Edward Charles O'Bannon Jr. (born August 14, 1972) is an American former professionalbasketball player in theNational Basketball Association (NBA). He was apower forward for theUCLA Bruins on their1995 NCAA championship team. He was selected by theNew Jersey Nets with the ninth overall pick of the1995 NBA draft. After two seasons in the NBA, he continued his professional career for another eight years, mainly playing in Europe.
O'Bannon was thelead plaintiff inO'Bannon v. NCAA, anantitrustclass action lawsuit against theNational Collegiate Athletic Association which resulted in the discontinuation of NCAA video games.[1]
O'Bannon grew up inSouth Los Angeles and attendedVerbum Dei High School before graduating fromArtesia High School.[2] He averaged 24.6 points, 9.7 rebounds in his senior year at Artesia. He led the school to a 29–2 record that year, and they won theCalifornia Interscholastic Federation (CIF) Division II state championship. He was the most valuable player (MVP) at theDapper Dan Classic, a high schoolAll-Star game, and he was named aMcDonald's High School All-American as well as honored byBasketball Times as its national high school player of the year.[3][4]
O'Bannon originally planned to attend theUniversity of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV), but he did not sign a letter of intent with the university at the suggestion of UNLV head coachJerry Tarkanian. However, whenUNLV's men's basketball program was placed on probation due to recruiting improprieties, O'Bannon rescinded his commitment and instead attended UCLA.[5]
Six days before the official start of practice at UCLA, O'Bannon tore hisanterior cruciate ligament as he landed awkwardly on a dunk during apickup game with other Bruins.[3][5] He was told he might not be able to walk properly again, but eighteen months later, after receiving a graft from a cadaver, he returned to playing basketball.[5][6] In his first year, he came off the bench in 23 games and averaged fewer than four points while never starting.[7] In his second season in 1993, O'Bannon was named to the first teamAll-Pacific-10 (Pac-10) Conference team.[8] In his junior year, he was named the team's MVP[9] and was again first team All-Pac-10.[8] In his senior year in1994–95, O'Bannon was the key to UCLA's1995 NCAA Basketball Championship, scoring 30 points and taking 17 rebounds and was named theNCAA Tournament Most Outstanding Player.[7] For the season, he averaged 20.4 points (.533 field-goal percentage, .433 3-point percentage) and 8.3 rebounds, earning him theJohn R. Wooden Award,USBWA College Player of the Year (now Oscar Robertson Trophy), and theCBS/Chevrolet Player of the Year. He was aconsensus first team All-American,Pac-10 co-Player of the Year along withDamon Stoudamire,[10] first team All-Pac-10 for the third consecutive year,[8] and UCLA's co-MVP along withTyus Edney.[9]
His number 31 wasretired by UCLA in 1996. He was also inducted intoUCLA Athletics Hall of Fame in 2005,[10] and thePac-12 Basketball Hall of Honor in 2012.[11]
Leading up to the1995 NBA draft, O'Bannon hoped to be drafted by a team on the west coast. Selected ninth overall by theNew Jersey Nets, he signed a three-year, $3.9 million contract. However, he became homesick.[12] In his two professional seasons, he was unable to find a place in the NBA, being too lean to play down low and not quick enough with his rebuilt knees to guard the perimeter.[5] His knee also started to break down.[12] He averaged 6.2 and 4.2 points per game respectively with the Nets and was traded to theDallas Mavericks later in his second and final NBA season, where he had even less of an impact. In September 1997 he was traded along withDerek Harper to theOrlando Magic forDennis Scott, and was waived by the Magic afterwards. "It wasn't injury, it was confidence," O'Bannon said about his NBA career. "I missed shots, got pulled from games, it affected my defense, and I lost all my confidence."[13] Former Nets teammateArmon Gilliam said, "He's a guy who didn't find his niche in the NBA. He wasn't in the right situation to grow and develop. He never got the opportunity to prove what he could do."[5]
