Jonathan Bender broke Michael Jordan’s McDonald’s All-American game scoring record when he dropped 31 points in the 1999 game, besting his Airness by one point.

That performance was on the stage Bender needed to forgo his verbal commitment to Mississippi State University and enter the NBA draft, becoming who I believe is the first modern-day high school player to jump to the NBA after actually committing to a school. They say Kobe Bryant would have gone to Duke, but he never offered his commitment. Today, despite being called one of the 20 biggest busts in modern NBA draft history by Sports Illustrated in 2005, Bender doesn’t think twice about the choice he made over 10 years ago to follow in the prep-to-pros footsteps of those such as Kevin Garnett.

“Once I made the decision, it was made,” Bender said without hesitation from the Knicks locker room before last Saturday’s match-up against the Wizards.

Just three seasons removed from an appearance in the 1996 Final Four, that 1999-2000 Mississippi State Bulldogs team Bender would have played on had some talent, such as Derrick Zimmerman and Tang Hamilton, both of whom had brushes with the NBA, and Robert Jackson, who later transferred to Marquette, becoming a 2nd Team All-Conference USA performer and joining Dwyane Wade to lead the Golden Eagles to the 2003 Final Four.

Reeling from losing out on Bender, Coach Rick Stansbury‘s Bulldogs underachieved, finishing the season with a 14-16 record. Stansbury is currently in his 12th season with the school and has an all-time record of 247-133 and counting. That ’99-00 season, his second as head coach, was the only below .500 campaign of Stansbury’s tenure. The coach also has the distinction of getting two other high school players, Travis Outlaw and Monta Ellis, to commit to his program, only to see them opt for the NBA draft instead. I don’t think any other college coach has that closely missed out on so much talent which never ended up seeing an NCAA court.

“We would have been real good, everyone was long and athletic. It would have been a good system,” said Bender of Mississippi State’s prospects had he attended there. A player of Bender’s stature surely would have helped the Bulldogs stand out amongst the other stars of the SEC conference in that day, such as Chris Porter (Auburn), Joe Johnson (Arkansas), Stromile Swift (LSU), Marcus Haslip (Tennessee), Dan Langhi (Vanderbilt), Udonis Haslem (Florida), Tayshaun Prince (Kentucky), Keith Bogans (Kentucky), Jamaal Magloire (Kentucky), current Wizard Mike Miller (Florida), and former Wizards draftee, Rod Grizzard (Alabama).

On how much breaking Jordan’s record factored into his ultimate decision, Bender said, “I think it made a big difference, because I got hotter and hotter and there were a lot of teams that wanted me out there. So, I just went ahead and went for it.” Bender said he kept up with Coach Stansbury during his first couple of years in the NBA, but now his only relationship with Mississippi State is following the team if they happen to be on television. Otherwise, he doesn’t pay too much attention to college basketball.

The Picayune, Mississippi native was taken fifth overall in the 1999 draft by the Toronto Raptors, but was soon traded to the Indiana Pacers. As a lanky 6’11″ player with perimeter skills and athleticism, Bender showed a ton of early promise, but his career became increasingly beset by injuries, mostly due to chronic knee problems which at one point rendered him unable to walk stairs without experiencing pain.

With the sans cartilage bone-on-bone knee condition, Bender retired from the game in February of 2006. But in doing so at just 25-years old, he always knew he would scratch that itch down the road. “As soon as I stopped, I knew I was going to try to make one comeback before I got closer to 30,” said Bender, indicating that he seriously though about coming back last season, but held off for one more year.

While away from the court, Bender wisely saved money and invested in the for-profit Jonathan Bender Enterprises, which is involved in everything from real estate, to importing wine, to a New Orleans recording studio. More importantly, he established the nonprofit Jonathan Bender Foundation which provides assistance, education, and a multitude of other community services to those in Southern Louisiana and the Mississippi Gulf Coast area who were affected by Hurricane Katrina, especially focusing on children in need.

On December 13, 2009, Bender made good on the comeback attempt he promised himself years ago. New York Knicks president Donnie Walsh, familiar with what kind of person Bender was from their days together in Indiana, signed the 28-year old to a minimum contract. On December 18, Bender appeared in his first NBA game in over 1,500 days. He scored nine points in 14 minutes. In his 17 total appearances with the Knicks this season, Bender has averaged 4.8 points and 1.9 rebounds in 12.5 minutes per game. He’s shooting 41.4% from three-point land, making 0.7 per game, but his overall field-goal percentage is struggling at 37.5%.

Bender feels good about his physical progression after being away from the game for so long. “I don’t put too many expectations on myself. My goal was to make it back and I did.” He feels that he can physically perform like he used to in spurts, obviously hoping to build consistency and trust in his knees which rely on the surrounding muscle for support.

When it comes to his basketball-playing future, Bender simply answered, “We’ll see.” The soft-spoken, recently turned 29-year old conveys a medium demeanor that won’t allow him to get caught up with the “ifs” and “whens” of professional basketball.

“I’ve accomplished by goal of getting back here. I don’t think too far in the future, I just take it day by day. Keep up with my training, keep in shape, keep feeling good about the whole situation. That’s where I’m at right now.”

