Former NBA star and Hawks player Mookie Blaylock was one of two people critically injured Friday afternoon in a head-on collision in Clayton County, according to police.
Blaylock, 46, was driving a Cadillac Escalade northbound on Tara Boulevard when, for unknown reasons, he crossed over the median and into a southbound lane around 1 p.m., Jonesboro police Chief Franklin Allen told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Blaylock’s vehicle struck another vehicle head-on, injuring himself and two people whose names were not released, Allen said.
All three were transported to Atlanta Medical Center, where Blaylock was on life support and unresponsive, Allen said. A female passenger in the second vehicle was bleeding internally, he said.
Jonesboro officers were at the hospital Friday evening with the victims, while other officers remained at the crash scene, Allen said. Allen asked for a Georgia State Patrol reconstruction team to assist with the investigation.
Blaylock, a point guard, played 13 seasons in the NBA, including with the Atlanta Hawks from 1992 to 1999. A two-time first-team pick to the NBA’s All-Defensive Team, Blaylock finished with career averages of 13.5 points, 4.1 rebounds, 6.7 assists and 2.3 steals per game and appeared in the 1994 All-Star game.
The Hawks traded Blaylock in summer 1999 in a three-player deal that allowed Atlanta to later draft Jason Terry with the 10th overall pick. It was a move that caught Blaylock by surprise, he previously said.
“It was very shocking,” he said in an interview at the time, “especially when you’re with a team that long and you think you’re one of the guys that’s going to be around and you’re going to end your career there. But that’s part of the business. I know that’s how it goes.”
Address records show Blaylock, whose real name is Daron, lives in Zebulon in Pike County.
The Texas native played college basketball at the University of Oklahoma.
Blaylock has two sons who play football at the University of Kentucky, Daron and Zack Blaylock. Both are graduates of Walton High School in Cobb County. Both were members of Walton’s Class AAAAA state runner-up team in 2011.
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