Chris Porter

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

For the comedian, see Chris Porter (comedian).

For the footballer, see Chris Porter (footballer).

Chris Porter
Chris Porter on cover of Sports Illustrated
Position	Small forward/Power forward
Nickname	"C.P."
Height	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)
Weight	218 lb (99 kg)
Team	Fujian Sturgeons (CBA)
Nationality	United States
Born	August 23, 1978 (age 28) Abbeville, Alabama
High school	Abeville High School (AL)
College	Chipola Junior College Auburn University
Draft	26th pick in 2nd round, 2000 Golden State Warriors
Pro career	2000–present
Former teams	Golden State Warriors (NBA) 2000–01 Dakota Wizards (CBA) 2001-05 Carifac Fabriano (Serie A) 2002-03 Oliveirense Simoldes (LCB) 2003-04 Oklahoma Storm (USBL) 2002-03,2004-05 Barangay Ginebra Kings (PBA) 2005-06

Chris Porter (born May 9, 1978 in Abbeville, Alabama) is an American professional basketball player. He is a former star forward for the Auburn University men's basketball team that made it to the NCAA Sweet Sixteen in 1998-1999, Porter's junior season. He was named SEC Player of the Year and was selected to the All-America team. The following year Porter was pictured on the cover of Sports Illustrated magazine as the Auburn Tigers were picked to win the national title. However, true to the Sports Illustrated cover jinx, the Tigers struggled and Porter was suspended for the last 8 games of the season for accepting money from an agent while still in college.[1] Porter reportedly accepted the $2500 to save his mother from being evicted from her home and claimed he did not know the person was affiliated with any sports agency.[2][3]

Before attending Auburn University, Porter attended Abbeville High School (where he was a 4A State Champion) and Chipola Junior College (where he was named JUCO All-American). Known for his large afro hairstyle and giant vertical leap, he created excitement with his dunking and rebounding abilities. Largely seen as too undersized to play power forward at the NBA level, his style fit in perfectly with former Auburn coach Cliff Ellis' style of full court pressure.

[edit] Professional career

Porter went on to be selected with the 26th pick in the 2nd round of the 2000 NBA Draft by the Golden State Warriors. During his 51 games as a rookie small forward for Golden State, Porter averaged 8.6 points and 3.7 rebounds per contest despite a nagging sprained left ankle[4] and limited playing time (22 minutes per game[5]). However, showing up 3 days late for summer camp followed by an off-the-court arrest soon clouded Porter's contributions and the team decided to trade him to the Charlotte Hornets in a 3-team 8-player deal. After Porter missed his flight to Charlotte[6], he was released from the team having never played in a game and has since not returned to the NBA. Upon his departure from the NBA, Porter has played for a number of professional leagues. He joined the Dakota Wizards of the Continental Basketball Association with whom he made an immediate impact. He led the team to capture the 2002 CBA Championship their first season in the league and again won the Championship in 2004. While playing domestically in the CBA, Porter spent his summers playing for other leagues (mostly overseas). In 2002 and 2004, he lent his skills to the Oklahoma Storm of the United States Basketball League with whom he won a 2002 Championship.[7] He played briefly in Italy for Carifac Fabriano Basket against Euroleague teams and then later signed with the Oliveirense Simoldes of the Portuguese Basketball League. During his time in Portugal, Porter competed in the 2004 FIBA EuroCup Challenge and was also featured as the starting power forward for the North team in the Portuguese All Star game. Following his CBA and European success, Porter was contracted as an import player for the Barangay Ginebra Kings of the Philippine Basketball Association. He led the team through the quarterfinals of the 2006 PBA Playoffs before they lost their series 4-3 to rival and eventual Champion, the Red Bull Barako.[8] Porter left the PBA following the 2005-06 season when he was drafted as an import player by the Fujian Sturgeons with the 2nd pick in the 2nd round of the 2005 Chinese Basketball Association International Player Draft. He quickly established himself as the marquee player of Fujian. In fact, the team used its 1st round pick in the 2006 Draft in order to re-sign Porter.[9] The decision proved fruitful as he has led the club to a franchise-high 19-11 regular season record, heading into the playoffs tied for 5th place in the 2006-07 league standings. Porter is also the leading rebounder in the league among forwards and is currently listed 4th among all players (behind 3 centers headed by teammate Brandon Crump from UT).[10] Porter was recently voted by the fans as a member of the 2007 CBA All-Star team, chosen to play against the All-Star team of the Korean Basketball League. Porter did not disappoint, scoring 30 points and grabbing 17 rebounds in the two-game exhibition.

[edit] Trivia

Porter's nickname while attending Auburn was C.P.
ESPN called Porter's 1999 Dunk against LSU "The Dunk of the Decade" and also said the "Chris Porter can touch the clouds".
Porter became the first player in Chipola College history to have his jersey retired.
Porter was coached by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in 2002 while playing for the Oklahoma Storm. Together they won the USBL Championship.
Since his rookie season in the NBA, Porter has been arrested twice, for possession of drugs[11] and driving under the influence.

[edit] External links

2000 NBA Draft
First Round Kenyon Martin \| Stromile Swift \| Darius Miles \| Marcus Fizer \| Mike Miller \| DerMarr Johnson \| Chris Mihm \| Jamal Crawford \| Joel Przybilla \| Keyon Dooling \| Jérome Moïso \| Etan Thomas \| Courtney Alexander \| Mateen Cleaves \| Jason Collier \| Hidayet Türkoğlu \| Desmond Mason \| Quentin Richardson \| Jamaal Magloire \| Speedy Claxton \| Morris Peterson \| Donnell Harvey \| DeShawn Stevenson \| Dalibor Bagarić \| Jake Tsakalidis \| Mamadou N'diaye \| Primož Brezec \| Erick Barkley \| Mark Madsen
Second Round Marko Jarić \| Dan Langhi \| A. J. Guyton \| Jake Voskuhl \| Khalid El-Amin \| Mike Smith \| Soumaila Samake \| Eddie House \| Eduardo Nájera \| Lavor Postell \| Hanno Möttölä \| Chris Carrawell \| Olumide Oyedeji \| Michael Redd \| Brian Cardinal \| Jabari Smith \| DeeAndre Hulett \| Josip Sesar \| Mark Karcher \| Jason Hart \| Kaniel Dickens \| Igor Rakočević \| Ernest Brown \| Dan McClintock \| Cory Hightower \| Chris Porter \| Jaquay Walls \| Scoonie Penn \| Pete Mickeal