Robert Pack

Infobox NBA Player
name = Robert Pack


caption =
position = point guard
nickname =
height_ft = 6
height_in = 2
weight_lb = 180
nationality = American
birth_date = birth date and age|1969|2|3
birth_place = New Orleans, Louisiana
college = USC
highschool = Alfred Lawless
draft = Not drafted
draft_year = 1992
career_start = 1992
career_end = 2004
former_teams =
awards =

Robert John Pack (born February 3, 1969 in New Orleans, Louisiana) is a retired American professional basketball player. Nicknamed "Pac-Man", the 6'2" point guard had a thirteen season career in the NBA, most notably with the Denver Nuggets.

High school and college career

He was a high school team mate of future NBA player Eldridge Recasner. Pack graduated from the University of Southern California.

Early career

Pack was not drafted by an NBA team, rather he began his career being signed as a free agent by the Portland Trail Blazers on September 16, 1991. He played 72 games for the Blazers as a rookie, averaging 4.6ppg in 12.4mpg as he was entrenched behind veterans Terry Porter and Danny Ainge. The Blazers went to the NBA Finals that year, before losing the series 4-2 to the Chicago Bulls. During the 1992 off-season, Pack was traded to the Nuggets for a 1993 second-round draft pick.

Mid career

Pack spent three seasons with the Nuggets from 1992-93 through until 1994-95, with his minutes and games started increasing each season. He was part of a young Nuggets team starring Dikembe Mutombo, LaPhonso Ellis and Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf that went on to become the first eighth-seeded team in NBA history to defeat the first-seeded team as the Nuggets defeated the Seattle SuperSonics in the first round of the 1994 Western Conference Playoffs. Pack was then traded to the Washington Bullets for Doug Overton and Don MacLean on October 30, 1995. Injuries slowed Pack during the prime years of his career, as he never managed to play a full 82-game season. In 31 games for the Bullets, Pack averaged 18.1ppg, 7.8apg, 4.3rpg and 2.00spg in what was his best season statisically. Prior to the 1996-97 season he was signed by the New Jersey Nets before being traded mid-season in a blockbuster trade to the Dallas Mavericks along with Shawn Bradley, Ed O'Bannon and Khalid Reeves for Sam Cassell, Chris Gatling, Jim Jackson, George McCloud and Eric Montross. Pack remained with the Mavericks through the end of the 1999-00 season, never playing more than the 54 games he played in 1996-97 as injuries slowed his career.

Late career

Pack returned to the Nuggets for the 2000-01 season after being traded by the Mavericks via the Boston Celtics. He played 74 games that season, starting 11 of them as a replacement for starting point guard Nick Van Exel. The Minnesota Timberwolves signed him in the off-season and he played 16 games for them in 2001-02. His final two seasons in the NBA were as a veteran backup point guard off the bench for the New Orleans Hornets (2002-03) and the New Jersey Nets (2003-04). On October 2, 2005, Pack signed a contract with the Toronto Raptors for a try out with the team. His stint with the Raptors was short-lived as he was cut by the team on October 22.

Other

Pack was known as one of the game's better dunkers during the first half of the 1990s and one of the more spectacular in-game dunkers of all time among smaller players, due largely to his outstanding vertical leap and lateral quickness. He finished second in the 1994 NBA Slam Dunk Contest during the NBA All-Star Weekend in Minneapolis, Minnesota, behind Isaiah Rider.

He achieved two triple-doubles in his career. [ [http://www.basketball-reference.com/friv/triple_doubles.html Triple-Doubles (Since the 1986-87 Season) - Basketball-Reference.com ] ]

External links

* [http://www.nba.com/playerfile/robert_pack/index.html NBA.com: Robert Pack Bio]
* [http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/p/packro01.html Basketball-Reference.com: Robert Pack Statistics]

Notes