- Tree Rollins
Wayne Monte "Tree" Rollins (born
June 15 1953 , in Winter Haven,Florida ) is a retired American professionalbasketball player who played 18 seasons in theNational Basketball Association for theAtlanta Hawks ,Cleveland Cavaliers ,Detroit Pistons ,Houston Rockets andOrlando Magic . He was primarily known under his playing name, Tree. The 7-foot-0-inch 275 pound Clemson graduate played center, and gained high esteem for his defense, particularly his rebounding and shot-blocking ability. He finished in the top three in blocked shots six times, leading the league during the1982-83 NBA season . At the time of his retirement in 1995, he was fourth all-time in career blocked shots, behind onlyHakeem Olajuwon ,Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Mark Eaton. He currently holds the seventh highest total of career blocked shots, with 2,542. His 6,750 career rebounds currently place him 89th on the all-time list. During his playing career, Rollins was given the nickname "The Intimidator". [http://www.wnba.com/news/rollins_qa_071030.html Named to the SC State Athletic Hall of Fame 2002. Named to the 50th Anniversary ACC Men's Basketball Team 2003. Named to the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame 2007. Strong Roots Make Tree Rollins Excited About the Mystics in 2008] . Posted October 29 2007]During the 1994-95 season, Rollins served as both assistant coach and backup center for the Orlando Magic. He was one-time coach of the now-defunct
Greenville Groove of the National Basketball Development League (NBDL). [ [http://www.nba.com/dleague/nbdl/tree_rollins_coach_020711.html NBDL: Tree Rollins Named Greenville Head Coach ] ] . 2004 he was President and General Manager Kentucky Colonels, Louisville, KY.In 2006, Rollins joined the
WNBA 'sWashington Mystics in 2006 as an assistant coach. OnJune 1 ,2007 , he was named interim head coach followingRichie Adubato 's resignation early in the season. Rollins led the Mystics to a 17-14 record.. On July 19, 2008, following lopsided losses to the New York Liberty and Detroit Shock which put the Mystics at 8-14 on the season and 2 1/2 games out of playoff position, he was relieved of his duties; the Mystics' aggregate record under Rollins over the two seasons was 25-28 second best in Mystics history. He was replaced on an interim basis by one of his assistants, Jessie Kenlaw.Awards
Was the first athlete in any sport at Clemson University to have jersey number retired. Only Clemson player to average double/double four straight seasons.
* NBA All-Defensive Second Team, 1982-1983 season [http://www.nba.com/history/awards_defensiveteams.html NBA.com: All-Defensive Teams ] ]
* NBA All-Defensive First Team, 1983-1984 seasonNotes
External links
* [http://www.nba.com/coachfile/tree_rollins/index.html?nav=page Coach profile] @ NBA.com
* [http://www.wnba.com/mystics/news/Jessie_Kenlaw_Named_Mystics_In-278247-230.html Rollins replaced as Mystics Head coach by Jessie Kenlaw]
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