Raef LaFrentz

Raef LaFrentz

LaFrentz in 2006
Personal information
Born (1976-05-29) May 29, 1976
Hampton, Iowa
Nationality American
Listed height 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m)
Listed weight 240 lb (109 kg)
Career information
High school MFL MarMac (Monona, Iowa)
College Kansas (1994–1998)
NBA draft 1998 / Round: 1 / Pick: 3rd overall
Selected by the Denver Nuggets
Playing career 1998–2009
Position Power forward / Center
Number 45, 9
Career history
1998–2002 Denver Nuggets
2002–2003 Dallas Mavericks
2003–2006 Boston Celtics
2006–2009 Portland Trail Blazers
Career highlights and awards
Career NBA statistics
Points 5,690 (10.1 ppg)
Rebounds 3,423 (6.1 rpg)
Blocks 919 (1.6 bpg)
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com

Raef Andrew LaFrentz (born May 29, 1976) is an American retired professional basketball power forward and center who played in the NBA from 1998 to 2009. Born and raised in Iowa, LaFrentz attended the University of Kansas and was drafted in 1998 by the Denver Nuggets. He was known for his perimeter shooting and his shot blocking abilities.

Career

High school

Raef LaFrentz attended MFL MarMac High School located in Monona, Iowa. His father, Ron, was an assistant coach on LaFrentz's high school team. He was named to the USA Today All-USA 1st Team in 1994 and was a high school McDonald's All-American.

During the summer before his freshman year at the University of Kansas, LaFrentz was selected to the 1994 U.S. Olympic Festival North Team and averaged 11.8 ppg. and 6.8 rpg.

College

LaFrentz played basketball at the University of Kansas, finishing in 1998. He played with Paul Pierce while at Kansas. He was a four-year starter and an All-American in his junior and senior seasons. He joined Tim Duncan and Shaquille O'Neal as the only players in the 1990s to earn first team AP All-America honors twice.

Compiling career averages of 15.8 ppg. and 9.1 rpg., while shooting 55.5 percent from the floor overall, he concluded his career ranked second all-time at Kansas in points with 2,066 and rebounds with 1,186, and left trailing only Danny Manning in both categories.

Accumulating a record of 123–17 (87.9 winning percentage) over his four seasons, he was part of a senior class that won more games over a four-year period than any class in KU history.

Named by the A.P. in 1997 and 1998 the Big 12 Conference Player of the Year, he was also tabbed All-Big 12 Conference first team by both the media and coaches his final two seasons.

LaFrentz became the first KU player in 27 years to average a double-double over an entire season when he posted 19.8 ppg. and 11.4 rpg. averages as a senior in 1997-98, leading the Jayhawks to a 35–4 record.

NBA

The third overall pick by the Denver Nuggets in the 1998 NBA Draft, he averaged 13.8 ppg., 7.6 rpg. and 1.4 bpg. but played in just 12 games as a rookie and missed the majority of the season after suffering a torn ACL in his left knee against Dallas on Feb. 25. Successfully returning from the torn ACL to start 80 of his 81 appearances in 1999–2000, he averaged 12.4 ppg., an NBA 25th best 7.9 rpg. and ranked eighth in the NBA in blocked shots averaging 2.2 bpg. LaFrentz also played in the 2000 NBA All-Star Weekend. He played on the NBA All-Star Weekend Rookie Challenge Sophomore Roster. It was the first ever Sophomore team to play in the rookie challenge. In his third year (2000–01), he started 74 of the 78 games he played in and averaged 12.9 ppg., while ranking seventh in the league in blocks at 2.6 bpg., tied for 25th in rebounding with a 7.8 rpg. average, and tied for 27th in field goal percentage (career high .477).

He was traded by the Nuggets with Nick Van Exel, Avery Johnson, and Tariq Abdul-Wahad to the Dallas Mavericks for Juwan Howard, Donnell Harvey, Tim Hardaway and a 2002 first-round pick on February 21, 2002. He finished the 2001–02 season second in the NBA in blocked shots per game.

He played for the US national team in the 2002 FIBA World Championship.[1]

The Celtics acquired him from the Dallas Mavericks, along with Chris Mills, Jiri Welsch and a first-round draft choice, in exchange for Tony Delk and Antoine Walker on October 20, 2003. On June 28, 2006, the Boston Celtics traded LaFrentz, guard Dan Dickau, and the number seven pick in the 2006 NBA draft to the Portland Trail Blazers for center Theo Ratliff and guard Sebastian Telfair.[2] The number 7 pick (Randy Foye) was later traded by the Blazers for the number 6 pick (Brandon Roy) in a draft day trade.

Career highlights and awards

College

NBA

NBA Records

NBA career statistics

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

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
1998–99 Denver 12 12 32.3 .457 .387 .750 7.6 .7 .8 1.4 13.8
1999–00 Denver 81 80 30.1 .446 .328 .686 7.9 1.2 .5 2.2 12.4
2000–01 Denver 78 74 31.5 .477 .367 .698 7.8 1.4 .5 2.6 12.9
2001–02 Denver 51 51 32.7 .466 .434 .667 7.4 1.2 .6 3.0 14.9
2001–02 Dallas 27 25 29.1 .437 .305 .761 7.4 1.1 .9 2.2 10.8
2002–03 Dallas 69 43 23.3 .518 .405 .682 4.8 .8 .5 1.3 9.3
2003–04 Boston 17 1 19.3 .460 .200 .769 4.6 1.4 .5 .8 7.8
2004–05 Boston 80 80 27.5 .496 .364 .811 6.9 1.2 .5 1.2 11.1
2005–06 Boston 82 63 24.8 .431 .392 .680 5.0 1.4 .4 .9 7.8
2006–07 Portland 27 9 13.0 .382 .087 .769 2.6 .3 .3 .4 3.7
2007–08 Portland 39 0 7.5 .443 .000 .579 1.7 .2 .3 .4 1.7
Career 563 438 25.8 .466 .363 .711 6.1 1.1 .5 1.6 10.1

Playoffs

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2002 Dallas 8 8 30.6 .500 .333 .545 7.6 .6 .3 2.8 11.3
2003 Dallas 20 16 24.6 .433 .200 .842 4.4 .3 .6 2.2 8.0
2005 Boston 7 7 26.4 .390 .500 .800 4.9 1.1 .9 1.7 6.9
Career 35 31 26.3 .446 .297 .750 5.2 .5 .5 2.2 8.5

See also

References

  1. ↑ 2002 USA Basketball
  2. ↑ Raef LaFrentz NBA Basketball at CBSSports.com
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