A 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) guard-forward from the University of Maryland, King was selected by the New Jersey Nets in the first round (10th overall) of the 1981 NBA draft.

[6] One of the highlights of his ACC career was a thundering dunk over Duke center Mike Gminski during a Maryland home game at Cole Field House.

Duke was the first-seeded team in the nation at the time, and King went on to lead the Terrapins in scoring that night and helped defeat the Blue Devils 101–82.

In 2002, King was named to the ACC 50th Anniversary men's basketball team as one of the fifty greatest players in Atlantic Coast Conference history.

At the end of the 1988–89 season, he was signed by Olimpia Milano of the Italian Basketball League[8] to replace Billy Martin.

Alongside some very experienced players such as Bob McAdoo, Mike D'Antoni and Dino Meneghin, he gave an essential contribution for winning the title in a very contested last game of the finals, scoring a season-high 22 points.

King spent the 1990–1991 season playing in the Continental Basketball Association with the Albany Patroons, coached by George Karl,[9][10] where he was named the CBA Newcomer of the Year.