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| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1959-02-26)February 26, 1959 (age 66) Panama City, Panama |
| Nationality | Panamanian / American |
| Listed height | 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) |
| Listed weight | 190 lb (86 kg) |
| Career information | |
| High school | William E. Grady (Brooklyn, New York) |
| College | Kansas State (1977–1981) |
| NBA draft | 1981: 1st round, 9th overall pick |
| Drafted by | Dallas Mavericks |
| Playing career | 1981–1997 |
| Position | Shooting guard |
| Number | 22, 20 |
| Career history | |
| 1981–1992 | Dallas Mavericks |
| 1992–1994 | New York Knicks |
| 1994–1995 | AEK Athens |
| 1995–1996 | Olimpia Milano |
| 1996–1997 | CSP Limoges |
| Career highlights | |
| |
| Career NBA statistics | |
| Points | 17,623 (18.0 ppg) |
| Rebounds | 3,278 (3.3 rpg) |
| Assists | 2,981 (3.0 apg) |
Stats at NBA.com  | |
| Stats atBasketball Reference | |
| Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame | |
Rolando Antonio Blackman (born February 26, 1959) is a Panamanian-American former professionalbasketball player who spent 13 seasons in theNational Basketball Association (NBA), most of it with theDallas Mavericks. He was a four-timeNBA All-Star, and he holds the Mavericks' franchise single-game record for free throws made (22).
Blackman was born inPanama City, Panama, and raised inBrooklyn, New York, from the age of eight.
After being raised in Brooklyn, Blackman attendedKansas State University where he played basketball under coachJack Hartman. At Kansas State, Blackman had a number of noteworthy achievements:
Prior to his senior season, Blackman also was selected as a starter for the1980 Summer Olympics basketball team, but did not participate in the Olympics because of theU.S. Olympic boycott. He did however receive one of 461Congressional Gold Medals created especially for the spurned athletes.[1]
In his senior year Blackman led Kansas State into the West Regional of theNCAA tournament as the #8 seed. They defeated #9 seed University of San Francisco in the first round. Then KSU pulled an iconic upset of #1 seed Oregon State, 50–48, in the second round, punctuated by Blackman's game-winning jumper with three seconds left in the game. Next up was #4 seed Illinois, whom they defeated 57–52 in the semi before losing to #2 seed North Carolina 82–68 in theWest Regional final.
In 1996, after the Big Eight Conference expanded to theBig 12, Blackman was named to the AP all-time All-Big Eight basketball team. Blackman's number 25 jersey was retired by Kansas State February 17, 2007 in a ceremony at halftime during a game againstIowa State. In 2015, he was inducted into National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame.[2]
Rolando Blackman was drafted by the Mavericks in the first round (9th overall) of the1981 NBA draft. He became the first Panamanian-born player in the NBA. Blackman had an immediate impact on the team, averaging 13.3 PPG in his rookie season. He was given a good amount of minutes in his career, getting around 24 minutes per game in his rookie campaign. He played well but the Mavericks weren't good until the1983–1984 season. That was also Blackman's best statistical season as he averaged a career high 22.4 PPG and lead the franchise to its first ever playoff appearance. The Mavericks managed to beat theSeattle SuperSonics and reach the second round before ultimately losing to theLos Angeles Lakers. On February 17, 1986, Blackman set the Mavericks single-game record for free throws made and attempted in a 22–23 performance.[3] Despite putting up amazing stats, Blackman missed the all star game that year, although he did make it the following year. He would go on to be named an NBA All-Star four times in his career. At the1987 All-Star Game, Blackman tied the game at the end of regulation with two free throws.[4] The West team would go on to win in overtime. As for the Mavericks, they played well and even had a magical season in1987–1988 where they managed to reach the Western Conference Finals. This appearance happened to be the franchise's first Conference Finals appearance in its history. The Mavericks made it far but fell to the Los Angeles Lakers in 7 games. After this series the Mavericks began to decline and wouldn't achieve the same amount of success until much later on in theDirk Nowitzki era. Blackman continued to play well and averaged around 19 PPG for the next few seasons, however the Mavericks fell off in the standings. By the1991–1992 season, Blackman was 32 years old and the Mavericks entered a stage of rebuilding. By the 1992 off-season Blackman's time with the team was finished. Blackman made 6,487 field goals with the Mavericks and scored 16,643 points, which was a franchise record for 18 years – until broken byDirk Nowitzki on March 8, 2008. In his 865 games with the Mavericks, Blackman never fouled out of a game.
