CHARLIE WARD | Position: Guard Born: 10/12/70, Tallahassee, Florida College: Florida State Height: 6' 2" Weight: 190 lbs. Stats |
Background: Charlie Ward is quite possibly the best college football player ever to play in the NBA. A quarterback at Florida State, he led the Seminoles to a national title in 1993 and was showered with awards, including the Heisman Trophy, the Sullivan Award, and the Maxwell Award. He was named College Football Player of the Year by The Sporting News.
The 6-foot-2 Ward also played basketball for four years at Florida State, teaming with future NBA players Doug Edwards, Sam Cassell, and Bob Sura. In January of his senior year he joined the school's basketball squad, and he played his first game of the season only 15 days after winning MVP honors as a quarterback at the Orange Bowl. In 16 starts as the Seminoles' point guard he averaged college career highs of 10.5 points and 4.9 assists.
Ward chose pro basketball over pro football and was taken by the New York Knicks in the first round of the 1994 NBA Draft. He appeared in only 10 games for the Knicks in his rookie season.
Transactions: Selected by the New York Knicks in the first round (26th pick overall) of the 1994 NBA Draft.
1994-95: Ward was the 26th player taken in the 1994 NBA Draft, selected by the New York Knicks with the second of two first-round picks. He played for Jacksonville of the United States Basketball League during the summer before joining the Knicks for the preseason. During the regular season he appeared in only 10 contests and averaged 1.6 points in 4.4 minutes per game. Ward connected on 4 of 19 attempts from the field and was 1-for-10 from three-point range. He spent two stints on the injured list, missing the first half of December with a sprained right wrist and sitting out for a month with a sore left shoulder.
Ward was not a member of the club's postseason roster as the Knicks advanced to the conference semifinals before falling to the Indiana Pacers in seven games.
| Sea. | Team | G | Min. | FG | 3Pt. | FT | Reb. | Ast. | Stl. | Blk. | Tot. | PG |
| 94-95 | New York | 10 | 44 | .211 | .100 | .700 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 16 | 1.6 |
| 95-96 | New York | 62 | 787 | .399 | .333 | .685 | 102 | 132 | 54 | 6 | 244 | 3.9 |
| Career Totals: | 72 | 831 | .384 | .312 | .688 | 108 | 136 | 56 | 6 | 260 | 3.6 | |
| 1996 Playoffs: | 7 | 92 | .481 | .250 | .429 | 9 | 17 | 11 | 0 | 32 | 4.6 | |
| Playoff Totals: | 7 | 92 | .481 | .250 | .429 | 9 | 17 | 11 | 0 | 32 | 4.6 | |
| All-Star Totals: | 0 | 0 | --- | --- | --- | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | |