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Shareef Abdur-Rahim

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Julius Shareef Abdur-Rahim (born December 11, 1976) is an American former professional basketball player who is the president of the NBA G League. Nicknamed Reef,[1] he previously served as the director of player personnel for the Sacramento Kings of the National Basketball Association (NBA) and the general manager of the Reno Bighorns, the Kings' minor-league affiliate.

Shareef Abdur-Rahim
Abdur-Rahim on Sister Circle in 2019
Personal information
Born (1976-12-11) December 11, 1976 (age 48)
Marietta, Georgia, U.S.
Listed height6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)
Listed weight225 lb (102 kg)
Career information
High schoolJoseph Wheeler (Marietta, Georgia)
CollegeCalifornia (1995–1996)
NBA draft1996: 1st round, 3rd overall pick
Selected by the Vancouver Grizzlies
Playing career1996–2008
PositionPower forward / small forward
Number3, 33
Coaching career2008–2010
Career history
As player:
1996–2001Vancouver Grizzlies
2001–2004Atlanta Hawks
2004–2005Portland Trail Blazers
2005–2008Sacramento Kings
As coach:
2008–2010Sacramento Kings (assistant)
Career highlights and awards
Career NBA statistics
Points15,028 (18.1 ppg)
Rebounds6,239 (7.5 rpg)
Assists2,109 (2.5 apg)
Stats at NBA.com Edit this at Wikidata
Stats at Basketball Reference
Medals
Men's basketball
Representing  United States
Summer Olympics
Gold medal – first place 2000 Sydney Team
FIBA Americas U18 Championship
Gold medal – first place 1994 Santa Rosa Team

Abdur-Rahim played both the forward and center positions during his career. He emerged as a prospect at Joseph Wheeler High School in his hometown of Marietta, Georgia. Abdur-Rahim played for the California Golden Bears during the 1995–96 season before he entered the 1996 NBA draft. He was selected third overall by the Vancouver Grizzlies where he was the star of the team during his early NBA career. Abdur-Rahim played on the United States men's national basketball team that won the gold medal at the 2000 Sydney Olympics. He was traded by the Grizzlies in 2001 to the Atlanta Hawks with whom he made his only NBA All-Star appearance in the 2001–02 season. Abdur-Rahim was traded to the Portland Trail Blazers in 2004 before he signed with his last team, the Sacramento Kings, in 2008. Despite the fact that he achieved solid statistics throughout his career, Abdur-Rahim had played the second most games in NBA history without making a playoff appearance (744) until he made the playoffs for the first and only time in 2006. Following persistent injuries to his right knee, Abdur-Rahim announced his retirement from playing basketball in 2008. He finished with the lowest career plus–minus in NBA history at -2,904, a record that still stands as of April 2024.[2]

Early life

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Shareef Abdur-Rahim is the second eldest sibling in the family of twelve children born to Aminah and William Abdur-Rahim.[1] Abdur-Rahim, whose first name means "noble" and whose last name means "Servant of the Most Merciful One,[3] is a devout Muslim. He values his parents for their guiding influence on him since his youth and credits them with his life philosophy: "remember how you came on all your accomplishments and stay humble."[1] From an early age, Abdur-Rahim was surrounded by family members who played basketball; his brother, Muhammad, played at the University of Detroit while his late younger brother, Amir, played at Southeastern Louisiana University and coached at the University of South Florida.[4] Abdur-Rahim himself started playing competitive basketball at Joseph Wheeler High School in Marietta, Georgia. At Wheeler, he was named "Mr. Basketball" in back-to-back seasons, and he led the school to a state title as a junior in 1994. In his senior year, Abdur-Rahim averaged 31 points, 12.4 rebounds and 4 blocks per game.[5]

