Reliable Yet Oft-Injured Abdur-Rahim Retires
NBA September 23rd. 2008, 4:45pm
Remember when Shareef Abdur Rahim arrived on the Cal campus amid much fanfare? Stayed a year, didn’t even win an NCAA tournament game (just like OJ Mayo!) and then it was off to the NBA, where he toiled for 12 mostly ordinary years, posting solid but not spectacular numbers, and advancing to the postseason once. He retired yesterday. A letdown of a career? Expectations were certainly higher than one 20-10 season (2000, in Vancouver, and nobody noticed).
Reef could always score (averaged 18.1 ppg for his career), but as the 3rd overall pick, you’d expect more in the win column. Then again, the No. 3 draft pick in the 1990s had a few other letdowns: Billy Owens 1991, Golden State (bust), Christian Laettner 1992, Minnesota (semi-bust), Raef LaFrentz, 1998, Denver Nuggets (bust).
Kings’ Abdur-Rahim retires (Sac Bee)
43 Responses to “Reliable Yet Oft-Injured Abdur-Rahim Retires”
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September 23rd, 2008 at 4:47 PM
AWWWW
September 23rd, 2008 at 4:49 PM
Raef LaFrentz was good. He just didn’t live up to his no.-3 pick status.
September 23rd, 2008 at 4:50 PM
He was the Takeo Spikes of the NBA.
September 23rd, 2008 at 4:50 PM
Raef LaFrentz was good.
His contract was better for most teams.
September 23rd, 2008 at 4:52 PM
/imagine explaining to your kids that Laettner was on the greatest team ever assembled.
September 23rd, 2008 at 4:52 PM
off topic but is there a worse name for a tv show other than “the mentalistâ€. they should have named it the really smart dude who solves criminal cases. talk about lame ideas the show wont last a year. whenever i see a commercial for it i just think that the dude who stars in it is also the homosexual actor who had his throat slit in l.a. confidential.
this a repost i just wanted other opinons
September 23rd, 2008 at 4:53 PM
Almost as hard would be explaining that Vin Baker was on a so called “Dream Team”
September 23rd, 2008 at 4:54 PM
My opinion is you read Bill Simmons.
September 23rd, 2008 at 4:56 PM
uh not so much anymore did he say the same thing?
September 23rd, 2008 at 4:57 PM
TBL maybe you should have just gone to the DMV…
September 23rd, 2008 at 4:57 PM
Haha yes, I meant to add a
/NTTIAWWT tag
September 23rd, 2008 at 4:59 PM
either way that is a shitty name for a tv show.
September 23rd, 2008 at 4:59 PM
I fail to see how Raef LaFrentz was a “bust” – teams don’t usually sign white guys who are draft busts to max contracts. The dude was quite good for a handful of years and then got hurt. It happens.
September 23rd, 2008 at 5:03 PM
jason “white chocolate” williams i think he only stuck around for so long was because he acted “hood”
September 23rd, 2008 at 5:04 PM
the mentalist – didn’t you realize that a bunch of shows are copying the success of ‘the closer’ because off the catchy title? (honestly, that’s what a closer fan said.) there are apparently a bunch of new shows called, ‘the x.’
RAEF LAFRENTZ WASN’T A BUST?
for a No. 3 pick, you dont grab a role player. that’s what he was.
http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/players/3246/career;_ylt=Ar37dbmblE7iZccR7MmEii2kvLYF
oh, and he was always injured.
and he got wayyyyy too much $
September 23rd, 2008 at 5:07 PM
actually, jason williams had a productive NBA career. i have chatted with many folks about it on several occasions, and even converted a few:
He went to the playoffs in Sac. And in Memphis. And in Miami. Won a title at the last stop. Nobody’s calling him the greatest PG ever, or even in the top 20 in NBA history. Occasionally hot-dogged it (i enjoyed that part of his game), and never played great D.
but i’ll maintain that jason williams was a solidly above-average NBa player. had a knack for winning, was a fierce competitor, and fun to watch. ballsy player, too.
September 23rd, 2008 at 5:08 PM
He was also a pothead, another bonus.
September 23rd, 2008 at 5:11 PM
i got a new show called the grave robber – he used to be the dude who does autopsies but after being caught playing volley ball with someones head he got fired now he solves case while being a video store clerk during the day and robbing graves at night to solve the unsolvable cases and doing his own autopsies. see im a fucking genuis
September 23rd, 2008 at 5:12 PM
Can we stop equating team success with individual success?
Tim Duncan, Lebron, KG, and Jason Kidd have dragged plenty of shitty ass players to the postseason.
