Vern Fleming played high school basketball at Mater Christi on Long Island, and then played in college at the University of Georgia. After winning a gold medal at the 1984 Olympics, Fleming entered the NBA, where he had been drafted in the first round by the Indiana Pacers, as the 18th overall pick in the 1984 NBA draft. Fleming played for the Pacers for 11 years as a point guard, before finishing his NBA career with one season with the New Jersey Nets in 1995-96. He then spent one year in France with Limoges before ending his playing career. Fleming scored over 10,000 points in the NBA and averaged 11.3 points per game, also recording almost 4,300 assists, averaging 4.8 assist per game.