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 Thorpe, circa 1986 | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1962-08-05)August 5, 1962 (age 63) Boynton Beach, Florida, U.S. |
| Listed height | 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) |
| Listed weight | 248 lb (112 kg) |
| Career information | |
| High school | Lake Worth Community (Lake Worth, Florida) |
| College | Providence (1980–1984) |
| NBA draft | 1984: 1st round, 9th overall pick |
| Drafted by | 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 | |
| |
| 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 atBasketball Reference | |
Otis Henry Thorpe (born August 5, 1962) is an American former professionalbasketball player who played for several teams in theNational Basketball Association (NBA). He was anNBA All-Star in1992 and won anNBA championship with theHouston Rockets in1994.
Thorpe graduated in 1980 fromLake Worth Community High School in Florida. He played college ball atProvidence 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]
Thorpe was drafted by theKansas City Kings as the ninth overall pick in the first round of the1984 NBA draft. In 1985, the Kings relocated to Sacramento. During the1987-88 NBA season, Thorpe averaged career-highs of 20.8 points, 10.2 rebounds, and 3.2 assists.[2] That year, in perhaps his best game of the season, Thorpe nearly missed atriple-double with 35 points, 11 rebounds, and 9 assists.[3] Thorpe was traded to theHouston Rockets forRodney McCray andJim Petersen in October 1988.
While with the Rockets, Thorpe made anAll-Star appearance in 1992. Thorpe played in 542 consecutive games between 1986 and 1992 and, at one time, held the longest streak of consecutive games played in the NBA.[4]
On December 7, 1993, Thorpe scored a career-high 40 points in a win over theCharlotte Hornets.[5] That season, Thorpe was an integral part of the Houston Rockets' trip to the1994 NBA Finals and subsequent first NBA Championship.
46 games through the next season, the Rockets realized that they were struggling and needed a change. The team sent Thorpe to thePortland Trail Blazers in a deal forClyde Drexler andTracy Murray.[6] He holds the Rockets' all-time record for the highest field goal accuracy (55.9%).
Thorpe would only play 34 games for the Blazers before moving on to occupy the starting front court for theDetroit Pistons (who acquired him in a package forRandolph Childress andBill Curley) for the next two years.
Before the start of the 1997–98 season, the Pistons dealt Thorpe to theVancouver Grizzlies for a conditional first-round draft pick which eventually conveyed to the Pistons as the second pick in the 2003 draft,Darko Miličić.[7][8]
Thorpe would play 47 games with the Grizzlies before returning to the Kings in a trade that sentBobby Hurley andMichael Smith to Vancouver. (Chris Robinson was also traded to the Kings as part of the deal.)
In the offseason, he was traded (along withMitch Richmond) to theWashington Wizards forChris Webber. He signed with theMiami Heat in 1999 and was traded to theCharlotte Hornets, along withRodney Buford,P.J. Brown,Jamal Mashburn, andTim James in a deal forAnthony Mason,Ricky Davis,Dale Ellis, andEddie Jones. When Thorpe finished his last game in 2001, he was the last remaining member of theKansas City Kings to retire.
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 theNBA.
| 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 anNBA championship | * | Led the league |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 | |
| 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 | |