On June 24, 1992, Blackman was traded to theNew York Knicks for a 1995 first-round pick (which becameLoren Meyer). Blackman spent his final two seasons in the NBA with theNew York Knicks. In his last season in New York, he was reunited with former Dallas teammateDerek Harper. The team made it to theNBA Finals where they lost to theHouston Rockets in seven games. One of Blackman's most notable games as a Knick was when he hit the game winning shot in Game 4 of the 1993 Eastern Conference Semi-finals against theCharlotte Hornets, hitting a jump shot with five seconds left in the game that put the Knicks up by two. Blackman still played well in the twilight years of his career, but his age was finally getting to him and his time in the NBA was over. On July 6, 1994, the Knicks waived Blackman.
Shortly after being released, he retired from the league. Following the1993–94 season, he had career totals of 17,623 points, 3,278 rebounds and 2,981 assists. Blackman was NBA's all-time scoring leader among Hispanic/Latin players (born in Iberian, Latin American & Spanish-speaking countries) until March 6, 2015, when Pau Gasol overtook him. Blackman's number 22 jersey was retired by the Mavericks on March 11, 2000.[5]
Blackman signed with theGreek League teamAEK Athens BC in the middle of the 1994–95 season. Coached byVlade Đurović, they finished the season in a disappointing eight place.
Over the summer of 1995, Blackman moved toOlimpia Milano, where he was brought in by head coachBogdan Tanjević. Playing in theItalian League on a team includingDejan Bodiroga,Gregor Fučka,Nando Gentile, and Alessandro De Pol, Blackman, who turned 37 during the season, helped them win both theItalian League title and theItalian Basketball Cup by averaging 15.3 points per game. Blackman was named MVP of the Italian Cup series. Olimpia also reached theKorać Cupfinal, losing toEfes Pilsen Istanbul in the home-and-away series.
Blackman transferred toLimoges CSP in the summer of 1996, essentially brought along by coach Tanjević who earlier signed to be the club's new head coach.
In 2000, Blackman was tapped to be the defensive coordinator for the Mavericks under coachDon Nelson. The next year, he served as an assistant coach for theGerman National team and helped lead them to a bronze medal at the2002 World Basketball Championships inIndianapolis. During the2004–05 season, Blackman was hired as one of the Maverickstelevision analysts, along withMatt Pinto andBob Ortegel. For the2005–06 season, Blackman returned to the Mavericks' bench, serving his first season as a full-fledged assistant coach. In July 2006 he was promoted to the position of Director of Player Development.
