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Otis Thorpe

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Otis Thorpe
Thorpe, circa 1986
Personal information
Born (1962-08-05) August 5, 1962 (age 62)
Boynton Beach, Florida, U.S.
Listed height6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)
Listed weight248 lb (112 kg)
Career information
High schoolLake Worth Community
(Lake Worth, Florida)
CollegeProvidence (1980–1984)
NBA draft1984: 1st round, 9th overall pick
Selected by the Kansas City Kings
Playing career1984–2001
PositionPower forward / center
Number33, 50, 10, 52
Career history
1984–1988Kansas City / Sacramento Kings
1988–1995Houston Rockets
1995Portland Trail Blazers
1995–1997Detroit Pistons
1997–1998Vancouver Grizzlies
1998Sacramento Kings
1998–1999Washington Wizards
1999–2000Miami Heat
2000–2001Charlotte Hornets
Career highlights and awards
Career statistics
Points17,600 (14.0 ppg)
Rebounds10,370 (8.2 rpg)
Assists2,730 (2.2 apg)
Stats at NBA.com Edit this at Wikidata
Stats at Basketball Reference Edit this at Wikidata

Otis Henry Thorpe (born August 5, 1962) is an American former professional basketball player who played for several teams in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He was an NBA All-Star in 1992 and won an NBA championship with the Houston Rockets in 1994.

Early years

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Thorpe graduated in 1980 from Lake Worth Community High School in Florida. He played college ball at Providence College. He had the longest NBA career of any former Friars player. He ranks seventh all-time at the school in rebounds and was the school's first First-Team Big East player. During his tenure at Providence College he was also a two-time Honorable Mention All-America selection.[1]

NBA career

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Kansas City/Sacramento Kings

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Thorpe was drafted by the Kansas City Kings as the ninth overall pick in the first round of the 1984 NBA draft. In 1985, the Kings relocated to Sacramento. During the 1987-88 NBA season, Thorpe averaged career-highs of 20.8 points, 10.2 rebounds, and 3.2 assists.[2] That year, in perhaps his best game of the season, Thorpe nearly missed a triple-double with 35 points, 11 rebounds, and 9 assists.[3] Thorpe was traded to the Houston Rockets for Rodney McCray and Jim Petersen in October 1988.

Houston Rockets

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While with the Rockets, Thorpe made an All-Star appearance in 1992. Thorpe played in 542 consecutive games between 1986 and 1992 and, at one time, held the longest streak of consecutive games played in the NBA.[4]

On December 7, 1993, Thorpe scored a career-high 40 points in a win over the Charlotte Hornets.[5] That season, Thorpe was an integral part of the Houston Rockets' trip to the 1994 NBA Finals and subsequent first NBA Championship.

Halfway through the next season, the Rockets realized that they were struggling and needed a change. The team sent Thorpe to the Portland Trail Blazers in a deal for Clyde Drexler and Tracy Murray. He holds the Rockets' all-time record for the highest field goal accuracy (55.9%).

Portland Trail Blazers

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Thorpe would only play 34 games for the Blazers before moving on to occupy the starting front court for the Detroit Pistons (who acquired him in a package for Randolph Childress and Bill Curley) for the next two years.

Vancouver Grizzlies

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Before the start of the 1997–98 season, the Pistons dealt Thorpe to the Vancouver Grizzlies for a conditional first-round draft pick which eventually conveyed to the Pistons as the second pick in the 2003 draft, Darko Miličić.[6][7]

Thorpe would play 47 games with the Grizzlies before returning to the Kings in a trade that sent Bobby Hurley and Michael Smith to Vancouver. (Chris Robinson was also traded to the Kings as part of the deal.)

Bouncing around the league and career endings

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In the offseason, he was traded (along with Mitch Richmond) to the Washington Wizards for Chris Webber. He signed with the Miami Heat in 1999 and was traded to the Charlotte Hornets, along with Rodney Buford, P.J. Brown, Jamal Mashburn, and Tim James in a deal for Anthony Mason, Ricky Davis, Dale Ellis, and Eddie Jones. When Thorpe finished his last game in 2001, he was the last remaining member of the Kansas City Kings to retire.

Thorpe holds career averages of 14.0 points and 8.2 rebounds per game. He finished his career with over 17,000 points and 10,000 rebounds in the NBA.