Abdur-Rahim later attended college at the University of California, Berkeley, where he maintained a GPA of 3.5.[1] At California, he averaged 21.1 points per game (ppg) and 8.4 rebounds per game (rpg) in 28 games.[1] He was the first freshman in Pac-10 history to win Conference Player of the Year honors, and was named Third Team All-America by the Associated Press.[1] Also named the Pac-10 Freshman of the Year, Abdur-Rahim set single-season freshman records for points, scoring average, field goals, and free throws.[1] After a year at California, however, he decided to leave college to enter the 1996 NBA draft.[1]

Professional career

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Vancouver Grizzlies (1996–2001)

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Abdur-Rahim was selected third overall by the Vancouver Grizzlies in the 1996 Draft,[6] behind Allen Iverson and Marcus Camby. He made an immediate impact playing for the Grizzlies, becoming the team's leading scorer while setting a franchise record of 18.7 points per game. He also averaged 6.9 rebounds and 2.2 assists per game. On January 11, 1997, Abdur-Rahim scored a season high 37 points and grabbed 7 rebounds in a 109–101 loss against the Kings.[7] He finished third in balloting for the Schick NBA Rookie of the Year behind Philadelphia's Allen Iverson and Minnesota's Stephon Marbury, and he was picked for the All-Rookie First Team.[1] By the end of the 1996–97 season, Abdur-Rahim led the team in scoring on 33 occasions, rebounding on 23 occasions.[1]

For the next few seasons, Abdur-Rahim remained the centerpiece of the Grizzlies team. In his sophomore season, he averaged 22.3 points, 7.1 rebounds and 2.6 assists per game.[8] The following season, he elevated his performance with 23.0 points, 7.5 rebounds and 3.4 assists per game.[8] On February 17, 1999, Abdur-Rahim scored a then career high 39 points, grabbed 13 rebounds, and recorded 5 assists in a 131-129 triple over time loss against the Celtics.[9] Despite his best efforts, the Grizzlies remained at the bottom two spots of the Midwest Division in his first four seasons.[10][11][12][13] In the 2000–01 season, Abdur-Rahim finished with a 20.5-point average for the fourth straight season[8] and was ranked in the top 20 in 13 NBA statistical categories, once again leading the Grizzlies in both points and rebounds per game.[1] Abdur-Rahim's importance to the team was highlighted in a game against the Indiana Pacers on December 1, 2000, when he earned all of the 20 points scored by the Grizzlies in the final quarter of the game.[1]

Atlanta Hawks (2001–2004)

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On June 27, 2001, the Atlanta Hawks reached an agreement to acquire Abdur-Rahim and the 27th overall pick in the 2001 NBA draft from the Vancouver Grizzlies in exchange for Brevin Knight, Lorenzen Wright and Pau Gasol, the third overall pick in the 2001 NBA Draft.[14] Abdur-Rahim's return to his hometown, and expected partnership with sophomore Jason Terry, provided a significant amount of buzz around the league.[15] While the Hawks finished the 2001–02 campaign with a 33–49 win–loss record, Abdur-Rahim's performances, including a career-high 50-point game,[8] ensured that he would be selected to the NBA All-Star game for that season.[15]

In his second season with the Hawks, Abdur-Rahim achieved another personal milestone on December 28, 2002, when his jump shot against the Washington Wizards made him the sixth-youngest player in NBA history to reach 10,000-points.[1] Although Glenn Robinson, Jason Terry and Abdur-Rahim combined to average 57.9 points per game and become the highest-scoring trio in the league for the 2002–03 season,[15] the Hawks failed to make the playoffs again. With an average of 19.9 points and 8.4 rebounds per game, Abdur-Rahim played in all but one of the Hawks' games.[8] By the end of the season, Hawks General Manager Billy Knight decided major changes had to be made for the franchise to move forward, and Abdur-Rahim was traded the next season.[15]

Portland Trail Blazers (2004–2005)

