Otis Thorpe
Kansas City Kings | |
| Playing career | 1984–2001 |
|---|---|
| Position | Power forward / center |
| Number | 33, 50, 10, 52 |
| Career history | |
| 1984–1988 | Kansas City / Sacramento Kings |
| 1988–1995 | Houston Rockets |
| 1995 | Portland Trail Blazers |
| 1995–1997 | Detroit Pistons |
| 1997–1998 | Vancouver Grizzlies |
| 1998 | Sacramento Kings |
| 1998–1999 | Washington Wizards |
| 1999–2000 | Miami Heat |
| 2000–2001 | Charlotte Hornets |
| Career highlights and awards | |
| |
| Career statistics | |
Points | 17,600 (14.0 ppg) |
| Rebounds | 10,370 (8.2 rpg) |
| Assists | 2,730 (2.2 apg) |
| Stats at NBA.com | |
| Stats at Basketball-Reference.com | |
Otis Henry Thorpe (born August 5, 1962) is an American former professional
Early years
Thorpe graduated in 1980 from Lake Worth Community High School in Florida. He played college ball at Providence College. He had the longest NBA career of any former Friars player. He ranks seventh all-time at the school in rebounds and was the school's first First-Team Big East player. During his tenure at Providence College he was also a two-time Honorable Mention All-America selection.[1]
NBA career
Kansas City/Sacramento Kings
Thorpe was drafted by the
Houston Rockets
While with the Rockets, Thorpe made an
On December 7, 1993, Thorpe scored a career-high 40 points in a win over the Charlotte Hornets.[5] That season, Thorpe was an integral part of the Houston Rockets' trip to the 1994 NBA Finals and subsequent first NBA Championship.
Halfway through the next season, the Rockets realized that they were struggling and needed a change. The team sent Thorpe to the Portland Trail Blazers in a deal for Clyde Drexler and Tracy Murray. He holds the Rockets' all-time record for the highest field goal accuracy (55.9%).
Portland Trail Blazers
Thorpe would only play 34 games for the Blazers before moving on to occupy the starting front court for the Detroit Pistons (who acquired him in a package for Randolph Childress and Bill Curley) for the next two years.
Vancouver Grizzlies
Before the start of the 1997–98 season, the Pistons dealt Thorpe to the Vancouver Grizzlies for a conditional first-round draft pick which eventually conveyed to the Pistons as the second pick in the 2003 draft, Darko Miličić.[6][7]
Thorpe would play 47 games with the Grizzlies before returning to the Kings in a trade that sent Bobby Hurley and Michael Smith to Vancouver. (Chris Robinson was also traded to the Kings as part of the deal.)
Bouncing around the league and career endings
In the offseason, he was traded (along with
Thorpe holds career averages of 14.0 points and 8.2 rebounds per game. He finished his career with over 17,000 points and 10,000 rebounds in the NBA.
NBA career statistics
| 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 |
| † | Won an NBA championship | * | Led the league |
Regular season
| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1984–85 | Kansas City
|
82 | 23 | 23.4 | .600 | .000 | .620 | 6.8 | 1.4 | .4 | .5 | 12.8 |
| 1985–86 | Sacramento
|
75 | 18 | 22.3 | .587 | - | .661 | 5.6 | 1.1 | .5 | .5 | 9.9 |
| 1986–87 | Sacramento
|
82 | 82 | 36.0 | .540 | .000 | .761 | 10.0 | 2.5 | .6 | .7 | 18.9 |
| 1987–88 | Sacramento
|
82 | 82 | 37.5 | .507 | .000 | .755 | 10.2 | 3.2 | .8 | .7 | 20.8 |
| 1988–89 | Houston
|
82 | 82 | 38.2 | .542 | .000 | .729 | 9.6 | 2.5 | 1.0 | .5 | 16.7 |
