Ratliff at a press conference in 2007 when he was traded to the Minnesota Timberwolves.
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Personal information | |||||||||||||
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Born |
Demopolis, Alabama |
April 17, 1973 ||||||||||||
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 | |||||||||||||
Playing career | 1995–2011 | ||||||||||||
Position | Center / Power forward | ||||||||||||
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 | |||||||||||||
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Career statistics | |||||||||||||
Points | 5,809 (7.2 ppg) | ||||||||||||
Rebounds | 4,596 (5.7 rpg) | ||||||||||||
Assists | 465 (0.8 apg) | ||||||||||||
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com | |||||||||||||
Medals
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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 had 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.
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. Ratliff was inducted into the University of Wyoming Athletics Hall of Fame in 2005.
Ratliff was selected with the 18th pick of the 1995 NBA draft by the Detroit Pistons, for whom he played 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 reserve center of the 2001 All-Star Game, but was unable to play due to injury. He was a key fixture on the 2000–01 Sixers 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. 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.