Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf

This article is about the basketball player whose birth name was Chris Jackson. For other uses, see Chris Jackson (disambiguation).

For the Hamas military commander, see Mahmoud al-Mabhouh.

Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf

Point guard
Personal information
Date of birth	March 9, 1969 (1969-03-09) (age 42)
Place of birth	Gulfport, Mississippi
Nationality	American
High school	Gulfport
Listed height	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Listed weight	162 lb (73 kg)
Career information
College	Louisiana State (1988–1990)
NBA Draft	1990 / Round: 1 / Pick: 3rd overall
Selected by the Denver Nuggets
Pro career	1990–present
Career history
1990–1996	Denver Nuggets
1996–1998	Sacramento Kings
1998–1999	Fenerbahçe (Turkey)
2000–2001	Vancouver Grizzlies
2003–2004	Ural Great (Russia)
2004–2005	Sedima Roseto (Italy)
2006–2007	Aris BC (Greece)
2008–2009	Al-Ittihad (Saudi Arabia)
2009–2011	Kyoto Hannaryz (Japan)
Career highlights and awards
NBA Most Improved Player (1993) 2× SEC Player of the Year (1989, 1990) USBWA National Freshman of the Year (1989) 2× Consensus NCAA All-American First Team (1989, 1990)
Stats at NBA.com

Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf (born Chris Wayne Jackson; March 9, 1969) is an American professional basketball player.

Life and career

Abdul-Rauf was born in Gulfport, Mississippi. 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 changed his name in 1993, after converting to Islam in 1991.^[1] 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 2006-07 season, he came out of retirement for the third time in his career to play for Aris Thessaloniki.

In July 2010, he signed a contract with the Kyoto Hannaryz of the bj league of Japan. He averaged 17.9 points in 38 games the previous season.^[2]

Abdul-Rauf overcame the challenge of Tourette syndrome to have an athletic career.^[3]

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,^[4] 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 radio station 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.^[5]

Transactions

• 1990 - First round, #3 pick by Denver Nuggets in 1990 NBA Draft.
• 1996, June 13 - Traded with Sacramento Kings' Sarunas Marciulionis and second round pick in 1996 NBA Draft.
• 1998 June 18 - Signed a 2-year contract with Fenerbahçe.
• 1999 June 22 - Announced his retirement.
• 2000 August 20 - Free agent signed by Vancouver Grizzlies.

NBA career statistics

Legend
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

Regular season

Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
1990–91	Denver	67	19	22.5	.413	.240	.857	1.8	3.1	.8	.1	14.1
1991–92	Denver	81	11	19.0	.421	.330	.870	1.4	2.4	.5	.0	10.3
1992–93	Denver	81	81	33.5	.450	.355	.935	2.8	4.2	1.0	.1	19.2
1993–94	Denver	80	78	32.7	.460	.316	.956	2.1	4.5	1.0	.1	18.0
1994–95	Denver	73	43	28.5	.470	.386	.885	1.9	3.6	1.1	.1	16.0
1995–96	Denver	57	53	35.6	.434	.392	.930	2.4	6.8	1.1	.1	19.2
1996–97	Sacramento	75	51	28.4	.445	.382	.846	1.6	2.5	.7	.1	13.7
1997–98	Sacramento	31	0	17.1	.377	.161	1.000	1.2	1.9	.5	.0	7.3
2000–01	Vancouver	41	0	11.9	.488	.286	.759	.6	1.9	.2	.0	6.5
Career		586	336	26.7	.442	.354	.905	1.9	3.5	.8	.1	14.6

Playoffs

Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
1993–94	Denver	12	12	28.3	.370	.324	.935	1.5	2.5	.4	.1	12.9
1994–95	Denver	3	2	25.3	.364	.167	1.000	1.7	1.7	.7	.0	13.3
Career		15	14	27.7	.369	.286	.956	1.5	2.3	.1	.1	13.0

See also

• List of National Basketball Association players with most assists in a game

References

1. ^ Quest For Perfection
2. ^ "Abdul-Rauf to return to Hannaryz". The Japan Times. July 31, 2010. http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/sk20100731b2.html. Retrieved August 27, 2011. 
3. ^ Wall, James M. "Prayer time: Abdul-Rauf takes a stand." Christian Century, April 10, 1996. Find Articles, Retrieved on November 15, 2008.
4. ^ Diamos, Jason (1996-03-21). "PRO BASKETBALL;Abdul-Rauf Is Calm In Face of Controversy". New York Times. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C00EFD81739F932A15750C0A960958260&n=Top/Reference/Times%20Topics/Subjects/A/Anthems,%20National. Retrieved 2010-09-21. 
5. ^ AP (1996-03-24). "Charges Are Filed In Mosque Incident". Denver (Colo): New York Times. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C05E0D91439F937A15750C0A960958260. Retrieved 2010-09-21. 

External links

• NBA career statistics for Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf
• NBA biography
• Basketball-reference.com
• BASKET ARIS Unofficial fans site dedicated to ARIS B.C.
• "The Conversion of Chris Jackson," 5280, October 2007
• Kyoto Hannaryz-Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf- (Japanese)
• Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf collected news and commentary at The New York Times

Persondata
Name	Abdulrauf, Mahmoud
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	March 9, 1969
Place of birth	Gulfport, Mississippi
Date of death
Place of death