Sam Bowie

This article is about the basketball player. For the Rugby League player, see Sam Bowie (rugby league).

Sam Bowie

No. 31
Center
Personal information
Date of birth	March 17, 1961 (1961-03-17)
Place of birth	Lebanon, Pennsylvania
Nationality	American
High school	Lebanon
Listed height	7 ft 1 in (2.16 m)
Listed weight	235 lb (107 kg)
Career information
College	Kentucky (1979–1984)
NBA Draft	1984 / Round: 1 / Pick: 2nd overall
Selected by the Portland Trail Blazers
Pro career	1984–1995
Career history
1984–1989	Portland Trail Blazers
1989–1993	New Jersey Nets
1993–1995	Los Angeles Lakers
Career highlights and awards
NBA All-Rookie First Team (1985) Consensus NCAA All-American Second Team (1981)
Career NBA statistics
Points	5,564 (10.9 ppg)
Rebounds	3,845 (7.5 rpg)
Blocks	909 (1.8 bpg)
Stats at NBA.com
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com

Samuel Paul "Sam" Bowie (born March 17, 1961) is a retired American basketball player. A national sensation in high school and outstanding collegian, Bowie's professional promise was undermined by repeated injury. In spite of the setbacks, the 7'1" and 235 lb center played ten seasons in the NBA.

Projected as a solid first rounder in the 1984 NBA Draft, Bowie was chosen by the Portland Trail Blazers as the second selection, ahead of Hall of Famer Michael Jordan, due to Portland already having drafted Clyde Drexler just a year before.

High school and college

A jersey honoring Bowie hangs in Rupp Arena

As a player at Lebanon High School, Bowie was heavily recruited. He averaged over 28 points and 18 rebounds per game, and was a McDonald's All-American and Parade All-American. As a junior, he led his team to the state finals, where they lost by a point to Schenley High School of Pittsburgh. He was named Player of the Year over another heavily recruited center, Ralph Sampson. However, in a hyped game at the Capital Classic, called "Battle of the Giants" Bowie was outplayed by Sampson. Bowie also participated in the Dapper Dan and Derby Festival Classic.

As a freshman during the 1979–80 season at the University of Kentucky, Bowie averaged twelve points and eight rebounds per game. At the end of that season, Bowie was picked for the United States Olympic men's basketball team, which eventually boycotted the Moscow Olympics. Bowie's sophomore season saw him average 17.5 and nine rebounds per game; at the end of the season, he was named a third-team NCAA Basketball All-American by the Associated Press. Also in 1981, he set, and now shares, the Kentucky record for most blocked shots in a game, with nine. However, his college career was interrupted with severe injuries to his shinbone, and he did not play college basketball for the next two seasons. He returned in time for the 1983–84 season, where he averaged 10.5 points and nine rebounds per game while being named to the second-team All-American squad. During his senior season, his heroics in a game against rival Louisville earned him a spot on the cover of Sports Illustrated.

NBA career

The Houston Rockets selected Akeem Olajuwon with the first pick in the 1984 NBA draft. The Portland Trail Blazers selected Bowie next. Drafting third, the Chicago Bulls chose University of North Carolina shooting guard Michael Jordan.

At the time, the pick appeared to make some sense from the Blazers' perspective; they'd been looking for help in the post since franchise player Bill Walton suffered the first of several foot injuries that would eventually end his career. In fact, shortly before the draft, the NBA fined the Blazers $250,000 for improper contact with Olajuwon and Patrick Ewing. Nonetheless, in 2005, ESPN, citing Bowie's injury-laden college career, named the Blazers' choice of Bowie as the worst draft pick in North American professional sports history. In 2005, Sports Illustrated listed Bowie as the biggest draft bust in NBA history, arguing that teams should draft for talent and not need.

During his rookie season, Bowie played in 76 games and averaged 10 points and 8.6 rebounds per game, earning a spot on the NBA All-Rookie Team. However, injuries limited him to only 63 games over the next four seasons, including only five during the 1986–87 and none in 1987–88. On June 24, 1989, Bowie, who had averaged 10.5 points per game with the Trail Blazers, was traded, along with a draft pick, to the New Jersey Nets in exchange for Buck Williams. Bowie's four seasons in New Jersey were his healthiest and most successful; he averaged 12.8 points and 8.2 rebounds per game and never missed more than 20 games in a season. After two more injury-riddled years with the Los Angeles Lakers, Bowie retired from professional basketball in 1995.

Over his career, Bowie averaged 10.9 points, 7.5 rebounds and 1.78 blocks per game. He hit 45.2% of his attempted field goals (2,127 made of 4,702 attempted), and 30.2% of his three-point shots (32 made of 106 attempted).

External links

• Sam Bowie - The Fateful Pick @ bigbluehistory.net
• NBA stats @ basketball-reference.com
• Draft Busts @ SI.com