Nazr Mohammed

Nazr Mohammed

File:Nazr Mohammed.jpg Mohammed with the Oklahoma City Thunder
Personal information
Born	(1977-09-05) September 5, 1977 Chicago, Illinois
Nationality	American
Listed height	6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)
Listed weight	250 lb (113 kg)
Career information
High school	Kenwood Academy (Chicago, Illinois)
College	Kentucky (1995–1998)
NBA draft	1998 / Round: 1 / Pick: 29th overall
Selected by the Utah Jazz
Playing career	1998–2015
Position	Center
Number	14, 2, 13, 6, 8, 48
Career history
1998–2001	Philadelphia 76ers
2001–2004	Atlanta Hawks
2004–2005	New York Knicks
2005–2006	San Antonio Spurs
2006–2007	Detroit Pistons
2007–2011	Charlotte Bobcats
2011–2012	Oklahoma City Thunder
2012–2015	Chicago Bulls
Career highlights and awards
NBA champion (2005) 2× NCAA champion (1996, 1998)
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com

Nazr Tahiru Mohammed (pronounced NAH-zee; born September 5, 1977) is an American former professional basketball player who played 17 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played the center position.

Early life

The son of an immigrant from Ghana, Mohammed was raised in Chicago and attended high school at Kenwood Academy and graduated in 1995. Mohammed entered the University of Kentucky in the fall of 1995 at a hefty 315 pounds, and saw little playing time during their NCAA Championship season. After slimming down for his sophomore year, Mohammed shared the starting center spot with Jamaal Magloire and was a key contributor in 1997, when the Wildcats were runners-up to Arizona. Mohammed once again shared the starting post position with Magloire in 1998, and once again they brought the NCAA Championship home to Kentucky, for the second time in three years.

NBA career

After his junior year, Mohammed decided to enter the 1998 NBA draft. He was selected by the Utah Jazz in the first round, as the 29th pick overall. Utah traded his rights to the Philadelphia 76ers for a future first round pick, which turned out to be Quincy Lewis in the 1999 NBA draft. He spent two and a half seasons in Philadelphia, traded in February 2001 to the Atlanta Hawks along with an injured Theo Ratliff in exchange for Dikembe Mutombo. On November 5, 2001, he scored a career-high 30 points against the Los Angeles Clippers. He played for the Hawks through the middle of the 2003–04 season, at which point he was traded to the New York Knicks.

Mohammed split the 2004–05 season between the Knicks and the San Antonio Spurs (who acquired him in a trade for Malik Rose). In a combined 77 games for both teams, he averaged 9.5 points, 7.6 rebounds and 1.1 blocks per game. He won his first and only championship in 2005 with the Spurs as a member of their starting lineup.

During his second season in San Antonio, Mohammed shared the starting center position with Rasho Nesterovič, averaging 6.2 points and 5.2 rebounds per game during the regular season. On March 17, 2006, he tied his career-high of 30 points against the Phoenix Suns. He was a key contributor to the team's first round series victory over the Sacramento Kings, averaging 7.0 points per game and nailing his second career three-point basket late in Game 1. Mohammed, however, played sparingly in the team's second round series loss to the Dallas Mavericks. After the season, he turned down a four-year contract extension and did not return to the Spurs. In July 2006, he signed with the Detroit Pistons and became their starting center. After beginning the season in the starting five, the arrival of Chris Webber on January 16, 2007 made him gradually fall out of the team's rotation, the culmination being his 5 minutes in two postseason contests. He averaged 5.6 points and 4.5 rebounds in 51 games (33 starts), with about 15 minutes of action per game.

Mohammed was traded from the Pistons to the Charlotte Bobcats on December 14, 2007, in exchange for Primož Brezec and Wálter Herrmann.

On February 24, 2011, Mohammed was traded to the Oklahoma City Thunder, while forward D. J. White and guard Morris Peterson were sent to the Charlotte Bobcats. He reached the 2012 NBA Finals with the Thunder, but the team lost to the Miami Heat 4 games to 1.

On July 27, 2012, Mohammed signed with the Chicago Bulls. On May 10, 2013, he was involved in an altercation with LeBron James in the 2013 NBA Playoffs, in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference semi-finals. James was called for a technical foul for tying up with Mohammed in transition; Mohammed retaliated by shoving James which followed with Mohammed being ejected.

On July 11, 2013, Mohammed re-signed with the Bulls. On September 22, 2014, he again re-signed with the Bulls.

