Link Abrams

Lincoln "Link" Abrams (born 11 July 1973) is an American-New Zealand former professional basketball player who played 10 seasons in the National Basketball League (NBL). He moved to New Zealand in 2002 to play for the Taranaki Stormers of the Conference Basketball League, helping the team win the league title and promoting them to the NBL in 2003. He continued on with the Taranaki franchise throughout the 2000s, carving out what was a decorated NBL career with numerous individual awards, but achieved little team success with the Mountainairs.

Early life and career

Abrams was born and raised in Little Rock, Arkansas, where he attended Little Rock Catholic High School. After graduating from Little Rock Catholic in 1992, he played two years of junior college basketball for the New Mexico Military Institute.^[1] As a sophomore playing for the Broncos in 1993–94, he averaged 18.9 points, 8.4 rebounds, 1.5 assists and 1.9 blocks per game.

In 1994, Abrams transferred to Centenary College, where he played two years of Division I college basketball.^[2] As a junior in 1994–95, he averaged 11.9 points, 6.1 rebounds, 1.1 assists and 1.1 blocks in 27 games. As a senior in 1995–96, he averaged 18.3 points, 8.6 rebounds, 1.8 assists and 1.1 blocks in 27 games.^[2]

Upon graduating from Centenary in 1996, Abrams attempted to play in Spain^[3] and had a stint with Bolivian club Ingenieros.^[4]

Professional career

Taranaki Stormers (2002)

In 2002, Abrams moved to New Zealand and joined the Taranaki Stormers of the Conference Basketball League (CBL). He and teammate Willie Banks helped the Stormers win the CBL title that year after defeating the Kaikoura Whale Riders 85–81 in the grand final. Abrams subsequently earned CBL playoff tournament team honours after averaging 28.3 points and 16.7 rebounds over three games.^[5] The win gave Taranaki's bid for renewed National Basketball League (NBL) status the perfect springboard,^[5] and in 2003, they were readmitted to the league and took on the "Mountainairs" nickname.

Taranaki Mountainairs (2003–2013)

First season

Abrams continued on with Taranaki in 2003 and showed he could play as an undersized power player at the higher level. In his first NBL season, he finished co-runner-up for the NBL scoring champion with 28.8 points per game, while also finishing fourth in rebounding with 10.0 boards per game.^[6] He appeared in all 18 games for the Mountainairs in 2003, but despite his great individual season, the team finished well outside the playoffs with a 5–13 win/loss record. He subsequently earned league All-Star Five honours. Following the 2003 season, Abrams gained New Zealand citizenship and attended the Tall Blacks' Olympic trials.^[7]

Prosperous years

Abrams remained with the Mountainairs over the ensuing years, playing in every game for the team between 2004 and 2006. He went on to have a career best year in 2007, earning numerous awards including Co-Kiwi MVP, Most Outstanding Forward and Most Outstanding Kiwi Forward/Centre.^[8] He again appeared in all 18 games for the Mountainairs in 2007, averaging 20.4 points and a league-leading 11.5 rebounds per game,^[9] earning him the Garry Pettis Memorial Trophy for being the rebounding champion. While the Mountainairs again failed to make the playoffs for the fifth year in a row, Abrams earned All-Star Five honours for a second time.^[8]

In 2008, Abrams earned Player of the Week honours two times and finished the season as runner-up for rebounding champion with 9.8 boards per game.^[10] The Mountainairs again failed to make the playoffs, finishing just outside the top six with a 9–9 record.

Knee injury

Over six seasons with the Mountainairs, Abrams appeared in all 108 games. His successful run in the NBL was shattered in the opening game of the 2009 season after rupturing the patellar tendon in his right knee. He underwent surgery the next day and was ruled out for the rest of the season.^[11] Without Abrams, the Mountainairs had their worst season in franchise history, finishing the year with a 0–16 record.

Abrams' injury kept him out of the 2010 season as well after the recovery took longer than expected.^[12][13] He returned to the Mountainairs' line-up for the 2011 season and managed to play in all 16 games for the team. Despite the team's disappointing season (finishing second last with a 5–11 record), Abrams managed to have a decent first year back with 10.8 points and 6.9 rebounds per game, as well as a league-leading .649 field goal percentage.^[14] Abrams felt his form in 2011 was mixed, with his assessment being "I played well at times. At other times I felt I was just getting used to things again. Probably the two-year break, a little bit of rust."^[15]

Last two seasons

Abrams returned to the Mountainairs in 2012,^[15] appearing in all 16 games and averaging 11.7 points and 6.7 rebounds per game.^[16] He again couldn't lead the Mountainairs to a playoff berth, finishing just outside the top four with a 7–9 record. His final season came the following year, where he had his best season since his return from the knee injury. He again appeared in all 16 games for the Mountainairs in 2013, averaging 16.3 points and 8.2 rebounds per game.^[16] In his final NBL game on July 6, he recorded 27 points and 18 rebounds in what was a 144–137 quadruple overtime loss to the Otago Nuggets.^[17][18] With a 5–11 record, the team missed out on the playoffs once again.

Abrams finished his career having played in 157 NBL games. He appeared in every single game for the Mountainairs between 2003 and 2008, and 2011 and 2013 (156 games). In his 11 years being apart of the franchise at the NBL level, Abrams failed to play post-season basketball. Over his 157-game career, he recorded 2,950 points (18.8 ppg) and 1,410 rebounds (9.0 rpg).

Personal

Living in New Plymouth, New Zealand, Abrams taught year nine to twelve math at Spotswood College during and after his basketball career.^[12][19]

References

External links

• Basketball New Zealand profile