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Abdur-Rahim was sent, along with Theo Ratliff and Dan Dickau, to the Portland Trail Blazers on February 9, 2004, in exchange for Rasheed Wallace and Wesley Person.[16] His impact in the two seasons with the Trail Blazers was considerably less than in previous seasons. His averages were 16.3 points/7.5 rebounds and 16.8 points/7.3 rebounds for the 2003–04 and 2004–05 seasons respectively.[8] At the end of the 2004–05 season, Abdur-Rahim became a free agent.[16]

During the 2005 off-season, he was traded via a sign and trade agreement (in principle) to the New Jersey Nets for a first-round draft pick (which Portland planned to trade to the Phoenix Suns for Leandro Barbosa). On August 4, 2005, though the news conference was planned to announce the postponement of his arrival, it was revealed that he failed a required physical due to scar tissue found in his knee. The trade was put on hold, pending a second opinion from other medical sources. On August 7, Abdur-Rahim was quoted saying: "I don't feel I want to be a Net".[17] He felt the knee was a non-issue, claiming that he never missed a game in his entire career because of the knee injury. Two days later, it was announced that New Jersey decided to rescind the trade.[16]

Sacramento Kings (2005–2008)

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Abdur-Rahim with the Sacramento Kings in 2006

On August 12, 2005, Abdur-Rahim signed a free-agent contract with the Sacramento Kings.[16] In his first season with them, Abdur-Rahim started in 30 of the 72 games he played. As a starter, he averaged 16.0 points, 6.2 rebounds and 3.0 assists per game. He shot .543 for field goal percentage, and almost .800 from the free throw line.[1] The Kings went on to qualify for the 2006 playoffs. Abdur-Rahim made his postseason career debut against the San Antonio Spurs.[1] At the same time, he ended a streak of having played the most games in NBA history without participating in the post-season.[18] Abdur-Rahim had played the second most games in NBA history without making a playoff appearance (744); he made the playoffs for the first and only time in 2006.[19] In his second season with the Kings, Abdur-Rahim continued to be deployed as a sixth man; however, the Kings failed to secure a playoff berth as Abdur-Rahim recorded 9.9 points per game.[8] The 2007–08 season proved to be Abdur-Rahim's last, as he played only six games and his persistent knee injury forced him to announce his retirement on September 22, 2008.[20] He joined the Sacramento Kings' coaching staff as an assistant the following week.[17] On October 7, 2010, Abdur-Rahim was hired to be the assistant general manager for the Sacramento Kings. He later became the team's director of player personnel, a position he held in 2014 after new ownership had taken over in 2013.[21] Abdur-Rahim left the team in September 2014.[22] League sources would later report his departure occurred after the 2014 NBA draft, where Abdur-Rahim had arguments with coach Michael Malone and general manager Pete D'Alessandro.[23]

National team career

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Prior to joining the NBA, Abdur-Rahim was the USA's leading scorer and rebounder at the 1994 COPABA Junior World Championship Qualifying Tournament held in Argentina.[3] He averaged a double-double of 16.8 points and 10.1 rebounds. While trying for a team high in blocked shots averaging 1.6 blocks per game, he helped push the American squad to an 8–0 record, the gold medal, and a qualifying berth in the 1995 FIBA Junior World Championship.[3] The following May he was named to USA Basketball's 1995 Junior Select Team that captured an 86–77 victory over an International Select Team in the inaugural Hoop Summit Game.[3]

While playing for the Grizzlies, Abdur-Rahim was selected as a replacement for the injured Grant Hill to be part of the USA Men's basketball team, a team that included several NBA stars such as Kevin Garnett and Tim Hardaway and won the gold medal at the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, Australia.[24]

NBA career statistics

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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
 *  Led the league

