Raef LaFrentz

Raef Andrew LaFrentz (born May 29, 1976) is an American retired professional basketball power forward and center who played in the National Basketball Association (NBA) from 1998 to 2008. Born and raised in Iowa, LaFrentz attended the University of Kansas and was drafted in 1998 by the Denver Nuggets. He was known for his perimeter shooting and his shot blocking abilities. LaFrentz is currently an assistant basketball coach at Decorah High School in Decorah, Iowa.

Raef LaFrentz

LaFrentz in 2006
Personal information
Born	(1976-05-29) May 29, 1976 Hampton, Iowa
Nationality	American
Listed height	6 ft 11 in (2.11 m)
Listed weight	240 lb (109 kg)
Career information
High school	MFL MarMac (Monona, Iowa)
College	Kansas (1994–1998)
NBA draft	1998 / Round: 1 / Pick: 3rd overall
Selected by the Denver Nuggets
Playing career	1998–2008
Position	Power forward / Center
Number	45, 9
Career history
1998–2002	Denver Nuggets
2002–2003	Dallas Mavericks
2003–2006	Boston Celtics
2006–2009	Portland Trail Blazers
Career highlights and awards
2× Consensus first-team All-American (1997, 1998) 2× Big 12 Player of the Year (1997, 1998) 2× First-team All-Big 12 (1997, 1998) First-team All-Big Eight (1996) No. 45 jersey retired by Kansas Jayhawks Second-team Parade All-American (1994)
Career NBA statistics
Points	5,690 (10.1 ppg)
Rebounds	3,423 (6.1 rpg)
Blocks	919 (1.6 bpg)
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com

Career

High school

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

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

College

LaFrentz played basketball at the Kansas, finishing in 1998. He played with Paul Pierce while at Kansas. He was a four-year starter and an All-American in his junior and senior seasons. 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 in 27 years to average a double-double over an entire season when he posted 19.8 ppg. and 11.4 rpg. averages as a senior in 1997-98, leading the Jayhawks to a 35–4 record.

NBA

The third overall pick by the Denver Nuggets in the 1998 NBA Draft, LaFrentz 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 February 25, 1999. 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. LaFrentz also played in the 2000 NBA All-Star Weekend. He played on the NBA All-Star Weekend Rookie Challenge Sophomore Roster. It was the first ever Sophomore team to play in the rookie challenge. It was there at NBA All-Star Weekend that LaFrentz was on the receiving end of Jason Williams' legendary "elbow pass". LaFrentz was unable to score on the play due to being fouled. 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).

LaFrentz 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 finished the 2001–02 season second in the NBA in blocked shots per game.

LaFrentz played for the US national team in the 2002 FIBA World Championship.[1]

The Celtics acquired LaFrentz 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.[2] The number 7 pick (Randy Foye) was later traded by the Blazers for the number 6 pick (Brandon Roy) in a draft day trade.

Career highlights and awards

College

• NCAA Division I men's basketball player with 2000 points and 1000 rebounds
• NCAA Men's Basketball Consensus All-Americans (1997, 1998)
• Kansas Jayhawks Retired Basketball Jersey #45
• Big 12 Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Year

NBA

• Third Overall pick in the 1998 NBA Draft
• Played in 2000 NBA All-Star Weekend
• Led Western Conference in Blocks (2001–02)
• Led Western Conference in Blocks per game (2001–02)
• Played on United States men's national basketball team (2002)

NBA Records

• Most blocks in an NBA All-Star Weekend Rookie Challenge Game
• Most blocks per game in NBA All-Star Weekend Rookie Challenge history

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

NBA

Regular season

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

Playoffs

Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
2002	Dallas	8	8	30.6	.500	.333	.545	7.6	.6	.3	2.8	11.3
2003	Dallas	20	16	24.6	.433	.200	.842	4.4	.3	.6	2.2	8.0
2005	Boston	7	7	26.4	.390	.500	.800	4.9	1.1	.9	1.7	6.9
Career		35	31	26.3	.446	.297	.750	5.2	.5	.5	2.2	8.5

College

Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
1994–95	Kansas	31	31	23.6	.534	.400	.637	9.7	7.5	.5	.3	11.4
1995–96	Kansas	34	34	27.0	.543	.286	.661	8.2	.4	.9	.8	13.4
1996–97	Kansas	36	36	38.9	.584	.167	.761	9.3	.7	.9	1.3	18.5
1997–98	Kansas	30	30	30.2	.548	.471	.738	11.4	1.0	.9	1.5	19.8
Career		131	131	27.5	.555	.371	.712	9.1	0.7	0.7	1.1	15.8

See also

• List of NCAA Division I men's basketball players with 2000 points and 1000 rebounds

References

1. 2002 USA Basketball Archived July 14, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
2. Raef LaFrentz NBA Basketball at CBSSports.com

External links

• NBA.com Profile - Raef LaFrentz
• SI.com profile
• Hoops Hype profile