White Chocolate can thank Webber for taking him to the postseason. He was/is a mediocre pro.
September 23rd, 2008 at 5:12 PM
He can thank Wade/Shaq too.
September 23rd, 2008 at 5:13 PM
yeah him winning a title had nothing to do with having a decent shaq and wade getting virtually every call going his way like he was jordan on his team
September 23rd, 2008 at 5:13 PM
No way. A basketball player that smokes pot? I don’t believe it.
September 23rd, 2008 at 5:15 PM
Tim Duncan, Lebron, KG, and Jason Kidd have dragged plenty of shitty ass players to the postseason.
Kobe did as well in the 2005-2006 and 2006-2007 seasons.
September 23rd, 2008 at 5:15 PM
White Chocolate had some skills back in the day.
September 23rd, 2008 at 5:17 PM
@cbh: You know I’m not giving him credit for that.
He had Smush Parker!
/sincere
September 23rd, 2008 at 5:17 PM
Randy Moss carried his ass back in high school as well.
September 23rd, 2008 at 5:18 PM
a popular argument. who does he thank in Memphis, Gasol? A team needs a core to be successful – one guy can’t do it in the NBA. Everyone has to have a wingman. Would Jordan have done anything without Pippen? Shaq without Kobe (and vice versa)? Magic without Worthy/Jabbar? Bird without McHale/Parrish?
you’re on the side that Williams was at the right place at the right time … three times in his career. that’s fine. lightning struck that guy three times.
weird that it never struck Reef but that one season, huh?
September 23rd, 2008 at 5:19 PM
Billy Owens was the Tits in NBA 94 for Sega Genesis hence he was not a bust
/science
September 23rd, 2008 at 5:21 PM
Billy Owens also has the same name as a neighbor kid who grew up by me, which was pretty cool at the time. Coincidently, that neighbor kid was also named Billy Owens.
/Steve Martin jokes
September 23rd, 2008 at 5:23 PM
Robert Horry = best wingman EvAR!!!1!1!!
/TBL
September 23rd, 2008 at 5:23 PM
TBL is right Jason williams was a solid pg up until about 05. He probably could have been a lot better if his body could hold up for a whole season and if he had a better work ethic.
September 23rd, 2008 at 5:24 PM
Robert Horry is superhuman, lightning stuck him what, 7 times?
September 23rd, 2008 at 5:26 PM
wait, since when is Jason Williams the wingman?
it was Gasol/Miller/Posey (sarcastic nod to CRM) in Memphis. It was Webber and Vlade in Sac. It was Wade and Shaq in Miami? James Posey (another sarcastic nod to CRM) was a bigger factor for the Heat.
September 23rd, 2008 at 5:27 PM
The thing I always associate with the name “Shareef Abdur Rahim” is the flap over him not wanting to stand up during the National Anthem. Then, he gave in and stood up, but wouldn’t look at the flag…or some such nonesense.
September 23rd, 2008 at 5:28 PM
Haha, Chelsea I think you are thinking of Mahmoud Abdul Raouf.
September 23rd, 2008 at 5:33 PM
Isn’t that the same guy?
/subliminal racism
September 23rd, 2008 at 5:34 PM
no it was Mohammad Atta
September 23rd, 2008 at 5:34 PM
I liked the Kings because of J-WIll. They were really fun to watch plus you never knew when he was gonna just pull up for DEEEEEEEEEP three. Hated the Kings for trading him for Bibby because I knew Bibby gave them a better chance of competing with L.A. good thing Weber knew how to hide during the 4th quarter.
September 23rd, 2008 at 5:40 PM
Jason Williams became a very good PG (was a league leader in TO-Assist ratio) after Hubie Brown worked with him in Memphis. He was the most consistent player we had in our 3 playoff runs. Unfortunately his knees broke down in Miami, and he’s never recovered from losing a step.
September 23rd, 2008 at 5:45 PM
I think TBL needs to redefine what a bust is…
Kwame Brown is a bust.
Alex Smith is a bust.
Matt Bush is a bust.
Raef LaFrenz might be a “disappointment” but he was never a bust.
September 23rd, 2008 at 6:02 PM
Shareef Abdur Rahim > Mahmoud Abdul Raouf
/still confused
September 23rd, 2008 at 10:41 PM
Chris Jackson was GREAT in college, and a very good 3 pt. shooter in the NBA. Shareef was just good.
September 23rd, 2008 at 10:44 PM
Wait I’m OLDER than ‘Reef? damn. I need to announce my retirement.