Derek Strong
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Derek Lamar Strong (born February 9, 1968) is an American former professional basketball player who played in ten National Basketball Association (NBA) seasons from 1991 to 2001 for six different teams. A 6'8" forward from Xavier University, Strong was selected by the Philadelphia 76ers in the second round (47th pick overall) of the 1990 NBA draft. Strong has successfully transitioned into stock car racing.
Professional basketball career
Strong played for the Washington Bullets, Milwaukee Bucks, Boston Celtics, Los Angeles Lakers, Orlando Magic and Los Angeles Clippers.
In his NBA career, Strong played in 456 games and scored a total of 3,088 points. His best year as a professional came during the 1997–98 season as a member of the Magic, appearing in 58 games and averaging 12.7 ppg.
Strong played for the Quad City Thunder of the Continental Basketball Association (CBA) during the 1992–93 season.[1] He was selected as the CBA Most Valuable Player and Newcomer of the Year, and named to the All-CBA First Team and All-Defensive Team.[1]
Career statistics
Template:NBA player statistics legend
NBA
Regular season
Template:NBA player statistics start |- | align="left" | 1991–92 | align="left" | Washington | 1 || 0 || 12.0 || .000 || .000 || .750 || 5.0 || 1.0 || 0.0 || 0.0 || 3.0 |- | align="left" | 1992–93 | align="left" | Milwaukee | 23 || 0 || 14.7 || .457 || .500 || .800 || 5.0 || 0.6 || 0.5 || 0.0 || 6.8 |- | align="left" | 1993–94 | align="left" | Milwaukee | 67 || 11 || 16.9 || .413 || .231 || .772 || 4.2 || 0.7 || 0.6 || 0.2 || 6.6 |- | align="left" | 1994–95 | align="left" | Boston | 70 || 24 || 19.2 || .453 || .286 || .820 || 5.4 || 0.6 || 0.3 || 0.2 || 6.3 |- | align="left" | 1995–96 | align="left" | L.A. Lakers | 63 || 0 || 11.8 || .426 || .111 || .812 || 2.8 || 0.5 || 0.3 || 0.2 || 3.4 |- | align="left" | 1996–97 | align="left" | Orlando | 82 || 21 || 24.4 || .447 || .000 || .803 || 6.3 || 0.9 || 0.6 || 0.2 || 8.5 |- | align="left" | 1997–98 | align="left" | Orlando | 58 || 8 || 28.2 || .420 || .000 || .781 || 7.4 || 0.9 || 0.5 || 0.4 || 12.7 |- | align="left" | 1998–99 | align="left" | Orlando | 44 || 0 || 15.8 || .422 || .000 || .717 || 3.7 || 0.4 || 0.3 || 0.2 || 5.1 |- | align="left" | 1999–00 | align="left" | Orlando | 20 || 0 || 7.4 || .438 || .250 || .786 || 2.2 || 0.2 || 0.3 || 0.1 || 2.7 |- | align="left" | 2000–01 | align="left" | L.A. Clippers | 28 || 8 || 17.5 || .385 || .000 || .757 || 3.9 || 0.3 || 0.5 || 0.0 || 4.2 |- class="sortbottom" | style="text-align:center;" colspan="2"| Career | 456 || 72 || 18.7 || .430 || .180 || .786 || 4.9 || 0.6 || 0.4 || 0.2 || 6.8 |}
Playoffs
Template:NBA player statistics start |- | align="left" | 1994–95 | align="left" | Boston | 4 || 1 || 20.3 || .333 || .000 || .500 || 6.0 || 0.8 || 0.8 || 0.3 || 2.8 |- | align="left" | 1996–97 | align="left" | Orlando | 5 || 5 || 39.0 || .525 || .000 || .760 || 10.0 || 0.8 || 0.4 || 0.4 || 12.2 |- | align="left" | 1998–99 | align="left" | Orlando | 1 || 0 || 16.0 || .500 || .000 || 1.000 || 0.0 || 0.0 || 1.0 || 0.0 || 4.0 |- class="sortbottom" | style="text-align:center;" colspan="2"| Career | 10 || 6 || 29.2 || .481 || .000 || .727 || 7.4 || 0.7 || 0.6 || 0.3 || 7.6 |}
College
Template:NBA player statistics start |- | align="left" | 1987–88 | align="left" | Xavier | 30 || - || 22.3 || .569 || .000 || .718 || 7.1 || 0.8 || 0.7 || 0.4 || 10.6 |- | align="left" | 1988–89 | align="left" | Xavier | 33 || 31 || 29.8 || .617 || .000 || .817 || 8.0 || 0.5 || 0.8 || 0.5 || 15.3 |- | align="left" | 1989–90 | align="left" | Xavier | 33 || 31 || 29.7 || .533 || .000 || .839 || 9.9 || 0.9 || 0.8 || 0.8 || 14.2 |- class="sortbottom" | style="text-align:center;" colspan="2"| Career | 96 || 62 || 27.4 || .573 || .000 || .802 || 8.4 || 0.7 || 0.8 || 0.6 || 13.4 |}
NASCAR career
During his tenure in the NBA, Derek was an avid NASCAR fan and remained committed to pursuing this childhood dream when his playing days ended. Strong transitioned into a professional stock car driver and owner of Strong Racing Team Derek is the first NBA player to successfully transition into stock car racing. Strong Racing is the first team in NASCAR history to have African-American female owners – Dawn Whitaker and Erika Hill.[2] Strong Racing is a Stock Car Racing Team that competes in ASA and NASCAR Racing events. Strong Racing is managed by Stuart Lycett and is based in Los Angeles.[3]
Charities
Strong supports many charities including The Music City Motorsports Institute, a non-profit associated with Strong Racing that seeks to motivate and inspire students to achieve academic success with an educational platform of learning, discovery and fun in the motor sports industry.[3] Co-owner of Strong Racing, Erika Hill is also the co-founder of Peace International, a non-profit organization whose primary mission is to build schools in remote areas throughout the world.[4]
References
External links
- Pages with script errors
- 1968 births
- Living people
- American expatriate basketball people in Spain
- American men's basketball players
- Basketball players from Los Angeles
- Boston Celtics players
- CB Peñas Huesca players
- Columbus Riverdragons players
- Liga ACB players
- Los Angeles Clippers players
- Los Angeles Lakers players
- Milwaukee Bucks players
- Orlando Magic players
- Philadelphia 76ers draft picks
- Power forwards
- Quad City Thunder players
- United States Basketball League players
- Washington Bullets players
- Xavier Musketeers men's basketball players
- 20th-century American sportsmen