Fred Roberts

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Fred Roberts
Position Power forward
Height ft 10 in (2.08 m)
Weight 218 lb (99 kg)
Born August 14, 1960
Provo, Utah
College Brigham Young
Draft 27th overall, 1982
Milwaukee Bucks
Pro career 1982–1997
Former teams San Antonio Spurs (1983-1984)
Utah Jazz (1984-1986)
Boston Celtics (1986-1988)
Milwaukee Bucks (1988-1993)
Cleveland Cavaliers (1995)
Los Angeles Lakers (1995-1996)
Dallas Mavericks (1996-1997)

Frederick (Fred) Clark Roberts (born August 14, 1960, in Provo, Utah) is a retired American basketball player who played power forward in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for 13 seasons, a career spanning from 1983 to 1997, becoming one of the more successful journeymen to play in the league.

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[edit] College career

Roberts played four years of college basketball at Brigham Young University, Utah, from 1978 to 1982. He played in 119 total games, averaged 15.5 points and seven rebounds and shot 54.6% from the field.[1] His playing ability along with Danny Ainge and Greg Kite led to the success of the BYU program during this time. Roberts also played on the USA Junior World Championship Team in 1979, playing alongside greats such as James Worthy and leading the USA to an undefeated 8-0 record.[2]

[edit] Professional career

He was originally drafted by the Milwaukee Bucks in the second round of the 1982 NBA Draft, but opted to play basketball for a year in Bologna, Italy. During this time, Roberts was traded to the New Jersey Nets on November 12, 1982 for Phil Ford and a second round draft choice,[3] and from there was traded to the San Antonio Spurs on June 7, 1983 with other players in exchange for coach Stan Albeck.[3] Afterwards, he played his first full NBA season with the Spurs. He played just over a season there before being traded to the Utah Jazz for two second round draft picks.[4] In September 1986, the Boston Celtics offered him a two-year deal worth $315,000, which the Jazz matched.[5] Almost immediately after matching the offer, the Jazz traded him to Boston for a future draft choice.[6] He played two season for the Celtics before being chosen by the Miami Heat in the 1988 NBA expansion draft. However, Roberts was traded to the Milwaukee Bucks before ever playing a game for the Heat. He played for the Bucks for 5 seasons, where he had his best years as a professional, reaching the 10 PPG mark and playing more minutes then he had been. He was released when his contract expired after the 1992-93 NBA season. Roberts played a season of basketball in Spain after his contract was not renewed. After that, he played for the Chicago Rockers of the Continental Basketball Association. He then signed a 10-day contract with the Cleveland Cavaliers, and was immediately put to work due to starting power forward Tyrone Hill going down with an ankle injury.[7] Once Hill returned though, Roberts stopped seeing playing time, but considered his stint with the Cavs as a foot in the door for next season.[8] He then signed on with the Los Angeles Lakers for a year. He was not happy about Magic Johnson's return to the NBA primarily due to the fact that he would most likely be the player released if Johnson were to re-sign.[9] He ended up being the player put on the injured list when Magic was activated.[10] He then signed a one-year contract and played 12 games for the Dallas Mavericks in 1996-97,[11] but was released almost immediately after Don Nelson became General Manager.[12]

When he retired from NBA he played in Spanish Basketall League, in F.C. Barcelona.

[edit] References

  1. ^ Fred Roberts Second Round 27th Overall. Retrieved on 2007-01-10.
  2. ^ USA Basketball:FIRST JUNIOR WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP -- 1979. Retrieved on 2007-01-10.
  3. ^ a b Nets Trade History. Retrieved on 2007-01-11.
  4. ^ 1982 NBA Transactions. Retrieved on 2007-01-10.
  5. ^ Celtics' Offer Matched. Retrieved on 2007-01-10.
  6. ^ Lakers Waive Lucas. Retrieved on 2007-01-10.
  7. ^ Roberts answers call. Retrieved on 2007-01-10.
  8. ^ Roberts back in NBA but longs for Milwaukee. Retrieved on 2007-01-10.
  9. ^ Room for Magic. Retrieved on 2007-01-10.
  10. ^ Transactions. Retrieved on 2007-01-10.
  11. ^ NBA Notes. Retrieved on 2007-01-10.
  12. ^ Mavs History. Retrieved on 2007-01-10.

[edit] External links

Fred Roberts' BYU & NBA statistics at Databasebasketball