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Friday July 29, 2011 12:56 PM
Rockets Add Greg Buckner To Coaching Staff
Buckner joins club after successful 10-year playing career in NBA
Greg Buckner was known as an outstanding defensive player during his 10-year NBA career.
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Rockets.com staff
HOUSTON - Houston Rockets Head Coach Kevin McHale announced Friday that he has officially added Greg Buckner as a player development coach on his staff.
“Greg is going to handle player development for us,” said McHale. “He came up the hard way, really worked his way around the league. Greg is just a really good, blue-collar guy who understands the league. We are excited to have him on the staff.”
Buckner joins the Rockets after a successful 10-year playing career in the NBA. Selected by Dallas in the second round (53rd overall) of the 1998 NBA Draft, Buckner averaged 5.0 points, 2.0 rebounds and 1.3 assists in 570 career games (117 starts) with the Mavericks, Philadelphia 76ers, Denver Nuggets, Minnesota Timberwolves and Memphis Grizzlies.
Buckner was also regarded as an outstanding defensive player over his career. His teams reached the postseason in six of his 10 NBA seasons. Overall, he averaged 4.1 points and 2.6 rebounds in 38 career playoff games.
As a collegian, Buckner was regarded as one of the top players in Clemson history. He was the first Tiger to ever lead his team in scoring four straight years (1994-98) and guided Clemson to three NCAA Tournament bids.
Buckner started all 122 games of his career and never missed a contest, setting the school record for consecutive games started. He finished with 1,754 career points and was the third Tiger player to log career totals of at least 1,000 points, 500 rebounds and 200 assists.
Inducted into the Clemson Athletic Hall of Fame in 2005, Buckner remains the lone Tiger to ever win the ACC Rookie of the Year award (1994-95).
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