Regular season

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Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
1996–97 Vancouver 80 71 35.0 .453 .259 .756 6.9 2.2 1.0 1.0 18.7
1997–98 Vancouver 82* 82* 36.0 .485 .412 .784 7.1 2.6 1.1 .9 22.3
1998–99 Vancouver 50* 50* 40.4 .432 .306 .841 7.5 3.4 1.4 1.1 23.0
1999–2000 Vancouver 82 82* 39.3 .465 .302 .809 10.1 3.3 1.1 1.1 20.3
2000–01 Vancouver 81 81 40.0 .472 .188 .834 9.1 3.1 1.1 1.0 20.5
2001–02 Atlanta 77 77 38.7 .461 .300 .801 9.0 3.1 1.3 1.1 21.2
2002–03 Atlanta 81 81 38.1 .478 .350 .841 8.4 3.0 1.1 .5 19.9
2003–04 Atlanta 53* 53 36.9 .485 .217 .880 9.3 2.4 .8 .4 20.1
2003–04 Portland 32* 3 22.8 .447 .364 .832 4.5 1.5 .8 .6 10.0
2004–05 Portland 54 49 34.6 .503 .385 .866 7.3 2.1 .9 .5 16.8
2005–06 Sacramento 72 30 27.2 .525 .227 .784 5.0 2.1 .7 .6 12.3
2006–07 Sacramento 80 45 25.2 .474 .150 .726 5.0 1.4 .7 .5 9.9
2007–08 Sacramento 6 0 8.5 .214 .000 1.000 1.7 .7 .2 .0 1.7
Career 830 704 34.8 .472 .297 .810 7.5 2.5 1.0 .8 18.1
All-Star 1 0 21.0 1.000 1.000 .000 6.0 .0 .0 .0 9.0

Playoffs

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Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2006 Sacramento 6 0 21.5 .535 .000 .600 4.8 1.2 .3 .0 9.2

Coaching career

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Sacramento Kings

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On October 2, 2008, Abdur-Rahim was named as an assistant coach for the Sacramento Kings.[25][26]

Executive career

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Sacramento Kings

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On October 7, 2010, the Kings announced Abdur-Rahim as their assistant general manager.[27]

Reno Bighorns

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On August 29, 2013, Abdur-Rahim was named as the new general manager of the Reno Bighorns for the 2013–14 season.[28]

NBA

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Abdur-Rahim was the associate vice president of basketball operations of the NBA.[29]

NBA G League

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On December 11, 2018, Abdur-Rahim was named the president of the NBA G League, and replaced Malcolm Turner who stepped down on January 11, 2019, to become the Athletics Director at Vanderbilt University.[30]

Personal life

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Abdur-Rahim and his wife Delicia have two children: a son Jabri, and a daughter, Samiyah.[1] Jabri Abdur-Rahim was rated as an ESPN Top 30 player in the high school Class of 2020 and committed to play for the Virginia Cavaliers under Tony Bennett.[31] He has since transferred to the University of Georgia and subsequently the Providence Friars.

Abdur-Rahim has started his own foundation, the Future Foundation, which provides after-school and other support services for youth at-risk in Atlanta.[3] On television, Abdur-Rahim has appeared on an episode of The Jamie Foxx Show with fellow NBA players Gary Payton and Vin Baker.[1] After retiring, Abdur-Rahim returned to U.C. Berkeley, graduating with a degree in sociology in 2012 with a 3.8 GPA.[32] Abdur-Rahim earned an MBA at the University of Southern California Marshall School of Business in 2016.[33]

Shareef's brother, Amir, died on October 24, 2024, age 43.

