Personal information | |
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Born |
Houston, Texas |
August 27, 1970
Nationality | American |
Listed height | 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) |
Listed weight | 255 lb (116 kg) |
Career information | |
High school | Kashmere (Houston, Texas) |
College | Wyoming (1988–1992) |
NBA draft | 1992 / Undrafted |
Playing career | 1992–2003 |
Position | Power forward |
Career history | |
1992–1993 | Peñas Huesca |
1993–1994 | Girona |
1994–1995 | Denver Nuggets |
1995 | Portland Trail Blazers |
1995 | Chicago Rockers |
1995–1996 | Denver Nuggets |
1996 | Dallas Mavericks |
1996 | Ülkerspor |
1996–1997 | La Crosse Bobcats |
1997–1999 | Toronto Raptors |
1999–2000 | Montecatini SC |
2000–2001 | Minnesota Timberwolves |
2001 | New Jersey Nets |
2001–2002 | Atlanta Hawks |
2002 | Kansas City Knights |
2002 | Basket Livorno |
2002–2003 | Minnesota Timberwolves |
2003 | Caja San Fernando |
2003 | Unicaja Málaga |
Career highlights and awards | |
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Reginald Dwayne "Reggie" Slater (born August 27, 1970) is an American retired professional basketball player born in Houston, Texas. A 6'7", 255-lb. power forward from the University of Wyoming, Slater was never drafted by an NBA team but did manage to play in eight NBA seasons for the Denver Nuggets, Portland Trail Blazers, Dallas Mavericks, Toronto Raptors, Minnesota Timberwolves, New Jersey Nets and Atlanta Hawks from 1994–1999 and 2000–2003.
In his entire NBA career, Slater played in 259 games and scored a total of 1,450 points. His best NBA season came during the 1997–98 NBA season as a member of the Raptors, appearing in 78 games and averaged 8.0 points, 3.9 rebounds, 0.9 assists, 0.6 steals and 0.4 blocks in 21.3 minutes per game, all career bests except for blocks. As a result, more than 43 percent of his NBA career scoring and more than 30 percent of his NBA career games played totals came during that season.
One day he's walking home from band practice, and he walks past the school gymnasium, right past varsity basketball practice. The coach looks up and sees him and takes in the size (6-foot-3, 190 pounds). The kid passes the eye test, so the coach stops him and asks him why he's not playing – basketball, that is, not the cornet."Well, I've never played, and I'm not very coordinated", the kid says.
The coach invites him to come out for the team anyway, and the kid was right. He's not coordinated. His new teammates make fun of him. At their urging, he tries a dunk. He runs toward the basket with both arms raised high in the air, holding the ball aloft as if he were trying to keep it above water. When he reaches the basket, he can't figure out which foot to jump off of. But this is not the worst of it. The new guy doesn't know the rules of the game; doesn't know that to run with the ball, it must be dribbled first. He shows up for practice in football shoes.