Raef LaFrentz

Infobox NBA Player
name = Raef LaFrentz

---

caption =
position = power forward/center
number = 9
height_ft = 6
height_in = 11
weight_lb = 245
league = NBA
team = Portland Trail Blazers
nationality = American
birth_date = Birth date and age|1976|5|29|mf=y
birth_place = Hampton, Iowa
college = Kansas
highschool = Mar-Mac
draft = 3rd overall
draft_year = 1998
draft_team = Denver Nuggets
career_start = 1998
former_teams = Denver Nuggets (1998–2002)
Dallas Mavericks (2002–2003)
Boston Celtics (2003–2006)
awards =

Raef Andrew LaFrentz (born May 29, 1976, in Hampton, Iowa) is an American professional basketball player currently with the NBA's Portland Trail Blazers.

LaFrentz is a power forward and occasionally plays at center. He is mostly known for his perimeter skills and his shot blocking ability. He wears number 9.

Career

High school

Raef LaFrentz attended MFL Mar-Mac High School located in Monona, Iowa. His father was an assistant coach on Raef's high school team. He was named to the USA Today All-USA 1st Team in 1994.

During the summer before his freshman year at Kansas, LaFrentz was selected to the 1994 U.S. Olympic Festival North Team and averaged 11.8 ppg. and 6.8 rpg.

He was also a conference champion swimmer in high school.

College

LaFrentz played basketball at the University of Kansas, finishing in 1998. He played with current Celtic Paul Pierce while at Kansas. He was a four-year starter and an All-American in his junior and senior seasons. In fact, he joined Tim Duncan and Shaquille O'Neal as the only players in the 1990s to earn first team AP All-America honors twice.

Compiling career averages of 15.8 ppg. and 9.1 rpg., while shooting 55.5 percent from the floor overall, he concluded his career ranked second all-time at Kansas in points with 2,066 and rebounds with 1,186, and left trailing only Danny Manning in both categories.

Accumulating a record of 123-17 (87.9 winning percentage) over his four seasons, he was part of a senior class that won more games over a four-year period than any class in KU history.

Named by the A.P. in 1997 and 1998 the Big 12 Conference Player of the Year, he was also tabbed All-Big 12 Conference first team by both the media and coaches his final two seasons.

LaFrentz became the first KU player to average a double-double in 27 years when as a senior he posted averages of 19.8 ppg. and 11.4 rpg. and led the Jayhawks to a 35-4 record.

NBA

The third overall pick by the Denver Nuggets in the 1998 NBA Draft, he averaged 13.8 ppg., 7.6 rpg. and 1.4 bpg. but played in just 12 games as a rookie and missed the majority of the season after suffering a torn ACL in his left knee against Dallas on Feb. 25. Successfully returning from the torn ACL to start 80 of his 81 appearances in 1999-2000, he averaged 12.4 ppg., an NBA 25th best 7.9 rpg. and ranked eighth in the NBA in blocked shots averaging 2.2 bpg. In his third year (2000-01), he started 74 of the 78 games he played in and averaged 12.9 ppg., while ranking seventh in the league in blocks at 2.6 bpg., tied for 25th in rebounding with a 7.8 rpg. average, and tied for 27th in field goal percentage (career high .477).

He was traded by the Nuggets with Nick Van Exel, Avery Johnson, and Tariq Abdul-Wahad to the Dallas Mavericks for Juwan Howard, Donnell Harvey, Tim Hardaway and a 2002 first-round pick on February 21, 2002.

He played for the US national team in the 2002 FIBA World Championship. [ [http://www.usabasketball.com/history/mwc_2002.html 2002 USA Basketball] ]

The Celtics acquired him from the Dallas Mavericks, along with Chris Mills, Jiri Welsch and a first round draft choice, in exchange for Tony Delk and Antoine Walker on October 20, 2003. On June 28, 2006, the Boston Celtics traded LaFrentz, guard Dan Dickau, and the number seven pick in the 2006 NBA draft to the Portland Trail Blazers for center Theo Ratliff and guard Sebastian Telfair.

