Sedale Threatt

Sedale Eugene Threatt (born September 10, 1961) is a retired American basketball player in the NBA. Born in Atlanta, Georgia, Threatt played college basketball at the West Virginia Institute of Technology from 1979 to 1983. Threatt, who has the distinction of being the last sixth round pick to play in the NBA (as the NBA draft had later been shortened to two rounds), played in the NBA from 1983–1997 and followed up with several additional seasons overseas.

Professional career

Threatt was drafted by the Philadelphia 76ers in the sixth round of the 1983 NBA draft. He played for four years for the 76ers until he was signed by the Chicago Bulls in 1987, then in 1988 he was traded to the Seattle SuperSonics for Sam Vincent. He stayed in Seattle for four years before being traded to the Los Angeles Lakers on October 2, 1991 in exchange for three second round draft picks.

Threatt was expected to play a backup role to Magic Johnson. However, when Johnson retired due to his infection with HIV, Threatt became the starting point guard. Threatt's ability to steal the ball from unaware opponents earned him the nickname "The Thief" from the Lakers commentating duo of Chick Hearn and Stu Lantz. Threatt led the Lakers in assists, steals and minutes played each of his first two seasons with the Lakers. In 1992-93 he became the second player in Lakers franchise history (after Johnson) to lead the Lakers in scoring (15.1), assists (6.9) and steals (1.7).