Carey Scurry obit

Former Jazz, Knicks Forward Dies at 63

A Brooklyn native who spent four seasons in the NBA and many more abroad, died according to his brother, also a former professional basketball player

 He was not on the list.

Carey Scurry, who played four seasons in the NBA for the Utah Jazz and New York Knicks, died May 18.

The news of Scurry's death was relayed in a Facebook post by his brother, Moses, himself a former college and professional basketball player. Carey Scurry was 63.

A second-round pick by the Jazz in the 1985 NBA draft, Scurry went on to play three seasons in Salt Lake City. His NBA career ended after he played four games for the Knicks in 1988.

Scurry continued playing professionally for many years in the Continental Basketball Association, a North American minor league, as well as in Europe and South America. He was forced into retirement by injuries sustained in an automobile accident in Barcelona.

Scurry helped Long Island reach the NCAA Division I men's tournament for only the second time ever in 1984. He remains the school's most recent alumnus to be drafted into the NBA, and its second-most recent alum to play in the league.

The Jazz were an ascendant team when they drafted Scurry. They had taken point guard John Stockton in the first round of the 1984 NBA Draft and Karl Malone in the first round in 1985. The two would become pillars of the Jazz's Western Conference powerhouse teams in the 1990s.

Scurry — still the Ducks' all-time leading rebounder and shot blocker — figured to anchor Utah's frontcourt for years. He averaged 15 minutes off the bench in a career-high 78 games as a rookie in 1985-86.

The following season, Scurry started the only five games of his NBA career under head coach Frank Layden. He finished the 1986-87 season with a career-high 5.0 points per game and 2.9 rebounds per game in just under 11 minutes.

Scurry played only 33 games for the Jazz in 1987-88, a season in which he is better remembered for fighting with teammate Mel Turpin outside a Houston hotel.

In January 1988, Scurry was waived by Utah after questioning his lack of playing time. That led to a 10-day contract with the Knicks, and a four-game stint in which Scurry scored two points for his hometown team.

Scurry played professionally in Spain, Brazil, and Chile before returning home to New York after his playing career ended. In 2024 he authored a memoir, "A Hoopster's Journey," that chronicled his on-court travails and struggles with substance abuse and other vices off the court.

A two-time Northeast Conference Player of the Year, Scurry was chosen to the NEC's 25th anniversary team in 2006.

 

Career history

1985–1988      Utah Jazz

1988    New York Knicks

1988–1989      Olympiacos

1989–1990      Rapid City Thrillers

1990    Granollers

1992    GEPU San Luis

1992–1993      ASA Sceaux

1993    Damme BAC

1995    UDE Temuco

1996    Ferro Carril Oeste

1996–1997      Colo-Colo

Career highlights

2× NEC Player of the Year (1984, 1985)