00 Tony Delk

Tony Lorenzo Delk was born in Covington, Tennessee to Florence and Leslie Delk.  As a kid, he liked to pretend he was Julius “Dr. J” Irving.  He attended Haywood Junior High School and Haywood High School in Brownsville, Tennessee. Nickname was “Long-range.”  The class of 1992’s “premier three-point marksman,” according to Basketball Times.  He led the state of Tennessee in scoring for two straight seasons (1990-91 and 1991-92).  Tony scored 1,312 points and averaged 38.6 points per game as a senior and led his team to a 29-5 record and a state tournament quarter-finals appearance.  He also led team in rebounding (8.5), steals (3.0) and assists (3.0).  Tony was a scoring machine.  He fired up 353 three-pointers his senior year.  Also, as a senior, his season-low scoring performance was 22 points.  He scored 70 points (21-36 field goals, 8-11 three-pointers, 20-25 free throws) in the Tomcats’ 118-72 victory over Munford (Tenn.); his previous single-game high was 51.  Averaged 37.5 points, five rebounds and five assists per game as a junior; also made more than 40% of his three-point shots and shot 51% overall.  Led Haywood to a 20-13 record and a trip to the state tournament that year.  Started every game since he was a sophomore and as a sophomore, averaged 20.1 points per game, shot 45% from the field and 81% from the line.  During his 1992 senior year of high school, Delk was named “Mr. Basketball” in the state of Tennessee (TSSAA Class 3A Mr. Basketball 1992) and also to the Parade and McDonald’s All-American Teams.  He chose 00 because it was his brother Ricky’s number at Lambuth.  Ricky scored 2,400 points in his college career.  Delk chose Kentucky over Arkansas, Memphis State, Tennessee, Oklahoma, Pittsburgh, Wake Forest and Notre Dame.

As a sophomore at Kentucky, Delk was voted All-SEC 2nd Team by the coaches and All-SEC 3rd Team by the Associated Press, while also making the All-SEC Tournament Team for his outstanding play. Delk was named to the All-SEC 1st and All-NCAA Regional teams during the 1994-95 season. In the 1995-96 season, Delk was named to the All-American and All-SEC first teams and was named NCAA Basketball Tournament Most Outstanding Player. He also received SEC Player of the Year honors during the season. UK’s all-time leader in three-point field goals made (283), Delk ranks fifth on UK’s all-time scoring list with 1,890 career points. He was the Wildcats’ leading scorer in his sophomore, junior and senior seasons and capped a remarkable career tying the NCAA championship game record with seven three-point field goals en route to Final Four MVP honors.  Delk joined Omega Psi Phi Fraternity while at Kentucky.  

Delk’s “00” Kentucky jersey was retired in Rupp Arena on Feb. 20, 2015.

Tony Delk was picked 16th overall in the 1996 NBA Draft by the Charlotte Hornets. He was traded by the Hornets along with Muggsy Bogues to the Golden State Warriors for B. J. Armstrong on November 7, 1997, where he played for two seasons before signing with the Sacramento Kings on August 16, 1999. He appeared in 46 games in 1999-00, subsequently joining the Phoenix Suns on August 1, 2000.  In a January 2, 2001 overtime game against his former Kings team, he scored a career-high 53 points on 20-for-27 field goal shooting. Delk was eventually dealt with Rodney Rogers to the Celtics, for Joe Johnson, Milt Palacio and Randy Brown.  Prior to 2004-05, after a year with the Dallas Mavericks, Delk was again traded, this time to the Atlanta Hawks, along with Antoine Walker, in a deal for Jason Terry and Alan Henderson. Delk lasted one and a half seasons with the Hawks before being waived on February 25, 2006, signing with the Detroit Pistons on March 1, where he backed up point guard Chauncey Billups.

Delk finished his NBA career with averages of 9.1 PPG, 2.5 RPG and 1.9 APG as he, in August 2006, signed a contract with the Greek basketball team, Panathinaikos, in Athens. He won the Greek Cup, the Greek Championship and the European Championship with Panathinaikos, but was released in May 2007, citing compatibility issues. He announced his retirement from professional basketball in November 2007. In 2008, nonetheless, he played three games for the Gigantes of Carolina in the BSN, the professional basketball league of Puerto Rico. He retired, once again, and served as a technical assistant with the same team.

In 2003, Delk founded the Taylor Delk Sickle Cell Foundation, a nonprofit organization in Brownsville, Tenn. The Taylor Delk Sickle Cell Foundation is named after Tony’s daughter, Taylor, who has sickle cell disease. The foundation is dedicated to improving the quality of life for children and families affected by sickle cell disease. More information on the foundation and the sickle cell disease can be found at www.tdscf.org.

Tony was inducted into the Kentucky Athletics Hall of Fame in 2008.

On April 16, 2009 it was announced that Delk would be returning to his alma mater along with his former college teammate Scott Padgett to serve on coach John Calipari’s staff at the University of Kentucky.

In July 2011, the New Mexico State Aggies basketball team hired him as an assistant coach to Marvin Menzies.  In June 2013, Delk left the New Mexico State staff to pursue other opportunities closer to his family in Atlanta.

He joined ESPN in 2014 as a college basketball studio analyst in the SEC Network’s inaugural year.

In 2016, Delk founded and currently directs the Tony Delk Basketball Academy.  Tony ‘s mission is to develop the youth and carry out his legacy through his basketball academy.

He also has a private wine label and is author of his book “Sh00ter the Story Behind the Double Zeros.”  He is also a partner in the Tony Delk IMAC Regeneration Clinic in Lexington, Kentucky.

Tony was inducted into the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame in 2020.