Abdur-Rahim is referenced in the Latyrx song "The Quickening (The Wreckoning Part II)", from their 1997 album The Album.[34]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q "Shareef Abdur-Rahim Info Page – Bio". nba.com. Archived from the original on March 8, 2009.
  2. ^ "Worst Career Plus-minus By A Player In NBA History". StatMuse. Retrieved April 6, 2024.
  3. ^ a b c d e Bio – Mens – Abdur-Rahim Archived 2006-12-31 at the Wayback Machine, usabasketball.com, accessed June 6, 2007.
  4. ^ https://gousfbulls.com/news/2023/3/29/kelly-names-amir-abdur-rahim-to-lead-south-florida-mens-basketball-program Kelly Names Amir Abdur-Rahim to Lead South Florida Men's Basketball Program, accessed March 30, 2023.
  5. ^ "HIGH SCHOOL BOYS BASKETBALL ALL-USA HONORABLE MENTIONS". USA Today. April 21, 1995. p. 11C.
  6. ^ Player Card, sports.espn.go.com, accessed June 21, 2007.
  7. ^ "Kings vs Grizzlies, January 11, 1997".
  8. ^ a b c d e f g Shareef Abdur-Rahim Info Page – Career Stats and Totals Archived May 16, 2007, at the Wayback Machine, nba.com, accessed June 21, 2007.
  9. ^ "Celtics vs Grizzlies, February 17, 1999".
  10. ^ 1996–97 Standings, nba.com/history, accessed June 21, 2007.
  11. ^ 1997–98 Standings, nba.com/history, accessed June 21, 2007.
  12. ^ 1998–99 Standings, nba.com/history, accessed June 21, 2007.
  13. ^ 1999–2000 Standings, nba.com/history, accessed June 21, 2007.
  14. ^ Hawks Transaction Archive, nba.com/hawks, accessed June 21, 2007.
  15. ^ a b c d Hawks History, nba.com/history, accessed June 21, 2007. Archived December 2, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
  16. ^ a b c d NBA Players Archived September 7, 2006, at the Wayback Machine, sportsnet.ca, accessed March 20, 2007.
  17. ^ a b "Abdur-Rahim wants to move on past Nets", sports.espn.go.com, August 8, 2005, accessed March 20, 2007.
  18. ^ DuPree, David, "Kings' Abdur-Rahim courts shot at playoffs", usatoday.com, February 28, 2006, accessed March 20, 2007.
  19. ^ "After nine seasons, Abdur-Rahim finally in postseason". April 17, 2006.
  20. ^ Shareef Abdur-Rahim retires with knee woes, thestar.com, September 22, 2008, accessed September 24, 2008.
  21. ^ Kings bosses come to Las Vegas to check out DeMarcus Cousins Archived August 29, 2013, at the Wayback Machine
  22. ^ Abdur-Rahim no longer with Kings, sources say
  23. ^ Now Coachless, the Kings Never Fail to Disappoint
  24. ^ Men's Olympics History – 2000 Archived February 9, 2007, at the Wayback Machine, usabasketball.com, accessed June 21, 2007.
  25. ^ "Kings hire retired forward Abdur-Rahim as assistant coach". ESPN. October 2, 2008. Retrieved July 16, 2016.
  26. ^ "Kings hire retired Abdur-Rahim as assistant". GMA Network. October 2, 2008. Retrieved July 16, 2016.
  27. ^ "Shareef Abdur-Rahim named Kings Assistant GM". NBA. October 7, 2010. Retrieved July 16, 2016.
  28. ^ "Shareef Abdur-Rahim Named Reno Bighorns General Manager". NBA. August 29, 2013. Retrieved July 16, 2016.
  29. ^ Murphy, Mark (July 14, 2016). "Celtics notebook: Former All-Star Shareef Abdur-Rahim goes way back with top pick Jaylen Brown". Boston Herald. Retrieved July 14, 2016.
  30. ^ "Shareef Abdur-Rahim Named NBA G League President as Malcolm Turner Steps Down". NBA.com. December 11, 2018. Retrieved December 11, 2018.
  31. ^ Top 30 Guard Abdur-Rahim Commits to Virginia, accessed July 13, 2019
  32. ^ Jones, Jason (May 11, 2012). "Shareef Abdur-Rahim to receive his degree from Cal on Monday". Sacramento Bee. Archived from the original on June 3, 2015.
  33. ^ Schmitt, Jeff (August 3, 2016). "My Story: From The NBA To An MBA". Poets&Quants. Retrieved December 12, 2018.
  34. ^ "Thursdays with Thurl: Bay Area Edition," freedarko.com, September 8, 2005.
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