| 1989–90 | Houston
|
82 | 82 | 35.9 | .548 | .000 | .688 | 9.0 | 3.2 | .8 | .3 | 17.1 |
| 1990–91 | Houston
|
82 | 82 | 37.1 | .556 | .429 | .696 | 10.3 | 2.4 | .9 | .2 | 17.5 |
| 1991–92 | Houston
|
82 | 82 | 37.3 | .592 | .000 | .657 | 10.5 | 3.0 | .6 | .5 | 17.3 |
| 1992–93 | Houston
|
72 | 69 | 32.7 | .558 | .000 | .598 | 8.2 | 2.5 | .6 | .3 | 12.8 |
| 1993–94† | Houston
|
82 | 82 | 35.5 | .561 | .000 | .657 | 10.6 | 2.3 | .8 | .3 | 14.0 |
| 1994–95 | Houston
|
36 | 35 | 33.0 | .563 | .000 | .528 | 8.9 | 1.6 | .6 | .4 | 13.3 |
| 1994–95 | Portland
|
34 | 0 | 26.7 | .568 | .000 | .649 | 6.9 | 1.6 | .6 | .4 | 13.5 |
| 1995–96 | Detroit
|
82 | 82* | 34.6 | .530 | .000 | .710 | 8.4 | 1.9 | .6 | .5 | 14.2 |
| 1996–97 | Detroit
|
79 | 79 | 33.7 | .532 | .000 | .653 | 7.9 | 1.7 | .7 | .2 | 13.1 |
| 1997–98 | Vancouver
|
47 | 46 | 33.5 | .477 | .000 | .694 | 7.9 | 3.4 | .6 | .5 | 11.2 |
| 1997–98 | Sacramento
|
27 | 20 | 23.1 | .459 | .000 | .657 | 6.1 | 2.3 | .7 | .3 | 8.3 |
| 1998–99 | Washington
|
49 | 38 | 31.4 | .545 | .000 | .698 | 6.8 | 2.1 | .9 | .4 | 11.3 |
| 1999–00 | Miami
|
51 | 1 | 15.2 | .514 | .000 | .604 | 3.3 | .6 | .5 | .2 | 5.5 |
| 2000–01 | Charlotte
|
49 | 4 | 13.2 | .450 | - | .833 | 3.0 | .6 | .2 | .1 | 2.8 |
| Career | 1,257 | 989 | 31.7 | .546 | .047 | .687 | 8.2 | 2.2 | .7 | .4 | 14.0 | |
| All-Star | 1 | 0 | 4.0 | 1.000 | - | - | - | - | - | - | 2.0 | |
Playoffs
| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1986
|
Sacramento
|
3 | 0 | 11.7 | .231 | - | .462 | 4.0 | .0 | .0 | .3 | 4.0 |
1989
|
Houston
|
4 | 4 | 38.0 | .649 | - | .762 | 5.0 | 3.0 | 1.3 | .3 | 16.0 |
1990
|
Houston
|
4 | 4 | 41.0 | .600 | - | .684 | 8.3 | 1.8 | 1.3 | .0 | 20.0 |
1991
|
Houston
|
3 | 3 | 38.7 | .579 | - | .500 | 8.3 | 2.7 | .7 | .0 | 15.7 |
1993
|
Houston
|
12 | 12 | 34.9 | .635 | - | .651 | 8.6 | 2.6 | .5 | .1 | 14.5 |
1994 †
|
Houston
|
23 | 23 | 37.1 | .572 | .500 | .567 | 9.9 | 2.3 | .6 | .4 | 11.3 |
1995
|
Portland
|
3 | 0 | 22.0 | .571 | - | .700 | 4.3 | .7 | .0 | .0 | 10.3 |
1996
|
Detroit
|
3 | 3 | 33.7 | .542 | - | .750 | 11.7 | 2.3 | .0 | .0 | 11.7 |
1997
|
Detroit
|
5 | 5 | 30.4 | .512 | - | .778 | 6.4 | .8 | .4 | .0 | 9.8 |
2000
|
Miami
|
10 | 0 | 13.6 | .481 | .000 | .500 | 2.9 | .3 | .0 | .2 | 3.3 |
2001
|
Charlotte
|
8 | 0 | 7.1 | .222 | - | - | 2.1 | .0 | .0 | .0 | .5 |
| Career | 78 | 54 | 28.9 | .569 | .333 | .631 | 7.0 | 1.6 | .4 | .2 | 10.1 | |
See also
- List of National Basketball Association career games played leaders
- List of National Basketball Association career rebounding leaders
- List of National Basketball Association career turnovers leaders
- List of National Basketball Association career minutes played leaders
References
- ^ "Providence College Bio". Archived from the original on March 13, 2013. Retrieved August 5, 2010.
- ^ "Otis Thorpe Per Game Averages"
- ^ "Los Angeles Clippers at Sacramento Kings Box Score, December 15, 1987"
- ^ "SPORTS PEOPLE: BASKETBALL; Thorpe's Streak to End (Published 1992)". The New York Times. Archived from the original on June 2, 2023.
- ^ "Otis Thorpe Career High 40 Points"
- ^ Treadway, Dan. "Here's Your Annual Reminder of How Oh So Close the Grizzlies Were to Drafting LeBron James". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved June 16, 2022.
- ^ Windhorst, Brian (June 23, 2013). "2003 NBA Draft oral history". ESPN.com. Retrieved June 16, 2022.