From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf (born Chris Wayne
Jackson on March 9, 1969 in Gulfport, Mississippi) is an American
professional basketball player.
Biography
Playing
career
Abdul-Rauf changed his name in 1991 upon his conversion to Islam. After a record-setting
college career at Louisiana State University,
he was selected with the third pick in the 1990 NBA Draft by
the Denver
Nuggets. He played with Denver until 1995, and was a key player on that
team, winning the Most Improved Player award in 1993. Abdul-Rauf
later went on to play for the Sacramento Kings and later the Vancouver
Grizzlies. He led the league in free throw percentage in 1994 and 1996,
narrowly missing (by one missed free throw) the NBA all-time record for
free-throw percentage in a single season in 1993-94 (he went 219-229 from the line for
a 95.6 percentage as opposed to Calvin Murphy's 95.8% (206-215) all-time
record dating back to 1980-81).
After leaving the NBA he played professional basketball in Europe, retiring at the end of
2004-05 season. For the season 2006-07 he came out of retirement
for the third time in his career to play for Aris
Thessaloniki. He now plays for Kyoto Hannaryz in the Japanese
BJ league.
Abdul-Rauf overcame the challenge of Tourette
syndrome to have an athletic career.[1]
Timeline
NBA
transactions
National anthem
controversy
Abdul-Rauf is perhaps best known for the controversy created
when he refused to stand for "The Star-Spangled Banner"
before games[2],
stating that the flag was a "symbol of oppression" and that the
United States had a long "history of tyranny". He said that
standing to the national anthem would therefore conflict with his
Islamic beliefs. On March 12, 1996, the NBA suspended
Abdul-Rauf for his refusal to stand, but the suspension lasted only
one game. Two days later, the league was able to work out a
compromise with him, whereby he would stand during the playing of
the national anthem but could close his eyes and look downward. He
usually silently recited a Muslim prayer during this time.
In an apparent publicity stunt gone wrong linked to
this controversy, four employees of Denver's KBPI were charged with misdemeanor offenses
related to entering a Colorado mosque and playing "The Star-Spangled
Banner" on a bugle and trumpet, in a provocative
response to Abdul-Rauf's refusal to stand for the national
anthem.[3]
Notes
External
links
| USBWA National Freshman of the Year Award
winners |
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