Theo Ratliff

Theo Ratliff

Ratliff at a press conference in 2007 when he was traded to the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Personal information
Born April 17, 1973
Demopolis, Alabama
Nationality American
Listed height 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)
Listed weight 235 lb (107 kg)
Career information
High school Demopolis (Demopolis, Alabama)
College Wyoming (1991–1995)
NBA draft 1995 / Round: 1 / Pick: 18th overall
Selected by the Detroit Pistons
Pro career 1995–2011
Position Center
Number 42, 50
Career history
1995–1997 Detroit Pistons
1997–2001 Philadelphia 76ers
2001–2004 Atlanta Hawks
2004–2006 Portland Trail Blazers
2006–2007 Boston Celtics
2007–2008 Minnesota Timberwolves
2008 Detroit Pistons
2008–2009 Philadelphia 76ers
2009–2010 San Antonio Spurs
2010 Charlotte Bobcats
2010–2011 Los Angeles Lakers
Career highlights and awards
Career statistics
Points 5,809 (7.2 ppg)
Rebounds 4,596 (5.7 rpg)
Assists 465 (0.8 apg)
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com

Theophalus Curtis "Theo" Ratliff (born April 17, 1973) is an American retired professional basketball player who last played with the NBA's Los Angeles Lakers. Primarily a center, he was an excellent shot-blocker who has led the league three times in blocks per game. As of 2011, he is ranked 18th all-time in career blocks, and 13th all-time in career blocks per game.[1]

College career

At Wyoming, Ratliff had a successful career, finishing as the career leader in blocked shots. He accumulated 425 blocked shots in his career as a Cowboy, a record that still stands today.[2] Ratliff was inducted into the University of Wyoming Athletics Hall of Fame in 2005.[3]

NBA career

Ratliff, as a Portland Trail Blazers player, attempts a free throw in January 2006.

Ratliff was selected with the 18th pick of the 1995 NBA Draft by the Detroit Pistons, for whom he played for 2½ seasons. During the 1997–98 season he was traded to the Philadelphia 76ers. He played in Philadelphia for three seasons, and was voted Eastern Conference starting center of the 2001 All-Star Game, but was unable to play due to injury. He was a key fixture on the 2000–01 team that made it to the NBA finals, but an injured Ratliff was dealt at the trading deadline to the Atlanta Hawks for Dikembe Mutombo.

He missed most of the next season due to injury, but rebounded to post 262 blocks the next year with the Hawks. His best year as a pro was 2003–04, when he recorded a league-leading 307 blocked shots. During that season he was dealt to the Portland Trail Blazers, along with Shareef Abdur-Rahim and Dan Dickau, for Rasheed Wallace and Wesley Person.[4] After the 2004 season, he signed a three-year contract extension with the Blazers but was not as effective in 2004–05 and lost his starting job to Joel Przybilla midway through the schedule.

In June 2006, the Boston Celtics acquired Ratliff along with Sebastian Telfair from the Portland Trail Blazers in exchange for the No. 7 pick in the 2006 NBA Draft, power forward–center Raef LaFrentz, and point guard Dan Dickau.[5]

In July 2007, he was traded along with Gerald Green, Ryan Gomes, Al Jefferson, Sebastian Telfair, and draft picks, to the Minnesota Timberwolves for Kevin Garnett.[6] In February 2008 Ratliff was waived by the Timberwolves,[7] and he rejoined the Detroit Pistons in March.[8]

Ratliff returned to the Philadelphia 76ers for 2008-09 season.[9] In the offseason he was signed by the San Antonio Spurs.[10] In February 2010, he was traded to the Charlotte Bobcats for a projected 2nd round draft pick in 2016.[11]

Ratliff was signed by the Los Angeles Lakers on July 22, 2010 to a 1-year deal.[12]

In December 2011, Ratliff retired from basketball.[13]

Awards and honors

Ratliff won numerous awards during his career. The following are some of his collegiate achievements:[3]

Personal life and business ventures

Ratliff played basketball at Demopolis High School in Demopolis, Alabama, and later graduated from the University of Wyoming.

He is also the owner of the Rome Gladiators.

