Ed O'Bannon

Ed O'Bannon

Ed O'Bannon in Pauley Pavilion in 2008.
Personal information
Born (1972-08-14) August 14, 1972
Los Angeles, California
Nationality American
Listed height 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)
Listed weight 222 lb (101 kg)
Career information
High school Artesia (Lakewood, California)
College UCLA (1991–1995)
NBA draft 1995 / Round: 1 / Pick: 9th overall
Selected by the New Jersey Nets
Playing career 1995–2004
Position Power forward
Number 31
Career history
1995–1997 New Jersey Nets
1997 Dallas Mavericks
1998 La Crosse Bobcats
1998 Acegas A.P.S. Trieste
1998–1999 CB Valladolid
1999–2000 Rethymno Aegean
1999–2000 Boca Juniors
2000–2001 Los Angeles Stars
2001–2002 Anwil Włocławek
2002–2003 Polonia Warszawa
2003–2004 Ostromecko Astoria Bydgoszcz
Career highlights and awards
Career NBA statistics
Points 634 (5.0 ppg)
Rebounds 316 (2.5 rpg)
Assists 102 (0.8 apg)
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com
Medals
Men’s basketball
Representing  United States
FIBA Americas U18 Championship
1990 Montevideo National team
Summer Universiade
1993 Buffalo National team

Edward Charles O'Bannon, Jr. (born August 14, 1972) is a retired American professional basketball player, known as a power forward for the UCLA Bruins men's basketball team on their 1995 NCAA championship team. He was the ninth pick in the 1995 National Basketball Association (NBA) Draft, selected by the New Jersey Nets. He spent only two seasons in the NBA, but continued his professional career for another eight years, mainly playing in Europe.

O'Bannon is the lead plaintiff in O'Bannon v. NCAA, an antitrust class action lawsuit against the National Collegiate Athletic Association.

High school and college

O'Bannon averaged 24.6 points, 9.7 rebounds in his senior year at Artesia High School. He led Artesia to a 29–2 record that year, and they won the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) Division II state championship. He was the most valuable player (MVP) at the Dapper Dan Classic, a high school All-Star game, and he was named a McDonald's High School All-American as well as honored by Basketball Times as its national high school player of the year.[1][2] He originally planned to attend the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV), but he did not sign a letter of intent with the university at the suggestion of UNLV head coach Jerry Tarkanian. However, when UNLV's men's basketball program was placed on probation due to recruiting improprieties, O'Bannon rescinded his commitment and instead attended UCLA.[3]

Six days before the official start of practice at UCLA, O'Bannon tore his anterior cruciate ligament as he landed awkwardly on a dunk during a pickup game with other Bruins.[1][3] He was told he might not be able to walk properly again, but eighteen months later, after receiving a graft from a cadaver, he returned to playing basketball.[3][4] In his first year, he came off the bench in 23 games and averaged fewer than four points while never starting.[5] In his second season in 1993, O'Bannon was named to the first team All-Pacific-10 (Pac-10) Conference team.[6] In his junior year, he was named the team's MVP[7] and was again first team All-Pac-10.[6] In his senior year in 1994–95, O'Bannon was the key to UCLA's 1995 NCAA Basketball Championship, scoring 30 points and taking 17 rebounds and was named the NCAA Tournament Most Outstanding Player.[5] For the season, he averaged 20.4 points (.533 field-goal percentage, .433 3-point percentage) and 8.3 rebounds, earning him the John R. Wooden Award, USBWA College Player of the Year (now Oscar Robertson Trophy), and the CBS/Chevrolet Player of the Year. He was a consensus first team All-American, Pac-10 co-Player of the Year along with Damon Stoudamire,[8] first team All-Pac-10 for the third consecutive year,[6] and UCLA's co-MVP along with Tyus Edney.[7]

His number 31 was retired by UCLA in 1996. He was also inducted into UCLA Athletics Hall of Fame in 2005,[8] and the Pac-12 Basketball Hall of Honor in 2012.[9]

NBA career

Leading up to the 1995 NBA Draft, O'Bannon hoped to be drafted by a team on the west coast. Selected ninth overall by the New Jersey Nets, he signed a three-year, $3.9 million contract. However, he became homesick.[10] In his two professional seasons, he was unable to find a place in the NBA, being too lean to play down low and not quick enough with his rebuilt knees to guard the perimeter.[3] His knee also started to break down.[10] He averaged 6.2 and 4.2 points per game respectively with the Nets and was traded to the Dallas Mavericks later in his second and final NBA season, where he had even less of an impact. In September 1997 he was traded along with Derek Harper to the Orlando Magic and released. "It wasn't injury, it was confidence," O'Bannon said about his NBA career. "I missed shots, got pulled from games, it affected my defense, and I lost all my confidence."[11] Former Nets teammate Armon Gilliam said, "He's a guy who didn't find his niche in the NBA. He wasn't in the right situation to grow and develop. He never got the opportunity to prove what he could do."[3]

Career in Europe and the ABA

After his NBA career, O'Bannon played professional basketball seven years overseas in Italy, Spain, Greece, Argentina and Poland (in Anwil Włocławek, Polonia Warszawa and Astoria Bydgoszcz).[3] He also played one year for the startup American Basketball Association (ABA) with the Los Angeles Stars.[10] After the NBA, he only had one-year contracts and never made more than $400,000 in a season.[10] He decided to retire at age 32 after undergoing arthroscopic knee surgery. When he made his decision, he was in the process of trying out for a team in China but realized he had no more motivation to play the game.[3] Furthermore, the people holding the tryouts had never even heard of him.[11]

In his professional career, O'Bannon said he "played for 12 different teams in at least six countries and for 15 different coaches."[12]

