1978 to 1990.

Mitchell, who was born in Atlanta, played collegiately at Auburn University. While at Auburn, Mitchell was a four-time All-SEC selection, and was named a second-team All-American in his 1977-78 season. He also became Auburn's all-time leader in scoring and rebounding, after leaving for the NBA. He remains the all-time leading rebounder, and is second in all-time scoring only to Chuck Person. Mitchell's number 30 jersey was retired on January 19th, 2013 at the Auburn Arena.

Mitchell was drafted with the 15th pick in the First round of the 1978 NBA Draft by the Cleveland Cavaliers. He started his NBA career with the Cavaliers, but played most of his career for the San Antonio Spurs. Mitchell was a 6'7" and 215 lb. small forward with career averages of 19.8 points per game, 5.6 rebounds per game, 1.3 assists per game, a .493 field goal percentage, and a .779 free throw percentage.

Mitchell was an All-Star in 1981, and was in the top ten in scoring four times and top ten in minutes played three times. Among other career highlights, he led the Spurs in scoring for the 1984–1985 season, which marked the only season in which George Gervin played on the Spurs and did not lead the team in scoring. Mitchell averaged 22.2 points per game to Gervin's 21.2 per game.