Dirk Minniefield

Dirk DeWayne Minniefield (born January 17, 1961) is an American former professional basketball player. While at Lafayette High School in Lexington, he was named the 1979 Kentucky Mr. Basketball, an honor given to the top high school player in the state of Kentucky. In addition to "Mr. Basketball", he was also named a McDonald's and Parade High School All-American. Minniefield played his college ball at the University of Kentucky (UK), where he became a member of the 1,000 point club. In 1983, he was drafted in the second round (33rd overall) by the National Basketball Association's Dallas Mavericks. The , 180 lb (82 kg) guard played three seasons in NBA, making stops with the Cleveland Cavaliers, Houston Rockets, Golden State Warriors, and Boston Celtics.

Early life

Minniefield began regularly using marijuana at age 14. Minniefield, who has been sober since the early 1990s, told a group of top high school prospects in 2007 that "My younger kids have never seen me take a drink. They don't know the daddy the older kids know. They know a totally different guy." (Minniefield was a father of three children by the time he graduated from high school, and has two children from his current marriage

As fate would have it, he had the ball late in the game, with UK clinging to a narrow lead. He went into the lane and threw up a tentative shot that UofL center Charles Jones blocked. The Cardinals went on to force overtime and then dominated the extra period, winning 80–68. He would later say about the incident, "It was sad. Because that was the moment. You only have certain moments in your life. You have to seize your moment. I missed my moment. I don't know if the marijuana had an impact. I'm not a doctor. Being a player, I'm going to say that (it did)... Any other time, I would dunk that ball. I know I was depressed about it for probably the first two years after college. It played a part in my drug use, the depression. Being from Lexington, I had to listen (to complaining fans) more than anybody else would."

Career statistics

NBA Source

Regular season

Playoffs