Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf
Born: March 9, 1969
Position: Point Guard
Height: 6-1 (1.85 m)
Jerseys worn: #1
In the NBA:
His Game:
Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf was a high-scoring point guard, extremely efficient from the free-throw line.
His Career:
Chris Jackson was the 3rd selection overall in the 1990 NBA Draft, by the Denver Nuggets. In his rookie season he averaged 14.1 points in 22.1 minutes coming off the bench! The next season was very bad, for a variety of reasons and his scoring dropped to 10.3 points. In 1992-'93 though, he established himself as the starting point guard of the Denver Nuggets, and scored a career-high 19.2 ppg. He remained a starter and maintained his game in high levels for the next 3 seasons. In 1994 he shot an amazing 95.6% in free-throws and in 1996 he matched his career-high in points (19.2) and established a new one in assists (6.8).
He played in Sacramento during the 1996-'97 season. He scored 13.7 points in 28.4 minutes, mostly as a starter. The next year he played only 31 games, scoring 7.3 points off the bench. His next and final season was with the Memphis Grizzlies in 2000-'01, where he played a secondary role, helping a young team with his experience and good scoring in limited minutes. After this, he decided to retire from the NBA.
Honors:
Abdul-Rauf was the NBA's Most Improved Player in 1993. He led the league in free-throw percentage in 1994 and 1996.
Highlights:
Although no one could deny his basketball skills, Abdul-Rauf was more famous for other reasons. When he entered the NBA his name was Chris Jackson but he changed it when he became a muslim. He refused to stand while the American National Anthem played and has declared that "the American flag is a symbol of oppression, of tyranny". He has overcome his disease that used to cause him spasms (Tourette Syndrome), through hard work and practice, and even developed an unbelieavable free-throw accuracy!
Statistics:
| YEAR |
Team |
Games |
Pts |
FT % |
FG % |
3PM |
3-pt % |
Reb |
Trn |
Ast |
St |
Blk |
Min |
Star? |
| 1991 |
Denver |
67 |
14.1 |
.857 |
.413 |
24 |
.240 |
1.8 |
1.6 |
3.1 |
0.8 |
0.1 |
22.5 |
No |
| 1992 |
Denver |
81 |
10.3 |
.870 |
.421 |
31 |
.330 |
1.4 |
1.4 |
2.4 |
0.5 |
0.0 |
19.0 |
No |
| 1993 |
Denver |
81 |
19.2 |
.935 |
.450 |
70 |
.355 |
2.8 |
2.3 |
4.2 |
1.0 |
0.1 |
33.5 |
YES |
| 1994 |
Denver |
80 |
18.0 |
.956 |
.460 |
42 |
.316 |
2.1 |
1.9 |
4.5 |
1.0 |
0.1 |
32.7 |
YES |
| 1995 |
Denver |
73 |
16.0 |
.885 |
.470 |
83 |
.386 |
1.9 |
1.6 |
3.6 |
1.1 |
0.1 |
28.5 |
YES |
| 1996 |
Denver |
57 |
19.2 |
.930 |
.434 |
121 |
.392 |
2.4 |
2.0 |
6.8 |
1.1 |
0.1 |
35.6 |
YES |
| 1997 |
Sacramento |
75 |
13.7 |
.846 |
.445 |
94 |
.382 |
1.6 |
1.6 |
2.5 |
0.7 |
0.1 |
28.4 |
No |
| 1998 |
Sacramento |
31 |
7.3 |
1.000 |
.377 |
5 |
.161 |
1.2 |
0.6 |
1.9 |
0.5 |
0.0 |
17.3 |
No |
2001 |
Vancouver |
41 |
6.5 |
.759 |
.488 |
4 |
.286 |
0.6 |
0.6 |
1.9 |
0.2 |
0.0 |
11.9 |
No |
| Career |
Career |
586 |
14.6 |
.905 |
.442 |
474 |
.354 |
1.9 |
1.6 |
3.5 |
0.8 |
0.1 |
26.7 |
No |
In Europe:
In Turkey:
Abdul-Rauf has played a few games in Turkey for Fenerbahce during the lockout that delayed the beginning of the 1998-'99 season. He played well but had problems with his coach so he left soon. In 5 games in the Euroleague he averaged 17.4 points and 2.4 assists with good shooting percentages.
In Russia:
He played 36 games in Russia for Ural Great in 2003-'04. The team made it to the semifinals both in the Russian League and the FIBA European league. In the first game of the Russian playoffs, he scored a season-high 29 points, 14 of which in the last 10 minutes.
He averaged 13 points, 1.6 rebounds and 2.2 assists, shooting 48% from the field and 94% in free throws.
He received the most votes for the 2004 FIBA Euro All-Star Game.
In Italy:
Abdul-Rauf signed with Sedima Roseto for the 2004-'05 season. He played in 23 games and averaged 18.4 points, 2.3 rebounds, 2.2 assists and 1.4 steals.
In Greece:
Early in the 2006-'07 season, Rauf came to Thessaloniki and signed with Aris. The team would participate in the Euroleague for the first time in 14 years and needed a veteran who would help on the court with his scoring and experience and in the locker room.
Rauf had the right to play only in the Euroleague, not the Greek Championship. The team made it to the Top 16 which was their goal. Rauf's impact wasn't big though, at least statistically. He averaged 4.6 points, .8 rebounds, .7 assists and 11 minutes played in 17 games while shooting 35% from the arc.