In August 2010, Blackman was hired as an assistant coach for theTurkey national basketball team by head coachBogdan Tanjević, in advance of the2010 FIBA World Championship tournament.[6] Blackman stated that he took the job specifically to work again with Tanjević, who had been his coach in Milan.[7]
During the2006 NBA Finals, Blackman's former coach with theNew York Knicks,Pat Riley, admitted, publicly for the first time, that sitting Rolando Blackman in favor ofJohn Starks during game 7 of the1994 NBA Finals was the biggest coaching mistake in his career, and that he has never forgiven himself for it.[8]
Blackman was the representative for the Mavericks at the2025 NBA draft lottery held at Chicago, where the team landed the rights to draft the #1 overall pick after winning a coin flip tiebreaker over the Chicago Bulls. With 1.8% odds, Dallas was the fourth-largest underdog to win the annual drawing since it was instituted in 1985.[9]
He has four children and resides inDallas, Texas.[citation needed]
Blackman is on the board of directors of the Assist Youth Foundation. The foundation's goal is to advance opportunities for underprivileged kids in theDallas–Fort Worth metroplex and across the globe.[citation needed]
Blackman is a member ofKappa Alpha Psi fraternity. Blackman continues to contribute to his chapter, Beta Psi, as well as the Kansas State University community.[citation needed]
| 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 |
| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1981–82 | Dallas | 82 | 16 | 24.1 | .513 | .250 | .768 | 3.1 | 1.3 | 0.6 | 0.4 | 13.3 |
| 1982–83 | Dallas | 75 | 62 | 31.3 | .492 | .200 | .780 | 3.9 | 2.5 | 0.5 | 0.4 | 17.7 |
| 1983–84 | Dallas | 81 | 81 | 37.3 | .546 | .091 | .812 | 4.6 | 3.6 | 0.7 | 0.5 | 22.4 |
| 1984–85 | Dallas | 81 | 80 | 35.0 | .508 | .300 | .828 | 3.7 | 3.6 | 0.8 | 0.2 | 19.7 |
| 1985–86 | Dallas | 82 | 81 | 34.0 | .514 | .138 | .836 | 3.5 | 3.3 | 1.0 | 0.3 | 21.5 |
| 1986–87 | Dallas | 80 | 80 | 34.5 | .495 | .333 | .884 | 3.5 | 3.3 | 0.8 | 0.3 | 21.0 |
| 1987–88 | Dallas | 71 | 69 | 36.3 | .473 | .000 | .873 | 3.5 | 3.7 | 0.9 | 0.3 | 18.7 |
| 1988–89 | Dallas | 78 | 78 | 37.8 | .476 | .353 | .854 | 3.5 | 3.7 | 0.8 | 0.3 | 19.7 |
| 1989–90 | Dallas | 80 | 80 | 36.7 | .498 | .302 | .844 | 3.5 | 3.6 | 1.0 | 0.3 | 19.4 |
| 1990–91 | Dallas | 80 | 80 | 37.1 | .482 | .351 | .865 | 3.2 | 3.8 | 0.9 | 0.2 | 19.9 |
| 1991–92 | Dallas | 75 | 74 | 33.7 | .461 | .385 | .898 | 3.2 | 2.7 | 0.7 | 0.3 | 18.3 |
| 1992–93 | New York | 60 | 33 | 23.9 | .443 | .425 | .789 | 1.7 | 2.6 | 0.4 | 0.2 | 9.7 |
| 1993–94 | New York | 55 | 1 | 17.6 | .436 | .357 | .906 | 1.7 | 1.4 | 0.5 | 0.1 | 7.3 |
| Career | 980 | 815 | 32.7 | .493 | .343 | .840 | 3.3 | 3.0 | 0.7 | 0.3 | 18.0 | |
| All-Star | 4 | 0 | 22.0 | .592 | – | .813 | 3.3 | 3.3 | 1.3 | 0.5 | 17.8 | |
| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1984 | Dallas | 10 | – | 39.7 | .531 | – | .841 | 4.1 | 4.0 | 0.6 | 0.4 | 23.9 |
| 1985 | Dallas | 4 | 4 | 42.3 | .511 | .500 | .947 | 6.5 | 4.8 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 32.8 |
| 1986 | Dallas | 10 | 10 | 37.1 | .497 | .000 | .792 | 3.5 | 3.2 | 0.8 | 0.1 | 20.8 |
| 1987 | Dallas | 4 | 4 | 38.3 | .493 | .000 | .917 | 3.5 | 4.3 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 23.5 |
| 1988 | Dallas | 17 | 17 | 39.5 | .483 | .000 | .887 | 3.2 | 4.5 | 0.9 | 0.2 | 18.1 |
| 1990 | Dallas | 3 | 3 | 42.3 | .444 | .400 | 1.000 | 3.0 | 4.3 | 2.0 | 0.7 | 20.0 |
| 1993 | New York | 15 | 0 | 14.3 | .344 | .267 | .833 | 1.1 | 1.1 | 0.2 | 0.1 | 4.2 |
| 1994 | New York | 6 | 0 | 5.7 | .273 | .500 | – | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1.3 |
| Career | 69 | 38 | 31.0 | .484 | .290 | .869 | 2.9 | 3.1 | 0.6 | 0.2 | 16.1 | |
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