After a dismal 15-67 inaugural season, the Vancouver Grizzlies looked for scoring, selecting California’s Shareef Abdur-Rahim with the third overall pick in the 1996 NBA Draft.
Abdur-Rahim had earned All-America honors as a freshman at Cal, finishing his lone collegiate season averaging 21.1 points and 8.4 rebounds per game.
Abdur-Rahim earned first team All-Rookie honors in 1996-97 despite playing out of position at power forward. Moved back to the small forward spot the following season, he flourished.
He was fourth in the NBA in scoring in 1998-99 while finishing fifth in minutes per game. He was particularly adept at getting to the foul line, finishing second in made free throws in 1998-99 and third in 1997-98. Abdur-Rahim was also fifth in minutes per game in 1998-99.
But the Grizzlies weren’t winning and, on their way out of Vancouver on draft night in June 2001, Abdur-Rahim was traded with the rights to 27th overall pick Jamaal Tinsley to the Atlanta Hawks in exchange for Lorenzen Wright, Brevin Knight and the rights to Pau Gasol, who had been taken No. 3 overall.
In five seasons in Vancouver, Abdur-Rahim averaged 20.8 points, 8.2 rebounds, 2.9 assists, 1.1 steals and 1.0 blocks in 38.0 minutes per game, shooting .464/.292/.801.
Abdur-Rahim was an All-Star for the Hawks in 2002, but in February 2004 was traded to the Portland Trail Blazers.
His knees faltering, the summer of 2005 got … complicated.
Abdur-Rahim had agreed to a five-year contract worth $27 million to $30 million with the New Jersey Nets, who were set to acquire him in a sign-and-trade deal.
But Abdur-Rahim failed the Nets’ physical and the deal was rescinded. Three days later, he signed a free-agent deal with the Sacramento Kings.
He dealt with a broken jaw in 2005-06 and never really recovered from multiple procedures on his knee in 2007, playing only eight games in 2007-08 and retiring in September 2008.
Abdur-Rahim moved into an assistant coach role in Sacramento for two seasons and was director of player personnel for the franchise from 2010-14.
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