After his NBA career, O'Bannon played professional basketball seven years overseas inItaly,Spain,Greece,Argentina andPoland (inAnwil Włocławek,Polonia Warsaw andAstoria Bydgoszcz).[5] He also played one year for the startupAmerican Basketball Association (ABA) with theLos Angeles Stars.[12] After the NBA, he only had one-year contracts and never made more than $400,000 in a season.[12] He decided to retire at age 32 after undergoingarthroscopic knee surgery.[citation needed] When he made his decision, he was in the process of trying out for a team inChina but realized he had no more motivation to play the game.[5] Furthermore, the people holding the tryouts had never even heard of him.[13]
In his professional career, O'Bannon said he "played for 12 different teams in at least six countries and for 15 different coaches."[14]
As of 2009, O'Bannon was employed as a marketing director for a Las Vegas auto dealership.[15] In 2006, while employed as a salesman at the dealership, O'Bannon told theLos Angeles Times, "People see me and remember me and I'm proud to tell them—'No, I don't play. No, I don't coach. Yes, I sell cars.'"[13] By 2020, he had become aprobation officer in Las Vegas.[16]
O'Bannon was a volunteer coach atGreen Valley High School inHenderson, Nevada.[14] In 2009, citing a renewed interest in basketball due to his children, O'Bannon accepted an offer to become the head coach of the boys' basketball team atHenderson International School.[17]
O'Bannon was the lead plaintiff inO'Bannon v. NCAA, anantitrustclass action lawsuit filed against theNational Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) on behalf of itsDivision I football and men's basketball players over the organization's use for commercial purposes of the images of its former student athletes. The suit argued that upon graduation, a formerstudent athlete should become entitled to financial compensation for future commercial uses of his or her image by the NCAA.[18][19] In January 2011,Oscar Robertson, considered one of the greatest basketball players of all time, joined O'Bannon in the class action suit.[20] On August 8, 2014, JudgeClaudia Wilken ruled that the NCAA's long-held practice of barring payments to athletes violatedanti-trust laws.[21]
In March 2015, O'Bannon appeared in a faux commercial onLast Week Tonight with John Oliver onHBO that criticized the NCAA's payment practices regarding student athletes. WithMarch Madness approaching, the commercial featured a fake video game namedMarch Sadness 2015 that mocked the experiences of college basketball players in relation to the NCAA. "This game is every bit as fucked up as the real thing," stated O'Bannon in the segment.[22] In 2018, he published a book about his fight with the NCAA,Court Justice: The Inside Story of My Battle Against the NCAA.[2] O'Bannon supported theFair Pay to Play Act, a California law that allows college athletes to receive endorsement deals.[16]
After the Supreme Court ruled inNational Collegiate Athletic Association v. Alston that the NCAA restricted trade in violation of theSherman Antitrust Act, the NCAA allowed athletes to be compensated for theirname, image and likeness.[23]
O'Bannon attended UNLV to continue earning hisbachelor's degree.[6] In the summer of 2011, O'Bannon returned to UCLA to complete his studies, and he graduated in the fall that year with a degree in history.[24][25]
O'Bannon is the older brother ofCharles, who won the championship with him at UCLA and went on to play for theDetroit Pistons.[26] His half-brotherTurhon O'Bannon[27] playedcollege football for theNew Mexico Lobos[28] and professionally for theWinnipeg Blue Bombers in theCanadian Football League.[29]
O'Bannon lives inHenderson, Nevada, with his wife, Rosa, and their three children.[12][17] His daughter Jazmin played college basketball atUNLV.[30]
| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1995–96 | New Jersey | 64 | 29 | 19.6 | .390 | .179 | .713 | 2.6 | 1.0 | 0.7 | 0.2 | 6.2 |
| 1996–97 | New Jersey | 45 | 5 | 14.1 | .367 | .283 | .870 | 2.5 | 0.6 | 0.5 | 0.2 | 4.2 |
| Dallas | 19 | 0 | 9.2 | .236 | .100 | .917 | 1.9 | 0.6 | 0.3 | 0.1 | 2.4 | |
| Career | 128 | 34 | 16.1 | .367 | .222 | .755 | 2.5 | 0.8 | 0.6 | 0.2 | 5.0 | |
and Basketball Reference| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
.jpg)
