Mario West: The Huntsville native who closed his NBA run in NJ
The undrafted Georgia Tech guard logged four NBA seasons before finishing his career in New Jersey.
Mario West went undrafted out of Georgia Tech in 2007. Four years later, the Huntsville, Alabama native played his final NBA season for the New Jersey Nets, closing a professional career that began with an Atlanta Hawks contract no scout guaranteed him.
West signed with New Jersey ahead of the 2010-11 campaign. He was one of dozens of roster additions during a chaotic stretch for the franchise, which still operated under its New Jersey moniker before relocating to Brooklyn in 2012. Teams routinely cycle through late-career veterans on expiring deals during rebuilding windows. West fit that exact profile.
His numbers in New Jersey were modest. Over his single season with the club, West averaged 3.7 points, 1.8 rebounds, 1.7 assists and 1.2 steals per game, according to Basketball Reference. Those figures represented a slight bump in scoring compared to his earlier output in Atlanta, where he spent his first three professional seasons primarily as a perimeter defender.
The Nets organization has historically churned through talent from every U.S. state. Players from Alabama are rare on their all-time roster, making West a statistical outlier for the franchise regardless of his limited tenure. Douglas County High School produced a player who reached the league without a draft pick, logged four total NBA seasons and moved on after 2011.