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
1995–96 Detroit 75 2 17.4 .557 .000 .708 4.0 .2 .2 1.5 4.5
1996–97 Detroit 76 38 17.0 .531 .000 .698 3.4 .2 .4 1.5 5.8
1997–98 Detroit 24 12 24.4 .514 .000 .683 5.0 .6 .5 2.3 6.5
1997–98 Philadelphia 58 55 32.1 .512 .000 .706 7.3 .7 .7 3.5 11.2
1998–99 Philadelphia 50 50 32.5 .470 .000 .725 8.1 .6 .9 3.0 11.2
1999–00 Philadelphia 57 56 31.5 .503 .000 .771 7.6 .6 .6 3.0 11.9
2000–01 Philadelphia 50 50 36.0 .499 .000 .760 8.3 1.2 .6 3.7 12.4
2001–02 Atlanta 3 2 27.3 .500 .000 .545 5.3 .3 .3 2.7 8.7
2002–03 Atlanta 81 81 31.1 .464 .000 .720 7.5 .9 .7 3.2 8.7
2003–04 Atlanta 53 52 31.1 .458 .000 .653 7.2 1.0 .6 3.1 8.3
2003–04 Portland 32 31 31.8 .540 .000 .629 7.3 .6 .8 4.4 7.3
2004–05 Portland 63 45 27.5 .447 .000 .692 5.3 .5 .4 2.5 4.8
2005–06 Portland 55 19 23.7 .571 .000 .651 5.1 .5 .3 1.6 4.9
2006–07 Boston 2 2 22.0 .333 .000 .750 3.5 .0 .5 1.5 2.5
2007–08 Minnesota 10 6 21.4 .511 .000 .680 3.9 .7 .3 1.9 6.3
2007–08 Detroit 16 3 13.9 .450 .000 .667 3.1 .4 .3 1.1 3.0
2008–09 Philadelphia 46 0 12.6 .531 .000 .600 2.8 .2 .4 1.0 1.9
2009–10 San Antonio 21 3 8.7 .444 .000 .500 1.9 .4 .1 .9 1.6
2009–10 Charlotte 28 26 22.3 .466 .000 .783 4.2 .6 .3 1.5 5.1
2010–11 L.A. Lakers 10 0 7.0 .167 .000 .000 1.3 .3 .2 .5 .2
Career 810 533 25.5 .496 .000 .710 5.7 .6 .5 2.4 7.2

Playoffs

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
1996 Detroit 1 0 4.0 .000 .000 .000 .0 .0 .0 .0 .0
1997 Detroit 3 0 6.0 .750 .000 .500 1.3 .3 .3 1.3 2.7
1999 Philadelphia 7 7 29.1 .465 .000 .579 7.3 .9 .7 2.6 7.3
2000 Philadelphia 10 10 37.4 .475 .000 .723 7.9 .9 1.0 3.0 13.0
2008 Detroit 12 0 10.9 .500 .000 .500 2.3 .1 .1 .9 1.3
2009 Philadelphia 6 0 15.7 .818 .000 .500 3.8 .0 .2 .7 3.3
2010 Charlotte 4 4 11.8 .375 .000 .500 .8 .3 .5 .0 1.8
2011 L.A. Lakers 1 0 1.0 .000 .000 .000 1.0 .0 .0 .0 .0
Career 44 21 19.8 .497 .000 .643 4.3 .4 .5 1.5 5.3

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ ESPN.com - All-Time Leaders-Blocks
  2. ↑ "History & Records 2013-2014" (PDF).
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 "Cowboy Hoops All-Century Team Announced". 2004-12-16.
  4. ↑ "Trail Blazers Acquire Two All-Stars From Atlanta". NBA.com. 2004-02-09. Retrieved 2010-02-22.
  5. ↑ "Celtics Acquire Telfair and Ratliff". NBA.com. 2006-06-28. Retrieved 2010-02-22.
  6. ↑ "Wolves Acquire Five Players and Picks for KG". NBA.com. 2007-07-30. Retrieved 2010-02-22.
  7. ↑ "Wolves Waive Theo Ratliff". NBA.com. 2008-02-29. Retrieved 2010-02-22.
  8. ↑ "Pistons Sign Center Theo Ratliff". NBA.com. 2008-03-04. Retrieved 2010-02-22.
  9. ↑ "Former All-Star Center Theo Ratliff Returns to Sixers". NBA.com. 2008-08-20. Retrieved 2010-02-22.
  10. ↑ "Spurs Sign Theo Ratliff". NBA.com. 2009-07-25. Retrieved 2010-02-19.
  11. ↑ "Bobcats acquire Theo Ratliff from Spurs". NBA.com. 2010-02-18. Retrieved 2010-02-19.
  12. ↑ "LAKERS SIGN THEO RATLIFF". NBA.com. 2010-07-22. Retrieved 2010-07-23.
  13. ↑ Bob Hammond."Success story". Laramie Boomerang. January 18, 2012. Retrieved on January 21, 2012.

External links