Luc Longley

infobox NBA Player
name = Luc Longley


position = Center
height_ft = 7 | height_in = 2
weight_lbs = 292
nationality = Australian
birth_date = birth date and age|1969|1|19
birth_place = Melbourne, Victoria
college = New Mexico
draft = 7th overall
draft_year = 1991
draft_team = Minnesota Timberwolves
career_start = 1991
career_end = 2001
former_teams = Perth Wildcats 1986
Minnesota Timberwolves 1991-94
Chicago Bulls 1994-98
Phoenix Suns 1998-2000
New York Knicks 2000-01
awards =

Lucien James "Luc" Longley (born January 19 1969 in Melbourne, Victoria) is a retired Australian professional basketball player, who was the first Australian to play in the NBA. He attended college at the University of New Mexico. Known for his passing ability and free spirit, Longley drew comparisons to fellow redhead Bill Walton upon his entry into the NBA.

Longley was drafted 7th overall by the Minnesota Timberwolves in 1991. After two plus mediocre seasons with the struggling franchise, the 7'2" (218 cm) center was traded to the Chicago Bulls for Stacey King late in the 1993-94 season. He won three straight championships with the Bulls from 1996 to 1998.

Following the break up of the championship Bulls in 1998, Chicago did a sign and trade with Longley, sending him to the Phoenix Suns for Mark Bryant, Martin Muursepp, Bubba Wells and a conditional first-round draft pick. Longley spent two lackluster seasons with Phoenix, where he gained less attention for his play than for being stung twice by a scorpion while sitting on the floor of his home sorting through his CD collection. [http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1208/is_18_224/ai_62052400 ¹] (Longley also had difficulties with bodysurfing - he managed to separate his shoulder and miss 18 games in 1997. [http://vault.sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1009654/index.htm] ) He was traded to the New York Knicks prior to the 2000-01 NBA season in what was only the second four-team trade in NBA history. The Suns acquired Chris Dudley as part of the deal together with a first-round draft pick from New York and an undisclosed amount of cash, while New York received Longley, Glen Rice, Travis Knight, Vladimir Stepania, Lazaro Borrell, Vernon Maxwell, two first-round draft picks (from the Los Angeles Lakers and the Seattle SuperSonics) and two second-round draft picks from Seattle. Seattle received Patrick Ewing and the Lakers received Horace Grant, Greg Foster, Chuck Person and Emanual Davis. Longley spent one year with New York before retiring. Longley averaged 7.2 points and 4.9 rebounds per game in his 567 regular season game NBA career. Longley played more NBA games than any other Australian and is widely regarded as one of the best Australian basketballers ever.

Although Longley did not appear in many international matches with the Australian Boomers during his career, this could be due to various injuries that stemmed from an ankle injury that eventually ended his playing days.

Longley attended Scotch College, Perth for the majority of his high schooling, was part-owner of the Perth Wildcats basketball club in the Australian National Basketball League for several years (he played 2 games for the club in 1986), and is currently the #1 ticket holder of the Fremantle Football Club in the Australian Football League.

On April 6, 2007, Longley's $2 million [http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,21517891-2,00.html Explosion woke basketball player] , April 7, 2007] home in Fremantle, Western Australia, was destroyed by fire. [ [http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=2829470 Ex-Bulls center, family safe following Friday night's fire] , April 7, 2007] It is believed much of Longley's memorabilia from his basketball career was lost, although his three championship rings may have been spared.

Notes

External links

* [http://www.nba.com/playerfile/luc_longley/ NBA.com player file]
*David Zingler: [http://www.buzzle.com/editorials/10-13-2001-5335.asp Luc Longley: A footnote in NBA history]
* [http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1208/is_18_224/ai_62052400 Stung by a scorpion reference]