Topic: Antonio McDyess

Antonio Keithflen McDyess (born September 7, 1974, in Quitman, Mississippi) is an American professional basketball player. McDyess is listed at 6'9" (2.06 m), 245 lb. (111 kg) and is a power forward/center. In 2009 he signed a 3-year contract with the San Antonio Spurs.

As a prep, McDyess was one of the top 30 players nationally, and made the Magic Johnson Roundball Classic. McDyess played college basketball at the University of Alabama. In 1995 he was drafted by the Los Angeles Clippers as the second pick in the NBA Draft and was traded to the Denver Nuggets before the season began for fellow power forward Rodney Rogers and a mid-first round pick that turned out to be Brent Barry. McDyess's explosive leaping and power dunking ability allowed him to average 17.8 points and 8.8 rebounds per game over his first six seasons. In 1997, before his third year, McDyess was traded to the Phoenix Suns. He returned to the Nuggets as a free agent the next season. However, his return was not without controversy. During the NBA lockout in the winter of 1999, he was negotiating with both the Suns and Nuggets. He and the Nuggets had a verbal agreement for Antonio to return to Denver. However, he had second thoughts, and considered re-signing with the Suns. According to Sports Illustrated, McDyess invited Jason Kidd, Rex Chapman, and George McCloud to Denver to talk things over. While attending an Avalanche hockey game at McNichols Arena, Dan Issel told security to not let the three Suns players into the building. Without any further consultation, he re-signed with the Nuggets. In 1999, McDyess became just the third Nugget to average at least 20 points and 10 rebounds for a season, after Dan Issel in 1977–78 and George McGinnis in 1978–79. Considered an up and comer, the quiet McDyess was selected to be a part of the gold-winning U.S. Olympic men's basketball team at the 2000 Summer Olympics (as a replacement for injured Tim Duncan).

Early in the 2001–2002 season McDyess suffered a serious knee injury, a Patellar tendon rupture, that required season-ending surgery. McDyess struggled to play through the injury, re-aggravating it several times and going through additional surgeries over the next few seasons. He was sidelined due to injury for the remainder of the 2001–2002 season as well as the entire 2002–2003 NBA season. McDyess was traded to the Knicks on June 26, 2002 in exchange for Marcus Camby, Mark Jackson and the draft rights to Nenê, the seventh overall pick in the 2002 NBA Draft. McDyess began the 2002–2003 season as a highly anticipated addition to the New York Knicks. But on October 8, 2002, with 1 minute 55 seconds left in an exhibition game against Phoenix, McDyess reinjured the knee while dunking a rebound. He would undergo another surgery four days later. In the 2003-2004 season, McDyess was traded to the Phoenix Suns after just 18 games with the Knicks in an eight-player deal that brought Stephon Marbury to New York. He remained healthy while in Phoenix for the remainder of the 2003–2004 season and became an unrestricted free agent in the summer of 2004. In the 2004 offseason, his knee was declared healthy and the Detroit Pistons signed him for the full mid-level exception.