Alex English (born January 5, 1954 in Columbia, South Carolina) is a retired American basketball player who played at the forward position. He played at the University of South Carolina and most notably with the National Basketball Association's Denver Nuggets. He averaged 21.5 points and 5.5 rebounds per game during his NBA career. He was named to seven NBA All-Star teams, his #2 jersey was retired by the Nuggets, and he was elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame.
English scored more points in the decade of the 1980s than any other NBA player.
English spent the majority of his career with the Nuggets, but also played briefly with the Milwaukee Bucks, Indiana Pacers and Dallas Mavericks. He was drafted in 1976 by the Bucks, and was part of a rookie class that includes fellow Hall of Famer Robert Parish.
Most of his time in Milwaukee was spent as a back-up. However, it wasn't until he was sent to Indiana in 1978 that he began his reputation as a scorer, averaging 16 points there before being traded to Denver.
English was traded to the Nuggets midway through the 1979-80 season for George McGinnis, a former Pacers star from their ABA days. It turned out to be one of the most one-sided trades in NBA history; McGinnis was out of the league by 1982.
English's career ended in 1991, with a short stint for the Dallas Mavericks, where he once again played back-up, averaging ten points a game.
English's style has been described as smooth and elegant. Not possessing the physical strength of contemporaries such as Dominique Wilkins and James Worthy, English instead relied on technique and finesse. These skills allowed him to place 11th on the NBA all-time scoring list as of July 2005 with 25,613 points. He was the first player ever to string together eight straight 2,000-point seasons. He has the distinction of being the top scorer in the 1980s.
Since June 2004, English has been the director of player development and an assistant coach for the Toronto Raptors. He joined the Raptors after spending the previous two season as an assistant coach with the Philadelphia 76ers and Atlanta Hawks.
Alex English has dabbled in acting. His debut came in the 1987 motion picture Amazing Grace and Chuck, playing a fictitious Boston Celtics star. He has also had roles in the television series Midnight Caller 1989 and played the head coach of the Cleveland Cavaliers in Eddie (1996). To date, his last role was as "The Premiere" 1997's The Definite Maybe.
The Sacramento based screamo band Dance Gavin Dance released a song titled "Alex English" on their Myspace in July 2008. The song is off of their untitled album due to release in August of 2008.
