Please Rewind Talent Wall

A. C. Green

A. C. Green built his public career on the basketball court, where reliability became his defining trait. Born on October 4, 1963, in Portland, Oregon, Green attended Oregon State University and finished second in the school’s history in rebounding and fourth in scoring. As a senior, he averaged 19.1 points and 9.2 rebounds and earned All-America Third Team recognition. The Los Angeles Lakers selected Green with the 23rd overall pick in the first round of the 1985 NBA draft. He led the team in rebounding in six of his first eight seasons and helped Los Angeles win consecutive championships in 1987 and 1988. Green was named to the NBA All-Defensive Second Team for the 1988–89 season and started for the Western Conference in the 1990 NBA All-Star Game. His career later took him to the Phoenix Suns and Dallas Mavericks before a return to the Lakers. That second spell in Los Angeles brought a third championship in 2000. Green then played his final NBA season with the Miami Heat. More than any individual scoring or rebounding figure, Green’s career is remembered for extraordinary durability. His run of 1,192 consecutive games began on November 19, 1986, and continued through the final game of his career on April 18, 2001. He missed only eight games across his entire playing career. Green was inducted into the Pac-12 Basketball Hall of Honor in 2012. Although there are currently no A. C. Green movies connected to Please Rewind, his long basketball career offers a clear portrait of a player whose consistency, defense and rebounding kept him valuable across multiple teams and championship runs.