Rony Seikaly

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Rony Seikaly
رونالد ﺼيقلي
No. 4, 9, 2
Center
Personal information
Born (1965-05-10) May 10, 1965 (age 48)
Beirut, Lebanon
Nationality American / Lebanese
Listed height 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m)
Listed weight 253 lb (115 kg)
Career information
High school American School
(Athens, Greece)
College Syracuse (1984–1988)
NBA Draft 1988 / Round: 1 / Pick: 9th overall
Selected by the Miami Heat
Pro career 1988–2000
Career history
1988–1994 Miami Heat
1994–1996 Golden State Warriors
1996–1998 Orlando Magic
1998–1999 New Jersey Nets
2000 FC Barcelona (Spain)
Career highlights and awards
Career NBA statistics
Points 9,991 (14.7 ppg)
Rebounds 6,424 (9.5 rpg)
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com
Medals
Men’s Basketball
Competitor for  United States
FIBA World Cup
Gold 1986 Spain National Team

Ronald Fred "Rony" Seikaly (Arabic: رونالد ﺼيقلي‎; born May 10, 1965) is a retired Lebanese-born American professional basketball player. Considered one of the top college players from Syracuse Orange men's basketball program, Seikaly's stellar offense and defense placed him among the school's all-time leaders in rebounds, points and blocks while earning several nationally recognized awards and honors. Drafted into the National Basketball Association (NBA) by the Miami Heat, Seikaly became one of the team's earliest franchise players as he ranked among the team's top offensive and defensive contributors.

Contents

Early life [edit]

Seikaly was born in Beirut, Lebanon. At the age of 9, Rony moved from Beirut, where he'd been attending elementary school at the Athenee de Beirut to Greece, where he spent the rest of his youth. He attended and graduated from the American School, also known as ACS Athens.

In addition to playing basketball, he was also a football (soccer) player, and an accomplished track and field athlete. Despite being raised in Greece, he was unable to attain Greek citizenship, due to bureaucratic problems, but he later became a naturalized American citizen.[1][2]

College career [edit]

In 1984, Seikaly began attending Syracuse University in central New York, where he played college basketball. He played center for the Syracuse Orange men's basketball team. He led his Syracuse team to the 1987 NCAA Tournament championship finals against the Indiana Hoosiers during his junior year,[3] after averaging 22 points and 11 rebounds per game throughout the tournament. He was an All-American, and was also named to the John R. Wooden All-American Team.[3] He graduated from Syracuse as the school's all-time leading rebounder,[3] second in school history in blocked shots, and fourth in school history in scoring. At the time, he was only the second player to record 1,000 points and rebounds during his tenure at Syracuse.[3] He was chosen on the Orange's All Century Team, and his number 4 jersey has been retired and raised to the rafters at the Carrier Dome.

Professional career [edit]

After playing basketball in the Greek youth system, Seikaly joined the Euroleague club Panathinaikos Athens' senior team in a tournament in Cyprus at the age of 17. However, his Lebanese nationality prevented him from playing in the Greek Basket League, because foreign players could not play in the league at that time. He was unable to gain Greek citizenship at the time, due to bureaucratic issues in getting his Greek citizenship, despite the fact that he had been mainly raised in Greece. So, he moved to the USA, where he could play college basketball.

Seikaly was taken by the Miami Heat with the 9th pick in the first round of the 1988 NBA Draft, the franchise's first ever college draft pick.[3] The rookie center quickly emerged not only as a pivotal player within the team, but also among the league's top young centers.[4] He led the Heat in points, rebounds and blocks while placing sixth in the league for rebounds during his second NBA season.[4]

Seikaly's career with Miami saw him setting numerous team records, including blocks (8), rebounds (34) and double doubles. He averaged 16 points, 10 rebounds, and 1.7 blocks per game in his career with the Heat. He was also named the NBA's Most Improved Player in 1990. During his run with the Heat, he had the nickname "The Spin Doctor", due to his trademark low-post spin moves.[5]

In 1994, Seikaly was traded to the Golden State Warriors, where he spent two years, before going on to play for the Orlando Magic. He averaged 16 points and 9.5 rebounds per game for the Magic. During the 1997–1998 season, he was traded to the Utah Jazz, but the transaction was voided. Eventually, he was traded to the New Jersey Nets in early 1998, before announcing his retirement from the game in 2000. He holds NBA career averages of 14.7 points per game, 9.5 rebounds per game, and 1.29 blocks per game.

Seikaly's NBA career highs in a game are 40 points, 34 rebounds, 8 blocked shots, 4 steals and 6 assists.

United States national basketball team [edit]

Seikaly played for the US national basketball team at the 1986 FIBA World Championship, and with the US team he won the gold medal.[6]

Post basketball career and personal life [edit]

 This section of a biography of a living person does not include any references or sources. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living people that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately. (December 2009)

Seikaly owns and runs a multi-million dollar real estate investment company; he is also an investor in the South Beach, Miami restaurants Quattro, Sosta, Solea, and Club Wall.

He is also an avid music lover, and has been producing and working as a house music DJ in some of the biggest clubs in the world and has singles released on Nervous Records, Subliminal Records and many more.

He has his own radio show on Sirius/XM Electric Area called SugarFree which airs every Saturday and Monday.

Every year, Seikaly hosts the annual Rony Seikaly Golf Tournament for cystic fibrosis.

When Magic Johnson returned to the NBA HIV-positive, and there was opposition to his inclusion in the league, because of his health status, Seikaly challenged him to a game of one-on-one to show everyone that HIV is not contagious by touch.

He was formerly married to Mexican model Elsa Benítez, the 2001 and 2006 cover girl for the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issues. They divorced in 2005; they have a daughter, Mila.

Records and accolades [edit]

[7]

  • Set the Miami Heat record for blocks in a game (8)
  • Set the Miami Heat record for free throw attempts in a game (26) and blocks in a season (124)
  • 1989-1990 NBA's Most Improved Player
  • Set the Miami Heat record for rebounds in a season (934)
  • NBA Player of the Week award
  • Set the Miami Heat record for defensive rebounds (26) and total rebounds (34) in a game
  • Set the Miami Heat record for free throws made in a game (16)
  • 20 games of at least 20 points and 20 rebounds in the same game

See also [edit]

References [edit]

  1. ^ Athlitiki Echo (Greek newspaper) Digital Historical Archive, 9 June 1986, page 2.
  2. ^ Athlitikihxo.gr (Digital Archive run with DjVu viewer).
  3. ^ a b c d e "1989–90 Hoops #243 – Rony Seikaly RC (Rookie Card)". Hoops. NBA Properties, Inc. 1989. Retrieved 2010-03-03. 
  4. ^ a b "1990-91 Hoops #169B – Rony Seikaly". Hoops. NBA Properties, Inc. 1990. Retrieved 2010-03-03. 
  5. ^ Encyclopedia.com: Roni Seikaly (Lebanese / Lebanon's Ex-NBA player).
  6. ^ 1986 USA Basketball statistics.
  7. ^ Bleacherreport.com The Top 10 Scorers in Miami Heat History.

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