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King Coaching a Different Kind of Team

Al King (Courtesy University of Maryland Basketball)

By Gloria Son
Maryland Newsline
Tuesday, March 5, 2002

Albert King claims that running a franchise is similar to playing basketball.

King, once called the No. 1 player in the country, asserts that owning numerous Wendy's restaurants in New Jersey is similar to playing ball at the University of Maryland and in the pros.

"You have to coach and train, and then no one listens to you," he jokes.

But he loves it nonetheless, and his only plan, for now, is to improve and expand his franchise. "I love it, and I'm looking to grow mainly with Wendy's."

The nine-year NBA veteran recently stopped doing color commentaries on the New Jersey Nets so that he could focus more on his businesses.

King lives in Passic County, New Jersey, with his wife, Tammy, a real estate broker he met in college, and his 5-year-old son, Trevor Michael.

The Brooklyn native was a 1980 ACC Player of the Year and a first-team All-ACC selection in 1981.

He was a first-round pick (10th selection overall) in the 1981 NBA college draft by the New Jersey Nets. From 1982 to 1989, he played for the Nets, Philadelphia 76ers, San Antonio Spurs and Washington Bullets.

After the NBA, he took two years off vacationing and "finding" himself, he says.

The 1981 graduate comes back to campus occasionally. 

It makes him "feel a little older," the 42-year-old says.

Copyright © 2002 University of Maryland College of Journalism
Graphics by Nicole M. Richardson