In the 2006-07 NBA season, he was averaging career low figures in less than 9 minutes per game with the Trail Blazers and has been dogged by injuries, specifically a calf injury that has plagued him this entire season. He earned $11,532,037 for the 2006-07 season.

In 524 career games in the NBA, LaFrentz has averaged 10.7 points, on 0.466 FG, 0.365 3PT and 0.713 FT shooting, 6.4 rebounds, 1.1 assists and 1.7 blocks in 27.2 minutes per game. [ [http://www.sportsline.com/nba/players/playerpage/20612 Raef LaFrentz NBA Basketball at CBSSports.com ] ]

NBA career statistics

Regular season

-
align="left" | 1998–99
align="left" | Denver
12 || 12 || 32.3 || .457 || .387 || .750 || 7.6 || .7 || .8 || 1.4 || 13.8
-
align="left" | 1999–00
align="left" | Denver
81 || 80 || 30.1 || .446 || .328 || .686 || 7.9 || 1.2 || .5 || 2.2 || 12.4
-
align="left" | 2000–01
align="left" | Denver
78 || 74 || 31.5 || .477 || .367 || .698 || 7.8 || 1.4 || .5 || 2.6 || 12.9
-
align="left" | 2001–02
align="left" | Denver
51 || 51 || 32.7 || .466 || .434 || .667 || 7.4 || 1.2 || .6 || 3.0 || 14.9
-
align="left" | 2001–02
align="left" | Dallas
27 || 25 || 29.1 || .437 || .305 || .761 || 7.4 || 1.1 || .9 || 2.2 || 10.8
-
align="left" | 2002–03
align="left" | Dallas
69 || 43 || 23.3 || .518 || .405 || .682 || 4.8 || .8 || .5 || 1.3 || 9.3
-
align="left" | 2003–04
align="left" | Boston
17 || 1 || 19.3 || .460 || .200 || .769 || 4.6 || 1.4 || .5 || .8 || 7.8
-
align="left" | 2004–05
align="left" | Boston
80 || 80 || 27.5 || .496 || .364 || .811 || 6.9 || 1.2 || .5 || 1.2 || 11.1
-
align="left" | 2005–06
align="left" | Boston
82 || 63 || 24.8 || .431 || .392 || .680 || 5.0 || 1.4 || .3 || .9 || 7.8
-
align="left" | 2006–07
align="left" | Portland
27 || 9 || 13.0 || .382 || .087 || .769 || 2.6 || .3 || .3 || .4 || 3.7
-
align="left" | 2007–08
align="left" | Portland
39 || 0 || 7.5 || .443 || .000 || .579 || 1.7 || .2 || .3 || .4 || 1.7
-
align="left" | Career
align="left" |
563 || 438 || 25.8 || .466 || .363 || .711 || 6.1 || 1.1 || .5 || 1.6 || 10.1
###@@@KEYEND@@@###

Playoffs

-
align="left" | 2001–02
align="left" | Dallas
8 || 8 || 30.6 || .500 || .333 || .545 || 7.6 || .6 || .2 || 2.8 || 11.3
-
align="left" | 2002–03
align="left" | Dallas
20 || 16 || 24.6 || .433 || .200 || .842 || 4.4 || .3 || .6 || 2.2 || 8.0
-
align="left" | 2004–05
align="left" | Boston
7 || 7 || 26.4 || .390 || .500 || .800 || 4.9 || 1.1 || .9 || 1.7 || 6.9
-
align="left" | Career
align="left" |
35 || 31 || 26.3 || .446 || .297 || .750 || 5.2 || .5 || .5 || 2.2 || 8.5
###@@@KEYEND@@@###

References

External links

* [http://www.nba.com/playerfile/raef_lafrentz/index.html?nav=page NBA.com Profile - Raef LaFrentz]
* [http://www.usabasketball.com/biosmen/raef_lafrentz_bio.html]
* [http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/basketball/nba/players/3246/]
* [http://www.hoopshype.com/players/raef_lafrentz.htm]