Otis Thorpe

Otis Henry Thorpe (born August 5, 1962) is a retired American professional basketball player who played for several teams in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He was an NBA All-Star in 1992 and won an NBA championship with the Houston Rockets in 1994.

Early years

Otis Thorpe graduated in 1980 from Lake Worth Community High School in Florida. He played his college ball at Providence College. The school remembers him for having the longest NBA career of any Friar player. He ranks seventh all-time at the school in rebounds and was the school's first First-Team Big East player. During his tenure at Providence College he was also a two-time Honorable Mention All-America selection.^[1]

NBA career

Thorpe was drafted by the Kansas City Kings as the ninth overall pick in the first round of the 1984 NBA draft and played seventeen seasons in the NBA, seven and a half of which were played with the Houston Rockets. While with the Rockets, Thorpe made an All-Star appearance in 1992. Thorpe played in 542 consecutive games between 1986 and 1992 and, at one time, held the longest streak of consecutive games played in the NBA.^[2]

In 1994, Thorpe was an integral part of the Houston Rockets' first NBA Championship. He also holds the Rockets' all-time record for the highest field goal accuracy (55.9%).

Halfway through the next season, the Rockets realized that they were struggling and needed a change. The team sent Thorpe to the Portland Trail Blazers in a deal for Clyde Drexler. He would only play 34 games for the Blazers before moving on to occupy the starting front court for the Detroit Pistons with Grant Hill for the next two years.

Before the start of the 1997-98 season, the Pistons dealt Thorpe to the Vancouver Grizzlies for a future first-round draft pick. This deal came back to haunt the franchise during the 2003 NBA Draft Lottery when they would have received the second pick and had their choice of Carmelo Anthony, Chris Bosh, or Dwyane Wade, but they were forced to hand the pick over to the Pistons because they had yet to honor the trade. (The Pistons used the pick to choose Darko Miličić.)

Thorpe would play 47 games with the Grizzlies before returning to the Kings. In the offseason, he was traded (along with Mitch Richmond) to the Washington Wizards for Chris Webber. He would finish his last two seasons with the Miami Heat and Charlotte Hornets. When Thorpe finished his last game in 2001, he was the last remaining member of the Kansas City Kings to retire.

Thorpe holds career averages of 14.0 points and 8.2 rebounds per game. He retired from the Charlotte Hornets in 2001, finishing his career with over 17,000 points and 10,000 rebounds in the NBA.

Personal life

Thorpe is married to Donella Thorpe and lives in the Austin TX area. The couple have two children. One is Daniel Thorpe who averages 27 points a game and is 6' 5" in the 8th grade. His daughter plays volleyball at A&M.

NBA career statistics

Regular season

Playoffs

See also

• List of National Basketball Association players with 1000 games played
• List of National Basketball Association career rebounding leaders
• List of National Basketball Association career turnovers leaders
• List of National Basketball Association career minutes played leaders

References

External links

• Providence College Player Bio
• NBA bio