Okaro White

Okaro White
No. 15 – Miami Heat
Position Power forward
League NBA
Personal information
Born (1992-08-13) August 13, 1992
Brooklyn, New York
Nationality American
Listed height 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)
Listed weight 204 lb (93 kg)
Career information
High school Clearwater (Clearwater, Florida)
College Florida State (2010–2014)
NBA draft 2014 / Undrafted
Playing career 2014–present
Career history
2014–2015 Virtus Bologna
2015–2016 Aris Thessaloniki
2016–2017 Sioux Falls Skyforce
2017–present Miami Heat
Career highlights and awards

Okaro White (born August 13, 1992) is an American professional basketball player for the Miami Heat of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for Florida State.

Early life

White was born in Brooklyn, New York, on August 13, 1992, and has an older brother and sister. His mother, Charmaine White, ran track for the Jamaican national team. As a preteen, his family moved to Clearwater, Florida, to be close to his grandmother.

In eighth grade, he experienced a growth spurt, growing five-and-a-half inches in the summer. White played basketball and football, and ran track while growing up, but his best sport was football, where he played at the quarterback and free safety positions.

White was named Pinellas County's Basketball Player of the Year as a senior at Clearwater High School.[1]

College career

White chose to play college basketball at Florida State after receiving scholarship offers from Florida, Georgia Tech, Indiana, Clemson, and Miami (Fl.). At Florida State, he started on two NCAA Tournament teams.[1] He averaged 13.6 points and 6.8 rebounds per game in his senior season with Florida State, both career highs. In addition, White connected on 37.5 percent of his 3-point shots. He defended both guards and forwards and alternated between the small and power forward positions.[2] White was one of 64 seniors selected to play in the Portsmouth Invitational Tournament.[3]

Professional career

Italy (2014–2015)

After going undrafted in the 2014 NBA draft, White joined the Memphis Grizzlies for the 2014 NBA Summer League. In five games, he averaged 8.2 points and 2.6 rebounds per game.[4] On July 31, 2014, he signed with Virtus Bologna of Italy for the 2014–15 season.[5] In 33 games for the club, he averaged 12.1 points, 6.8 rebounds, 1.1 assists and 1.0 blocks per game in the top-tier Italian League.[6]

Greece (2015–2016)

In July 2015, White joined the Memphis Grizzlies for the Orlando Summer League and the Dallas Mavericks for the Las Vegas Summer League. On August 7, 2015, he signed a one-year deal with Aris Thessaloniki of the Greek Basket League and the EuroCup.[7][8] In 26 Greek League regular season games, he averaged 13.5 points, 7.0 rebounds, 1.9 assists, 1.7 steals, and 0.4 blocks per game.[9] He led the Greek League's regular season phase with a total accumulated Performance Index Rating (PIR) of 474,[10] thus being the league's regular season PIR leader.

In 10 Greek League playoff games, he averaged 14.9 points, 8.1 rebounds, 0.8 assists, 1.3 steals, and 1.1 blocks per game.[9] Over 36 games in 2015–16, he averaged 13.9 points, 7.3 rebounds, 1.6 assists and 1.6 steals per game. He was named to the 2015–16 Greek League Best Five,[11] and he was named the 2015–16 Greek League Most Spectacular Player.[12][13] In the 2015–16 EuroCup season, he averaged 11.0 points and 6.4 rebounds in 16 games.[14]

Miami Heat and Sioux Falls Skyforce (2016–present)

In June 2016, White joined the Miami Heat for the 2016 NBA Summer League.[15] He went on to sign with the Heat on July 15, 2016,[16] but he was waived on October 22, after appearing in six preseason games.[17] On November 1, 2016, he was acquired by the Sioux Falls Skyforce of the NBA Development League as an affiliate player of the Heat.[18] On January 17, 2017, he returned to the Heat,[19] signing a 10-day contract with the team[20] to help them deal with numerous injuries. Miami had to use an NBA hardship exemption in order to sign him as he made their roster stand at 16, being one player over the allowed limited of 15. He made his NBA debut two days later, recording one rebound in nine minutes off the bench in a 99–95 win over the Dallas Mavericks.[21] He signed a second 10-day contract with the Heat on January 27,[22] and a rest-of-season deal on February 6.[23] On February 16, 2017, he was assigned to the Sioux Falls Skyforce so he could participate in the NBA Development League All-Star game.[24]

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
2016–17 Miami 35 0 13.5 .379 .353 .909 2.3 .6 .3 .3 2.8
Career 35 0 13.5 .379 .353 .909 2.3 .6 .3 .3 2.8

References

  1. 1 2 Holub, Bonnie. "Player Feature: Okaro White" (PDF). Florida State Seminoles. Florida State University. Retrieved June 23, 2015.
  2. ↑ Pierre, Natalie (June 25, 2014). "FSU’s Okaro White, UF’s Patric Young lead state NBA draft hopefuls". Palm Beach Post. Retrieved June 25, 2015.
  3. ↑ Putnam, Bob (June 24, 2014). "Florida State's Okaro White preps for shot at NBA draft". Tampa Bay Times. Retrieved June 23, 2015.
  4. ↑ Pierre, Natalie (July 12, 2014). "Florida State's Okaro White earns invite to Grizzlies training camp". Tallahassee Democrat. Retrieved June 23, 2015.
  5. ↑ "Virtus Bologna lands rookie Okaro White". Sportando.com. July 31, 2014. Retrieved July 15, 2016.
  6. ↑ Okaro White|#1.
  7. ↑ Aris brings in power forward White
  8. ↑ Okaro White inks with Aris Thessaloniki
  9. 1 2 ΟΥΑΪΤ Οκάρο | Basket League ΣΚΡΑΤΣ 2015-16 (in Greek)
  10. ↑ ΣΥΝΟΛΙΚΑ ΣΤΑΤΙΣΤΙΚΑ ΠΑΙΚΤΩΝ (in Greek)
  11. ↑ The All-Greek Basket League team of 2015/2016
  12. ↑ Ο Ο. Γουάιτ πιο θεαματικός παίκτης της Basket League ΣΚΡΑΤΣ (in Greek)
  13. ↑ Βραβεύονται οι καλύτεροι στην κλήρωση της Basket League (in Greek).
  14. ↑ WHITE, OKARO – Eurocupbasketball.com
  15. ↑ "HEAT Announce Summer League Information". NBA.com. June 29, 2016. Retrieved October 22, 2016.
  16. ↑ "HEAT Signs Okaro White". NBA.com. July 15, 2016. Retrieved July 15, 2016.
  17. ↑ "HEAT Waives Five Players". NBA.com. October 22, 2016. Retrieved October 22, 2016.
  18. ↑ "Skyforce Announce 2016 Training Camp Roster". NBA.com. November 1, 2016. Retrieved November 3, 2016.
  19. ↑ "HEAT Signs Okaro White". NBA.com. January 17, 2017. Retrieved January 17, 2017.
  20. ↑ "White has been signed to a 10-day contract. He...". Twitter. January 17, 2017. Retrieved January 17, 2017.
  21. ↑ "Mavericks vs. Heat – Box Score". ESPN.com. January 19, 2017. Retrieved January 19, 2017.
  22. ↑ "HEAT Signs Okaro White to a Second 10-day Contract". NBA.com. January 27, 2017. Retrieved January 27, 2017.
  23. ↑ "HEAT RE-SIGNS OKARO WHITE". NBA.com. February 6, 2017. Retrieved February 6, 2017.
  24. ↑ "White And Georges-Hunt To Play In NBA Development League All-Star Game". NBA.com. February 16, 2017. Retrieved February 22, 2017.
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