Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf

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Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf
Mahmoud abdul-rauf cropped.jpg
No. 3,1
Point guard
Personal information
Born (1969-03-09) March 9, 1969 (age 44)
Gulfport, Mississippi
Nationality American
Listed height 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Listed weight 162 lb (73 kg)
Career information
High school Gulfport (Gulfport, Mississippi)
College Louisiana State (1988–1990)
NBA Draft 1990 / Round: 1 / Pick: 3rd overall
Selected by the Denver Nuggets
Pro playing career 1990–2011
Career history
1990–1996 Denver Nuggets
1996–1998 Sacramento Kings
1998–1999 Fenerbahçe (Turkey)
2000–2001 Vancouver Grizzlies
2003–2004 Ural Great (Russia)
2004–2005 Sedima Roseto (Italy)
2006–2007 Aris BC (Greece)
2008–2009 Al-Ittihad (Saudi Arabia)
2009–2011 Kyoto Hannaryz (Japan)
Career highlights and awards

Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf (born Chris Wayne Jackson; March 9, 1969) is an American former professional basketball player. His nine-year NBA career was marked by an appearance in the Slam Dunk Contest as well as by one of the most accurate free-throw shooting records ever. Considered one of the greatest free-throw shooters in the history of the game, Abdul-Rauf missed the all time free-throw shooting NBA season record by only a single miss in the 1993–94 season. He sparked controversy for refusing to stand for the national anthem, and calling the US Flag a symbol of oppression. After his NBA career, he played in multiple leagues around the world.

Contents

Life and career[edit]

Abdul-Rauf was born in Gulfport, Mississippi. After a record-setting college career at Louisiana State University, he was selected with the third pick in the 1990 NBA Draft by the Denver Nuggets. He changed his name in 1993, after converting to Islam in 1991.[1] He played with Denver until 1995, and was a key player on that team, winning the Most Improved Player award in 1993. Abdul-Rauf later went on to play for the Sacramento Kings and later the Vancouver Grizzlies. He led the league in free throw percentage in 1994 and 1996, narrowly missing (by one missed free throw) the NBA all-time record for free-throw percentage in a single season in 1993-94 (he went 219-229 from the line for a 95.6 percentage as opposed to Calvin Murphy's 95.8% (206-215) all-time record from 1980-81 to 2008-09, which José Calderón has since broken).

After leaving the NBA he played professional basketball in Europe, retiring at the end of 2004-05 season. For the 2006-07 season, he came out of retirement for the third time in his career to play for Aris Thessaloniki.

In July 2010, he signed a contract with the Kyoto Hannaryz of the bj league of Japan. He averaged 17.9 points in 38 games the previous season.[2]

Abdul-Rauf has a moderate case of Tourette syndrome, conceding that he was driven by his Tourette's to a "quest for perfection".[3]

National anthem controversy[edit]

Abdul-Rauf is perhaps best known for the controversy created when he refused to stand for "The Star-Spangled Banner" before games,[4] stating that the flag was a symbol of oppression and that the United States had a long history of tyranny. He said that standing to the national anthem would therefore conflict with his Islamic beliefs. On March 12, 1996, the NBA suspended Abdul-Rauf for his refusal to stand, but the suspension lasted only one game. Two days later, the league was able to work out a compromise with him, whereby he would stand during the playing of the national anthem but could close his eyes and look downward. He usually silently recited a Muslim prayer during this time.

In an apparent publicity stunt gone wrong linked to this controversy, four employees of Denver's KBPI radio station were charged with misdemeanor offenses related to entering a Colorado mosque and playing "The Star-Spangled Banner" on a bugle and trumpet, in a provocative response to Abdul-Rauf's refusal to stand for the national anthem.[5]

Transactions[edit]

NBA career statistics[edit]

Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game
 FG%  Field goal percentage  3P%  3-point field goal percentage  FT%  Free throw percentage
 RPG  Rebounds per game  APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game
 BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game  Bold  Career high

Regular season[edit]

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
1990–91 Denver 67 19 22.5 .413 .240 .857 1.8 3.1 .8 .1 14.1
1991–92 Denver 81 11 19.0 .421 .330 .870 1.4 2.4 .5 .0 10.3
1992–93 Denver 81 81 33.5 .450 .355 .935 2.8 4.2 1.0 .1 19.2
1993–94 Denver 80 78 32.7 .460 .316 .956 2.1 4.5 1.0 .1 18.0
1994–95 Denver 73 43 28.5 .470 .386 .885 1.9 3.6 1.1 .1 16.0
1995–96 Denver 57 53 35.6 .434 .392 .930 2.4 6.8 1.1 .1 19.2
1996–97 Sacramento 75 51 28.4 .445 .382 .846 1.6 2.5 .7 .1 13.7
1997–98 Sacramento 31 0 17.1 .377 .161 1.000 1.2 1.9 .5 .0 7.3
2000–01 Vancouver 41 0 11.9 .488 .286 .759 .6 1.9 .2 .0 6.5
Career 586 336 26.7 .442 .354 .905 1.9 3.5 .8 .1 14.6

Playoffs[edit]

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
1993–94 Denver 12 12 28.3 .370 .324 .935 1.5 2.5 .4 .1 12.9
1994–95 Denver 3 2 25.3 .364 .167 1.000 1.7 1.7 .7 .0 13.3
Career 15 14 27.7 .369 .286 .956 1.5 2.3 .1 .1 13.0

See also[edit]

Portal icon Biography portal
Portal icon Basketball portal
Portal icon United States portal
Portal icon Islam portal

References[edit]

  1. ^ Quest For Perfection
  2. ^ "Abdul-Rauf to return to Hannaryz". The Japan Times. July 31, 2010. Retrieved August 27, 2011. 
  3. ^ Howard, Johnette (March 27, 1994). "With Very Strong Will, Abdul-Rauf Finds a Way : Basketball: Tourette's syndrome, an oft-misunderstood neurological disorder caused by a chemical imbalance in the brain, goads Nuggets's star along". LA Times. Retrieved March 7, 2012. 
  4. ^ Diamos, Jason (1996-03-21). "PRO BASKETBALL;Abdul-Rauf Is Calm In Face of Controversy". New York Times. Retrieved 2010-09-21. 
  5. ^ AP (1996-03-24). "Charges Are Filed In Mosque Incident". Denver (Colo): New York Times. Retrieved 2010-09-21. 

External links[edit]
First Team
Second Team
First Team
Second Team
First round
Second round
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