Jamal Mashburn Sr. (born November 29, 1972) is an American entrepreneur and former professional basketball player. Nicknamed the "Monster Mash", Mashburn was a prolific scorer as a small forward in his 12 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA), with a career scoring average of 19.1 points per game. Early life and college career Mashburn was born to Bobby, a former heavyweight boxer and New York City police officer, and Helen Mashburn. His father retired in 1974 and then lived separately from Helen and his son Jamal, divorcing after about 10 years. Mashburn learned the game at Rucker Park, just a block away from where he grew up. After attending Cardinal Hayes High School in The Bronx, Mashburn had a very successful basketball career in college, playing for the University of Kentucky. He was the fourth-leading career scorer for the Wildcats and a consensus First Team All-American by his junior year, in which the Wildcats made it to the Final Four of the NCAA Tournament. Following the tournament he declared for the 1993 NBA draft, with Mashburn being selected by the Dallas Mavericks with the fourth pick. Professional career Dallas Mavericks (1993–1997) The Mavericks were a lottery team led by veteran point guard Derek Harper and second year guard Jim Jackson, and Mashburn quickly shared the reins of the offense, averaging 19.2 points a game in 73 starts and earning a selection to the first NBA All-Rookie Team. Despite this the Mavericks could only manage 13 wins for the 1993–94 season. In the off-season, the team drafted star point guard Jason Kidd, teaming up with Jackson and Mashburn to become known collectively as "The Three J's." The Mavericks would improve to 36 wins in the 1994–95 season, as Mashburn averaged 24.1 points a game (sixth in the league), while placing fifth in the league in free throw makes (447), seventh in made field goals (683), and fifth in total points (1,926). The season also featured a 50-point performance by Mashburn on November 12 against the Chicago Bulls in Chicago. This made him the fourth-youngest player to score 50 points in an NBA game (Brandon Jennings is the youngest). He also broke many franchise records and blossomed into one of the best scoring forwards in the league. Despite the team's improvement they were unable to make the playoffs, and injuries would force Mashburn to only play 18 games in the 1995–96