Subsequent career

As of 2009, O'Bannon was employed as a marketing director for a Las Vegas auto dealership.[13] In 2006, while employed as a salesman at the dealership, O'Bannon told the Los Angeles Times, "People see me and remember me and I'm proud to tell them — 'No, I don't play. No, I don't coach. Yes, I sell cars.'"[11]

O'Bannon was a volunteer coach at Green Valley High School in Henderson, Nevada.[12] In 2009, citing a renewed interest in basketball due to his children, O'Bannon accepted an offer to become the head coach of the boys' basketball team at Henderson International School in Henderson.[14]

Class action against NCAA

O'Bannon is the lead plaintiff in O'Bannon v. NCAA, an antitrust class action lawsuit filed against the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) on behalf of its Division I football and men's basketball players over the organization's use for commercial purposes of the images of its former student athletes. The suit argued that upon graduation, a former student athlete should become entitled to financial compensation for future commercial uses of his or her image by the NCAA.[15][16] In January 2011, Oscar Robertson, considered one of the greatest basketball players of all-time, joined O'Bannon in the class action suit.[17] On August 8, 2014, Judge Claudia Wilken ruled that the NCAA's long-held practice of barring payments to athletes violated anti-trust laws.[18]

In March 2015, O'Bannon appeared in a faux commercial on Last Week Tonight with John Oliver on HBO that criticized the NCAA's payment practices regarding student athletes. With March Madness approaching, the commercial featured a fake video game named March Sadness 2015 that mocked the experiences of college basketball players in relation to the NCAA. "This game is every bit as fucked up as the real thing,” stated O'Bannon in the segment.[19]

Personal life

O'Bannon attended UNLV to continue earning his bachelor's degree.[4] In the summer of 2011, O'Bannon returned to UCLA to complete his studies, and he graduated in the fall that year with a degree in History from UCLA.[20][21]

O'Bannon is the older brother of Charles, who played with him at UCLA and went on to play for the Detroit Pistons.

O'Bannon lives in Henderson, Nevada with his wife, Rosa, and their three children.[10][14]

NBA career statistics

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
1995–96 New Jersey 64 29 19.6 .390 .179 .713 2.6 1.0 0.7 0.2 6.2
1996–97 New Jersey 45 5 14.1 .367 .283 .870 2.5 0.6 0.5 0.2 4.2
Dallas 19 0 9.2 .236 .100 .917 1.9 0.6 0.3 0.1 2.4
Career 128 34 16.1 .367 .222 .755 2.5 0.8 0.6 0.2 5.0

References

General
Specific
  1. 1 2 Bonk, Thomas (October 11, 1990). "O'Bannon of UCLA Suffers Knee Injury". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on March 12, 2011.
  2. ↑ Crowe, Jerry (July 20, 1991). "O'Bannon Goes Full Speed Ahead". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on March 12, 2011.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Gutierrez, Paul (March 18, 2009). "UCLA hero Ed O'Bannon". Sports Illustrated. Archived from the original on March 12, 2011. Retrieved March 12, 2011.
  4. 1 2 Miech, Rob (December 10, 2004). "The GIFT". Las Vegas Sun. Archived from the original on March 12, 2011. Retrieved March 12, 2011.
  5. 1 2 Penner, Mike (April 4, 1995). "Sweetness in Seattle". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on March 9, 2011.
  6. 1 2 3 Finney, Ryan (2010). "2010–11 UCLA Men's Basketball Media Guide". UCLA Athletic Department. p. 105. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 10, 2011.
  7. 1 2 Finney 2010, p.110
  8. 1 2 Finney 2010, p.102
  9. ↑ 2011-12 Hall of Honor Class Announced, Pac-12 Conference, February 7, 2012
  10. 1 2 3 4 5 Sheinin, Dave (June 14, 2009). "From the Court to the Sales Floor". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on March 15, 2011.
  11. 1 2 3 Plaschke, Bill (April 3, 2006). "Shine Wore Off, but He Wasn't Lost in Moment". Los Angeles Times. p. D1. Archived from the original on March 11, 2011. Retrieved March 11, 2011.
  12. 1 2 Pucin, Diane (March 15, 2005). "As Good as It Got". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on March 12, 2011.
  13. ↑ Miech, Rob. (2009, January 4). "UNLV hoops notebook: A rude welcome to the MWC", Las Vegas Sun
  14. 1 2 Miech, Rob (June 17, 2009). "UCLA great to coach local high school basketball team". Las Vegas Sun. Archived from the original on March 12, 2011.
  15. ↑ Streeter, Kurt. (2009, July 22). "Former UCLA star Ed O'Bannon leads suit against NCAA over use of images", Los Angeles Times
  16. ↑ (2009, July 21). "Former Bruin O'Bannon sues NCAA", Associated Press
  17. ↑ Wetzel, Dan (January 26, 2011). "Robertson joins suit vs. NCAA". Yahoo! Sports.
  18. ↑ Strauss, Ben; Tracy, Marc (August 8, 2014). "N.C.A.A. Must Allow Colleges to Pay Athletes, Judge Rules". The New York Times. Archived from the original on March 16, 2015.
  19. ↑ Leeds, Sarene (March 16, 2015). "Watch John Oliver Take Down the NCAA With an 'Authentic' March Madness Video Game". The Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original on March 16, 2015.
  20. ↑ Guererro, Dan (January 24, 2012). "Word From Westwood - January 24, 2012". uclabruins.com. Archived from the original on April 3, 2012.
  21. ↑ "Ed O'Bannon Returns To Westwood". UCLA Athletics. June 21, 2011. Archived from the original on July 6, 2011. Retrieved July 6, 2011.
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