Latrell Sprewell

Latrell Sprewell
Player information
Full name	Latrell Fontaine Sprewell
Nickname	Spree, Melody of Seduction
birthday	September 8, 1970
place of birth	Milwaukee , United States
size	196 cm
position	Shooting Guard / Small Forward
college	Alabama
NBA draft	1992 , 24th pick, Golden State Warriors
Clubs as active
1992–1998 Golden State Warriors 1998–2003 New York Knicks 2003–2005 Minnesota Timberwolves

Latrell Fontaine Sprewell (born September 8, 1970 in Milwaukee , Wisconsin ) is a retired American basketball player. He was a winger (guard / forward) who lived mainly from his athleticism, speed and versatility.

Career

1992-1997

Sprewell joined the American professional league NBA in 1992 from the University of Alabama . The Golden State Warriors drew him in 24th place in the 1st round of the draft. Sprewell got off to a good start, starting 69 of his 77 games in his rookie season. His point average was 15.4 pps. For his achievements, he was named to the NBA All-Rookie Second Team . He also received a contract for a signature shoe from Converse. This is still considered by collectors to be one of the best basketball shoes of its time. His playing style improved over the next few years. He had the highest point average of his team, was All-Star in 1994, 1995 and 1997 and achieved an average of 24.2 pps in 1996-97 (fifth best in the league).

Choke Incident (1997)

Despite being an NBA All-Star four times, his career was overshadowed by an event on December 1, 1997: During a training session, he attacked Golden State Warriors coach PJ Carlesimo. When Carlesimo yelled at him to make better passes, Sprewell replied that he was not in the mood for criticism and that the coach should keep his distance from him. Even so, Carlesimo came closer, whereupon Sprewell threatened to kill him and choked him for 10-15 seconds before the other team members could separate him from the coach. Twenty minutes later he came back into the hall and hit Carlesimo again, but didn't hit him properly and was then taken out of the hall.

Sprewell was banned for ten days without pay. The next day, the Warriors canceled Sprewell's contract, which was worth $ 23.7 million over three years. In addition, Sprewell was banned from the league for 82 games. He went to court and there the termination of the contract was annulled and his suspension reduced to the remaining 68 games of the season. During his suspension, Sprewell was sentenced to three months of house arrest for reckless driving and his involvement in an accident in which two people were injured.

Due to the 1998/99 season shortened by the lockout , Sprewell no longer played until February 1999 after the Warriors traded him to the New York Knicks for John Starks , Chris Mills and Terry Cummings .

1999-2003

In Madison Square Garden (also New York's basketball stadium) the fans loved him and in the same year he brought the Knicks to the NBA final, where they lost 4-1 to the San Antonio Spurs .

In the next few years, however, the success failed and the media pressure on the "go-to-guy" Latrell Sprewell grew steadily. Recently he was feeling increasingly uncomfortable in New York, feeling that even the Knicks' president, James Dolan, didn't like him. Nevertheless, he set a record at the Knicks with the most successful three-point throws (9 hits in 9 attempts) in a game of the NBA, which has now been achieved by Ben Gordon . After Sprewell's speed and with it his typical game and defense decreased with age, a trade became more and more likely. He was also late for training more and more often or showed an unprofessional attitude.

2003-2005

In 2003 he was finally traded to the Minnesota Timberwolves . At first he played very well again and integrated himself into the team. He liked the fact that he no longer had to bear sole responsibility, was finally able to play in his preferred position (shooting guard, instead of small forward in New York) and had real stars by his side. But when 2004 was not successful and Sprewell also had a bad season, the Timberwolves decided to offer him only a small contract (USD 21 million for three years). Sprewell refused on the grounds that he had "a family to support".

successes

• All-NBA First Team (1994)
• All-Star (1994,1995,1997,2001)
• NBA finalist (1999)
• Career statistics: 18.3 points; 4.0 assists, 4.1 rebounds (all per game)

Web links

• Latrell Sprewell - player profile on NBA.com
• Latrell Sprewell - player profile on basketball-reference.com
• Beginnings: Latrell Sprewell - broadcast on MSG Networks (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Classic Commercial: Latrell Sprewell for Converse . In: Sole Collector . ( solecollector.com [accessed May 21, 2018]).
2. ↑ cbssports.com - Report: Sonics set to make Spurs assistant coach Carlesimo
3. ↑ espn.com - Sprewell's Image Remains in a Chokehold
4. ↑ pqasb.pqarchiver.com - SPREWELL CAN'T SAVE KNICKS MAGIC WIN OPENER; CAMBY: 10 SECONDS