Antonio Keithflen McDyess (born September 7 1974, in Quitman, Mississippi) is an American professional basketball player in the NBA. MyDyess is listed at 6'9" (2.06 m), 245 lb. (111 kg) and is the starting power forward for the Detroit Pistons.
McDyess played college basketball at the University of Alabama. In 1995 he was drafted by the Los Angeles Clippers as the second pick in the NBA Draft and was traded to the Denver Nuggets before the season began for fellow power forward Rodney Rogers and a mid-first round pick that turned out to be Brent Barry. McDyess's explosive leaping and power dunking ability allowed him to average 17.8 points and 8.8 rebounds per game over his first six seasons. In 1997, before his third year, McDyess was traded to the Phoenix Suns. He returned to the Nuggets as a free agent the next season. In 1999, McDyess became just the third Nugget to average at least 20 points and 10 rebounds for a season, after Dan Issel in '77-78 and George McGinnis in '78-79. Considered an up and comer, the quiet McDyess was selected to be a part of the gold-winning U.S. Olympic men's basketball team at the 2000 Summer Olympics.
Early in the 2001-2002 season, McDyess suffered a serious knee injury that required season-ending surgery. McDyess struggled to play through the injury, re-aggravating it several times and going through additional surgeries over the next few seasons. During this time, McDyess was traded to the Knicks for Marcus Camby and a high lottery pick. By then, McDyess had lost most of his explosiveness. Nevertheless, in the 2004 offseason, his knee was declared healthy and the Detroit Pistons signed him for the full mid-level exception.
As a member of the Pistons, McDyess was successful in reinventing his game. In his first season with the Pistons, McDyess became a dependable sixth man, averaging 9.6 points and 6.3 rebounds per 23.3 minutes. He relied mostly on mid-range and turn-around jumpers, but remained an efficient scorer, averaging 51.3% FG% (ranked 13th in the NBA) in his first season with the Pistons. In 2007-08, following the departure of Chris Webber, McDyess became the Pistons' starting power forward. Also, on July 30, 2007, he married his longtime girlfriend, Liara. http://forums.detnews.com/pistonsblog/index.cfm?blogid=1046
