Michael Sweetney’s NBA career never fit the usual way people measure players. No long run of awards.
No Hall of Fame talk. No June basketball.
But that’s exactly why his story matters.
Sweetney, who passed away on Thursday, showed what it takes just to get onto an NBA floor in the first place. Being one of the 360 active players in the league is its own kind of achievement, and his career is a reminder that not every meaningful NBA life is defined by rings or longevity.
Before the NBA, Sweetney built a strong run at Georgetown from 2000 to 2003, joining a frontcourt tradition that includes Patrick Ewing, Alonzo Mourning, and Dikembe Mutombo. He started all three seasons for the Hoyas and left as a two-time all-conference selection. His junior year was especially strong, as he averaged 22.8 points per game, 10.4 rebounds per game, and 3.2 blocks per game, according to Sports Reference.
That production made him the ninth overall pick in the 2003 NBA Draft, when the New York Knicks took him. He spent his first two seasons in New York before landing with the Chicago Bulls through a trade in the 2005 offseason.
That deal had lasting value for Chicago beyond Sweetney himself. The Bulls also received forward Tim Thomas and guard Jermaine Jackson, plus draft capital that turned into center Joakim Noah and another first-rounder that became seven-time NBA All-Star LaMarcus Aldridge, who never played for the Bulls.
Sweetney’s Bulls stint lasted two seasons, and his better year came in 2005-06, when he started 44 of 66 regular-season games. His overall numbers in Chicago were modest, but there were still stretches that made his place in the league easy to understand.
The best example came during the Bulls’ annual “circus trip,” when Sweetney put together a three-game run against the Portland Trail Blazers, Seattle SuperSonics, and Los Angeles Lakers. Over that stretch, he averaged 19.0 points per game, 12.3 rebounds per game, and 1.3 blocks per game.
That was the point of Michael Sweetney’s career: not a trophy case, but proof of how hard it is to earn and hold an NBA job. He was part of the mid-2000s Bulls teams that grew from baby status into credible playoff contenders, and that alone deserves to be remembered.
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