Nenê

For other people named Nenê, see Nene (disambiguation).
Nenê
No. 31   Denver Nuggets
Power forward / Center
Personal information
Date of birth September 13, 1982 (1982-09-13) (age 29)
Place of birth São Carlos, Brazil
Nationality Brazilian
Listed height 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m)
Listed weight 250 lb (113 kg)
Career information
NBA Draft 2002 / Round: 1 / Pick: 7th overall
Selected by the New York Knicks
Pro career 2000–present
Career history
2000–2002 Vasco da Gama (Brazil)
2002–present Denver Nuggets
Career highlights and awards
Stats at NBA.com
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com

Nenê (Portuguese pronunciation: [neˈne]; born on September 13, 1982 in São Carlos, Brazil) is a Brazilian professional basketball player who plays for the NBA's Denver Nuggets. His name at birth was Maybyner Rodney Hilário, but it was legally changed to Nenê in 2003.[1]

Contents

Early life

He received his nickname Nenê (Brazilian Portuguese for baby) because he was the youngest in both his family and his group of childhood friends. Like most Brazilian children, he started out playing soccer, and played well enough to receive some interest from professional clubs.

Professional career

He first came to international attention at the 2001 Goodwill Games as a member of the Brazilian national team. He also played in the Brazilian club Vasco da Gama. Afterward, he excelled at the NBA's predraft camp in Chicago in 2002; the New York Knicks picked him seventh overall in the 2002 NBA Draft and immediately traded him to the Denver Nuggets.

He began the 2002–03 season on the bench, but ended it as a starter, averaging 10.5 points, 6.1 rebounds, and 1.6 steals, and finishing in the league's top ten in shooting percentage (.519).[2] After the season, he was selected to the NBA All-Rookie first team.

On November 1, 2005, against the San Antonio Spurs, Nenê suffered a serious knee injury on an awkward fall consisting of a torn anterior cruciate ligament, a sprained medial collateral ligament and a torn meniscus in his right knee during Denver's first game of the NBA season.[3] He had played just 3 minutes.

Nenê re-signed with the Nuggets on December 14, 2011, signing a five year contract with the team worth up to $67 million.[4]

Personal

Nenê married Lauren Prothe on February 14, 2009 (Valentine's Day).[5][6]

Cancer scare

On January 11, 2008, Nenê released a statement saying that he was taking an indefinite leave of absence from the team to take care of a personal medical issue.[7] On January 14, he had a testicular tumor removed at a Denver hospital.[8] He returned to action on March 27, 2008, in a 118-105 Nuggets home win over the Dallas Mavericks.[9] Nenê entered the game with 1:17 left in the fourth quarter to a standing ovation.[9]

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
2002–03 Denver 80 53 28.2 .519 .000 .578 6.1 1.9 1.6 .8 10.5
2003–04 Denver 77 77 32.5 .530 .000 .682 6.5 2.2 1.5 .5 11.8
2004–05 Denver 55 18 23.9 .503 .000 .660 5.9 1.5 .9 .9 9.6
2005–06 Denver 1 0 3.0 .000 .000 .000 .0 .0 .0 .0 .0
2006–07 Denver 64 42 26.8 .570 .000 .689 7.0 1.2 1.0 .9 12.2
2007–08 Denver 16 1 16.6 .408 .000 .551 5.4 .9 .6 .9 5.3
2008–09 Denver 77 76 32.6 .604 .200 .723 7.8 1.4 1.2 1.3 14.6
2009–10 Denver 82 82 33.6 .587 .000 .704 7.6 2.5 1.4 1.0 13.8
2010–11 Denver 75 75 30.5 .615 .200 .711 7.6 2.0 1.1 1.0 14.5
Career 527 424 29.6 .563 0.095 .678 6.9 1.8 1.2 .9 12.3

Playoffs

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2003–04 Denver 5 5 26.4 .444 .000 .538 5.0 3.0 1.0 .6 7.8
2004–05 Denver 5 0 20.2 .429 .000 .652 5.0 .4 .4 .4 6.6
2006–07 Denver 5 5 35.8 .585 .000 .778 7.8 2.4 .6 .6 15.2
2007–08 Denver 3 0 10.0 .556 .000 1.000 2.3 .3 .7 .3 4.3
2008–09 Denver 16 16 32.8 .548 .000 .657 7.5 2.6 1.2 .6 11.5
2009–10 Denver 5 5 33.8 .621 .000 .583 5.8 2.2 1.2 .2 11.4
2010–11 Denver 5 5 32.4 .478 .000 .563 9.0 1.6 1.0 .8 14.2
Career 44 36 29.5 .531 .000 .630 6.6 2.1 1.0 .6 10.8

NBA achievements

References

  1. ^ No More Hilário for Nenê, NBA.com, 2003-08-06, http://www.nba.com/nuggets/news/nene_namechange_030806.html, retrieved 2008-03-05 
  2. ^ 2002-03 Regular Season Field Goals Percentage, NBA.com, http://www.nba.com/statistics/2002/default_regular_season_leaders/LeagueLeadersFGPQuery.html?topic=0&stat=6, retrieved 2008-03-05 
  3. ^ Nuggets' Nenê likely out for season with torn ACL, USATODAY.com, 2005-11-02, http://www.usatoday.com/sports/basketball/nba/nuggets/2005-11-02-nene-acl_x.htm, retrieved 2008-03-05 
  4. ^ Hochman, Benjamin (December 14, 2011). "Nuggets welcome back Nene as big free-agent signing - The Denver Post". Denver Post. http://www.denverpost.com/sports/ci_19548473. Retrieved December 14, 2011. 
  5. ^ http://www.metro.us/us/article/2009/02/20/10/1604-82/index.xml
  6. ^ http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2009/jan/11/nene-savor-time-life/
  7. ^ Graham, Pat (2008-01-12), Nenê leaves team to care for personal medical issue, DenverPost.com, http://www.denverpost.com/sports/ci_7954264, retrieved 2008-03-05 
  8. ^ (– Scholar search) Nenê has testicular tumor removed, Fox Sports, 2008-01-15, http://msn.foxsports.com/nba/story/7665354?MSNHPHMA, retrieved 2008-01-15 
  9. ^ a b ESPN - Dallas vs. Denver - Recap - March 27, 2008

External links

First round
Second round

0 Carroll  | 1 Hamilton  | 3 Lawson  | 5 Fernández  | 6 Afflalo | 7 Harrington | 8 Gallinari | 10 Stone | 11 Andersen | 13 Brewer  | 24 Miller | 25 Mozgov | 31 Nenê | 35 Faried  | 41 Koufos

Head coach: Karl | Assistant coaches: Hunt | Welch | Iske