Additional Sources/Suggested Reading:

• ‘Bender Announces End Of Career’ By Conrad Brunner, Feb. 4, 2006 – Pacers.com
• ‘Can’t-Miss Prospect Who Did Returns at 28′ By Howard Beck, Dec. 24, 2006 – New York Times
• ‘Bender helping hurricane victims recover, rebuild’ By Anna Katherine Clemmon, Sept. 23, 2008 – ESPN The Magazine
• ‘Jonathan Bender’s Long, Winding Road’ By Lisa Olson, Dec. 24, 2009 – NBA FanHouse

Other reads from Truth About It:

• June 15, 2011 -- Wizards Pre-Draft Workouts: Ravern Johnson, Free To Tweet
• January 8, 2012 -- The Wizards Said WHAT? And Other Post-Knicks Game Stuff
• January 7, 2012 -- DC Council Game 7: Wizards 96 vs. Knicks 99: Rich Beginnings, Broke In The End

>> A Mississippi State fan powered by whiskey? Really? Who knew? I was able to catch the final 5 minutes of the Bulldogs’ win against Central Florida in the Liberty Bowl. In a 10-3 game where the only TD scored came with just under 4 minutes left, five was all that was needed. In any case, this post from Mr. Irrelevant reminded me of what I saw in those waning minutes, along with what happens when college freshmen are powered by Jack D in Tennessee.

>> There’s always some sort of mysterious time period before you can reference a tragedy in a piece of comedy. Why Don’t We Get Drunk and Blog? has a post entitled, “Unlike Sean Taylor, Sean Taylor Stuff Just Won’t Die” that made my humorous side chuckle a little. However, for those who believe a higher power was at hand, or for those who find inspiration in the fact that the Redskins beat the Cowboys by 21, Sean Taylor’s jersey number; and if this recognition brings the team together on the field for a playoff run and off the field in realizing how valuable life should be held, then I’m just fine with that. [found via yet another Big Lead Roundup]

>> This Raw Fisher post makes me want to go back to stealing music…..but without getting caught.

“I couldn’t believe it when I read that,” says Ray Beckerman, a New York lawyer who represents six clients who have been sued by the RIAA [Recording Industry Association of America]. “The basic principle in the law is that you have to distribute actual physical copies to be guilty of violating copyright. But recently, the industry has been going around saying that even a personal copy on your computer is a violation.”

Did you know that it is supposedly illegal to put the music from your own CD to your own computer? Eff that.

>> Remember when U of California basketball fans caught USC’s Gabe Pruitt with the ultimate set-up for Cal’s senior night? Famed NBDL Blogger, Rod Benson, who played for the Golden Bears then, tell us about being on the other side of that incident, and about being a good sports fan in general.

>> A good Ball Hype recap – Top 10 Sports Videos of 2007

>> Uh oh, Anthony Mason is slapping women in the club again. Happy holidays bitches! He was always a pretty good passing forward, guess those skills don’t extend to the nightlife. It’s only a matter of time until he’s shaving huge jail-house tears in the side of his head.

>> Isiah Thomas is one helluva speech giver. Some of his more prestigious remarks include the word, ‘a-hole’, ‘f-you’ and the ‘C’ word, yes that C word. And this only covers what he learned from Bobby Knight at Indiana…..not his time with the New York Knicks.

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I don’t like the Boston Red Sox, but I do like Jonathan Papelbon. Why? I went to college with him. Got some stories, ain’t telling them. Nice article on Papelbon in the Hattiesburg (Mississippi) American…..where we find out that his dog ate the ball from the final out in the Red Sox ’07 World Series win. Wild and crazy guy? Yes. Down to earth? Definitely.

Shawshank Redemption is one of my favorite movies….and what do ya know, here’s a real-life escape story similar to the movie. Either you can’t go wrong with a name like Otis Blunt, or you must go wrong with a name like Otis Blunt. And c’mon Mr. Espinosa – haven’t you learned anything from P-Diddy? That face is atrocious!

Mississippi State’s Jamont Gordon is getting his props on ESPN.com. The Bulldogs? Well, they’re not doing so well.

Stories about how alcoholism affects people never ceases to amaze me. Former NBAer, Keon Clark (right), says that at one point, he was up to drinking a half pint of gin every day, and at times, drinking during halftime of games during his NBA career.

Some Chris Farley classics from 100% Injury Rate.

The Big Lead on Britney Spears’ sister’s baby-daddy and the anti-Isiah Thomas rally.

Arizona State Cheerleaders (left) gettin’ gangsta with it by showing us all that they like to be “shocked”.

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I don’t like the sight of Skip Bayless‘ stupid face. And neither should you.

And finally, Pinch my boob, I’m Irish.

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>> I often ask, what would life be like without cell phones? I mean, we couldn’t imagine living without them in this day and age. What on this level is next? YouTube. Without it, I would have never been able to witness Steve Kerr, Kenny Lofton, Tom Tolbert, Jud Buechler and Sean Elliott, from the 1988 Arizona Wildcats final four team, drop rhymes like crimes.

>> Great feature in Slam Magazine by Vincent Thomas, OJ Mayo: The Papoose of basketball?

Now Vincent’s first impressions of OJ Mayo are very similar to mine. But now, he is seemingly coming around after witnessing Mayo’s shutdown of Memphis’ Derrick Rose. I guess he does have a point…but maybe the kid just has pride, which certainly does not propel him to Kobe or MJ levels of a baller who can D. So yea, maybe OJ Mayo will learn how to take over in crunch time, maybe he will learn how to share the ball with his teammates. Lotta maybes….prove it to me.

>> The Pineapple Express….God’s vagina.

>> Bullets Forever has hooked us up with the video of that sweet Antawn Jamison block from the Toronto Raptors game.

>> Eva Mendes goes natural.

>> More diligent work by Jason Gurney of BallHype. He’s entered NBA player birthplace data for a single year for the past 7 decades. The progression of the NBA as a world sport has been amazing. Rumor has it that Jason’s next project is to plot the birthplace of every player who has every played in the NBA. Be sure and check out the DC/Bal-more representing in ’96-’97.

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