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
 †  Won an NBA championship  *  Led the league

Regular season

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Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
1984–85 Kansas City 82 23 23.4 .600 .000 .620 6.8 1.4 .4 .5 12.8
1985–86 Sacramento 75 18 22.3 .587 - .661 5.6 1.1 .5 .5 9.9
1986–87 Sacramento 82 82 36.0 .540 .000 .761 10.0 2.5 .6 .7 18.9
1987–88 Sacramento 82 82 37.5 .507 .000 .755 10.2 3.2 .8 .7 20.8
1988–89 Houston 82 82 38.2 .542 .000 .729 9.6 2.5 1.0 .5 16.7
1989–90 Houston 82 82 35.9 .548 .000 .688 9.0 3.2 .8 .3 17.1
1990–91 Houston 82 82 37.1 .556 .429 .696 10.3 2.4 .9 .2 17.5
1991–92 Houston 82 82 37.3 .592 .000 .657 10.5 3.0 .6 .5 17.3
1992–93 Houston 72 69 32.7 .558 .000 .598 8.2 2.5 .6 .3 12.8
1993–94† Houston 82 82 35.5 .561 .000 .657 10.6 2.3 .8 .3 14.0
1994–95 Houston 36 35 33.0 .563 .000 .528 8.9 1.6 .6 .4 13.3
1994–95 Portland 34 0 26.7 .568 .000 .649 6.9 1.6 .6 .4 13.5
1995–96 Detroit 82 82* 34.6 .530 .000 .710 8.4 1.9 .6 .5 14.2
1996–97 Detroit 79 79 33.7 .532 .000 .653 7.9 1.7 .7 .2 13.1
1997–98 Vancouver 47 46 33.5 .477 .000 .694 7.9 3.4 .6 .5 11.2
1997–98 Sacramento 27 20 23.1 .459 .000 .657 6.1 2.3 .7 .3 8.3
1998–99 Washington 49 38 31.4 .545 .000 .698 6.8 2.1 .9 .4 11.3
1999–00 Miami 51 1 15.2 .514 .000 .604 3.3 .6 .5 .2 5.5
2000–01 Charlotte 49 4 13.2 .450 - .833 3.0 .6 .2 .1 2.8
Career 1,257 989 31.7 .546 .047 .687 8.2 2.2 .7 .4 14.0
All-Star 1 0 4.0 1.000 - - - - - - 2.0

Playoffs

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Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
1986 Sacramento 3 0 11.7 .231 - .462 4.0 .0 .0 .3 4.0
1989 Houston 4 4 38.0 .649 - .762 5.0 3.0 1.3 .3 16.0
1990 Houston 4 4 41.0 .600 - .684 8.3 1.8 1.3 .0 20.0
1991 Houston 3 3 38.7 .579 - .500 8.3 2.7 .7 .0 15.7
1993 Houston 12 12 34.9 .635 - .651 8.6 2.6 .5 .1 14.5
1994† Houston 23 23 37.1 .572 .500 .567 9.9 2.3 .6 .4 11.3
1995 Portland 3 0 22.0 .571 - .700 4.3 .7 .0 .0 10.3
1996 Detroit 3 3 33.7 .542 - .750 11.7 2.3 .0 .0 11.7
1997 Detroit 5 5 30.4 .512 - .778 6.4 .8 .4 .0 9.8
2000 Miami 10 0 13.6 .481 .000 .500 2.9 .3 .0 .2 3.3
2001 Charlotte 8 0 7.1 .222 - - 2.1 .0 .0 .0 .5
Career 78 54 28.9 .569 .333 .631 7.0 1.6 .4 .2 10.1

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Providence College Bio". Archived from the original on March 13, 2013. Retrieved August 5, 2010.
  2. ^ "Otis Thorpe Per Game Averages"
  3. ^ "Los Angeles Clippers at Sacramento Kings Box Score, December 15, 1987"
  4. ^ "SPORTS PEOPLE: BASKETBALL; Thorpe's Streak to End (Published 1992)". The New York Times. Archived from the original on June 2, 2023.
  5. ^ "Otis Thorpe Career High 40 Points"
  6. ^ Treadway, Dan. "Here's Your Annual Reminder of How Oh So Close the Grizzlies Were to Drafting LeBron James". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved June 16, 2022.
  7. ^ Windhorst, Brian (June 23, 2013). "2003 NBA Draft oral history". ESPN.com. Retrieved June 16, 2022.
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