Chris Welp
Christian Ansgar Welp (January 2, 1964 – March 1, 2015) was a German professional basketball player. During his playing career, he was a 213 centimetres (7 ft 0 in), 111 kilograms (245 lb) center. He played three seasons in the NBA. He was the MVP of the 1993 EuroBasket.
Personal information | |||||||||||
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Born | Delmenhorst, West Germany | January 2, 1964||||||||||
Died | March 1, 2015 51) Hood Canal, Washington | (aged||||||||||
Nationality | German | ||||||||||
Listed height | 7 ft 0 in (2.13 m) | ||||||||||
Listed weight | 245 lb (111 kg) | ||||||||||
Career information | |||||||||||
High school | Olympic (Silverdale, Washington) | ||||||||||
College | Washington (1983–1987) | ||||||||||
NBA draft | 1987 / Round: 1 / Pick: 16th overall | ||||||||||
Selected by the Philadelphia 76ers | |||||||||||
Playing career | 1987–1999 | ||||||||||
Position | Center | ||||||||||
Number | 44, 42, 40 | ||||||||||
Career history | |||||||||||
1987–1989 | Philadelphia 76ers | ||||||||||
1989–1990 | San Antonio Spurs | ||||||||||
1990 | Golden State Warriors | ||||||||||
1990–1996 | TSV Bayer 04 Leverkusen | ||||||||||
1996–1997 | Olympiacos | ||||||||||
1997–1998 | Alba Berlin | ||||||||||
1999 | Viola Reggio Calabria | ||||||||||
Career highlights and awards | |||||||||||
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Stats at Basketball-Reference.com | |||||||||||
Medals
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College career
Welp became the leading scorer in Washington Huskies history, as a college basketball player. He scored 2,073 points for the Huskies, and was a three-time All-Pac-10 Conference selection.[1] Welp was the Pac-10 Player of the Year in 1986, and helped lead the Huskies to consecutive conference regular-season titles. Welp was inducted into the Husky Hall of Fame, in 2001.[2]
Professional playing career
NBA
Welp was selected 16th overall, in the National Basketball Association (NBA)'s 1987 Draft, by the Philadelphia 76ers, and he played three seasons in the NBA. In December 1987, he slipped on a wet court in Chicago, the night after a Blackhawks' hockey game.[3] Welp remembered, "There was condensation on the floor, and the ball boys were mopping the floor the whole game," and the injury "was so severe, my knee never got back to the level it was before. But no excuses."[4]
He was traded by the 76ers, along with Maurice Cheeks and David Wingate, to the San Antonio Spurs, in exchange for Johnny Dawkins and Jay Vincent, during the off-season of 1989.[5]
He was used sparingly by the Spurs, before being traded to the Golden State Warriors, in exchange for Uwe Blab (another German-born NBA center), at the trade deadline, during the 1989–90 NBA season.[6] After a handful of games with the Warriors, his NBA career ended.
Europe
From 1990 to 1996, Welp played in Germany, with Bayer Leverkusen, with which he won six German national league championships and three German Cups. For the 1996–97 season, Welp played with the Greek League club Olympiacos, winning the EuroLeague title with them[7] (and also the Triple Crown). In the 1997–98 season, he played with the German league club Alba Berlin.[8]
He also played with the Italian league club Viola Reggio Calabria, during the 1998–99 season.[9]
National team playing career
Welp won the gold medal at the EuroBasket 1993, as a player of the senior German national team. He scored the decisive last points in the tournament's final.[10] He was voted MVP of that tournament.
Coaching career
Welp worked as an assistant basketball coach for the senior German national basketball team until 2006.
Personal life and death
After Welp retired from playing professional basketball in 1999, he lived in Seattle, Washington, with his wife, Melanie, and three children.[11] He worked at a construction-supply business in Woodinville, for Tim Burnham, a former football player, with whom he had become friends during college.[12]
Welp died on March 1, 2015, of heart failure.[13] He was at a vacation home on Hood Canal, that he had purchased just after being drafted in 1987.[14] He had been complaining of chest pains, and was planning to see a doctor.[15]
References
- "Christian Welp, Washington Huskies career scoring leader, dies at 51 - ESPN". ESPN.com. Retrieved March 2, 2015.
- Welp, Shannon Head List of Husky Hall of Fame Inductees., University of Washington Alumni Magazine.
- Raley, Dan (January 6, 2004). "Where Are They Now: Christian Welp". Seattle Post Intelligencer. Retrieved November 23, 2017.
- Raley, Dan (January 6, 2004). "Where Are They Now: Christian Welp". Seattle Post Intelligencer. Retrieved November 23, 2017.
- http://www.ibiblio.org/craig/draft/1996_draft/draft/28.html retrieved Jan 9, 2007.
- 1990 NBA Transactions Archived September 28, 2007, at the Wayback Machine, retrieved Jan 9, 2007.
- Olympiakos roster 1996–97 Archived October 11, 2006, at the Wayback Machine @ basket-stats.info, retrieved Jan 9, 2007
- ALBA Berlin roster 1997–98 Archived July 5, 2007, at the Wayback Machine @ basket-stats.info, retrieved Jan 9, 2007.
- "Legabasket". 77.208. Retrieved March 2, 2015.
- "Former European champion Welp dead at 51". Reuters. March 2, 2015. Retrieved March 2, 2015.
- Raley, Dan (January 6, 2004). "Where Are They Now: Christian Welp". Seattle Post Intelligencer. Retrieved March 2, 2015.
- Withers, Bud (March 2, 2015). "UW great Christian Welp died at Hood Canal vacation home, friend says". The Seattle Times. Retrieved November 23, 2017.
- Withers, Bud (March 2, 2015). "UW great Christian Welp died at Hood Canal vacation home, friend says". The Seattle Times. Retrieved November 23, 2017.
- Withers, Bud (March 2, 2015). "UW great Christian Welp died at Hood Canal vacation home, friend says". The Seattle Times. Retrieved November 23, 2017.
- Withers, Bud (March 2, 2015). "UW great Christian Welp died at Hood Canal vacation home, friend says". The Seattle Times. Retrieved November 23, 2017.
External links
- NBA stats @ databasebasketball.com