Retired Players I Loved To Watch #1 (I own his #9 Laker jersey in homecourt gold, but it's too big on me.)

Nick Van Exel

Why I loved watching him play:

• He had a fly nickname -- "Nick the Quick"
• He played with Shaq, Kobe, Eddie Jones, and Cedric Ceballos on those fun (although under-achieving) Laker teams of the early-to-mid 1990s.
• He shoved a referee over the scorer's table.
  
• He was capable of dropping 20 points and 10 assists at any time.
  
• He liked to push the ball up court whenever possible, always maintaining a fast tempo.
• He had a bad attitude, reportedly difficult to deal with, and had a general distaste for authority. And yes, I consider those good things.
  
• During pre-draft workouts in Seattle, he purposely wore a Duke hat to annoy coach George Karl (a North Carolina alum).
  
• He threw a lot of alley-oops dunks to Antonio McDyess in Denver.
  
• One of the more underrated point guards of his time.
  
• Had that amazing playoff run in 2003 as a member of the Dallas Mavericks where he practically never missed.
  
• He wore #19 as a member of the Portland Trailblazers, my favorite number.
• He's fearless in the clutch.
  

Van Exel's career statistics