On August 1, 2015, Mohammed played for Team Africa at the 2015 NBA Africa exhibition game. Two months later, on October 9, he retired from the NBA.

NBA career statistics

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

Regular season

Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
1998–99	Philadelphia	26	0	4.7	.357	.000	.571	1.4	.1	.2	.2	1.6
1999–00	Philadelphia	28	3	6.8	.389	.000	.545	1.8	.1	.1	.4	1.9
2000–01	Philadelphia	30	3	6.5	.466	.000	.500	1.8	.1	.2	.2	3.2
2000–01	Atlanta	28	19	25.6	.480	.000	.765	9.0	.6	.8	1.0	12.3
2001–02	Atlanta	82	73	26.4	.461	.000	.617	7.9	.4	.8	.7	9.7
2002–03	Atlanta	35	0	12.7	.421	.000	.634	3.7	.2	.5	.6	4.6
2003–04	Atlanta	53	1	17.7	.493	.000	.627	5.0	.4	.4	.5	6.5
2003–04	New York	27	23	24.9	.563	.000	.525	7.7	.6	1.2	.9	9.1
2004–05	New York	54	54	28.1	.509	.000	.708	8.1	.5	1.0	1.0	10.9
2004–05	San Antonio	23	5	18.0	.387	.000	.571	6.4	.3	.2	1.4	6.2
2005–06	San Antonio	80	30	17.4	.504	.000	.785	5.2	.5	.3	.6	6.2
2006–07	Detroit	51	33	15.2	.532	.000	.610	4.5	.2	.5	.8	5.6
2007–08	Detroit	21	0	10.9	.475	.000	.433	3.5	.3	.3	.4	3.3
2007–08	Charlotte	61	29	23.3	.520	.000	.617	6.9	1.1	.6	.9	9.3
2008–09	Charlotte	39	1	8.7	.406	.000	.550	2.0	.2	.1	.4	2.7
2009–10	Charlotte	58	29	17.0	.553	.000	.648	5.2	.5	.3	.7	7.9
2010–11	Charlotte	51	30	16.7	.502	.000	.591	4.9	.3	.3	.9	7.3
2010–11	Oklahoma City	24	7	17.9	.573	.000	.625	4.8	.3	.7	.4	6.9
2011–12	Oklahoma City	63	1	11.0	.467	.000	.565	2.7	.2	.3	.6	2.7
2012–13	Chicago	63	12	11.0	.367	.000	.723	3.1	.4	.3	.5	2.6
2013–14	Chicago	80	1	7.0	.429	.000	.533	2.2	.3	.2	.4	1.6
2014–15	Chicago	23	0	5.6	.433	.000	.333	1.7	.1	.2	.2	1.2
Career		1000	354	15.9	.486	.000	.639	4.7	.4	.4	.6	5.8

Playoffs

Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
1999	Philadelphia	3	0	1.0	.000	.000	.000	.0	.0	.0	.0	.0
2004	New York	4	4	24.3	.500	.000	.688	5.8	.3	1.5	.8	10.3
2005	San Antonio	23	23	23.0	.528	1.000	.638	6.7	.3	.6	1.0	7.1
2006	San Antonio	8	3	11.8	.733	1.000	.722	3.9	.1	.4	.8	4.5
2007	Detroit	2	0	3.0	.500	.000	1.000	1.5	.0	.0	.0	2.5
2010	Charlotte	4	0	12.0	.579	.000	.667	2.0	.5	.3	.5	6.0
2011	Oklahoma City	14	0	10.6	.412	.000	.400	2.3	.0	.3	.4	2.3
2012	Oklahoma City	8	0	10.4	.500	.000	.500	2.0	.1	.0	.4	2.3
2013	Chicago	12	0	9.5	.512	.000	.571	2.7	.3	.2	.6	3.8
2014	Chicago	2	0	2.5	.000	.000	.000	1.0	.0	.0	.0	.0
Career		80	30	14.1	.519	1.000	.639	3.8	.2	.4	.6	4.6

Personal life

Mohammed is a faithful Muslim who fasts for Ramadan. He had lost nearly ten pounds during 2004–05 season because of his fasting.

See also

• National Basketball Association portal

External links

• Career statistics and player information from NBA.com and Basketball-Reference.com
• Career statistics and player information from WNBA.com and Basketball-Reference.com
• NBA.com profile
• Kentucky Wildcats bio at the Wayback Machine (archived November 11, 1999)