Reggie Evans

Reginald (Reggie) Jamaal Evans (born May 18 1980, in Pensacola, Florida) is an American professional basketball player currently with the NBA's Philadelphia 76ers. He was undrafted in 2002 despite an impressive career at the University of Iowa. In 2001, Evans led the nation in free throws attempted, free throws made, and double-doubles. He led the Big Ten Conference in rebounding in 2001 and 2002, and was named Big Ten Tournament MVP in 2001 and Second Team All-Big Ten in 2002. He was Honorable Mention All-American in 2001. He signed with the Sonics as a free-agent, where he became known for his tenacious rebounding. In 2004-05, he led the league in rebounds-per-minute-played after finishing in the top 10 the two previous seasons. Despite playing under 24 minutes per game, he finished ninth in the NBA in total rebounds. A 2005 statistical analysis published on ESPN.com determined that on average, Evans will rebound one quarter of all shots missed while he is in a game. In the 2006 season this dipped to 21.5 percent, however, this was still good enough to edge out teammate Marcus Camby for the best Rebound Rate in all of basketball. Evans made the news on December 6, 2005, when he was absent for the opening minutes of the second half in a loss to the New York Knicks. Circumstances did not allow Evans to take a steroid test prior to the game, so a league official required that it be done at halftime. Evans laughed off the suggestion he was under suspicion. "I've been clean since I've been in the league. I've been clean since I've been in college. I've been clean since I've been in high school, middle school, elementary school. I'm just cleaner than clean. I'm cleaner than Pine-Sol." Evans's best statistical season was arrested on January 3, 2006, when the Sonics front office dismissed Head Coach Bob Weiss and promoted Assistant Bob Hill to replace him. In Hill's new system, Evans lost his starting spot and his minutes were drastically reduced. On February 26, 2006, the Sonics traded Evans to the Denver Nuggets. In his first five games with the division-leading Nuggets, Evans played more minutes than he did in his final twenty-one games with the cellar-dwelling Sonics. On March 10, 2006, against the Toronto Raptors, Evans had zero points but 20 rebounds. Evans is the first player with 20 rebounds in a scoreless game since Dennis Rodman did it for Chicago on December 15, 1997, against Phoenix. During a 2006 first round playoff game, Reggie Evans grabbed Los Angeles Clippers center Chris Kaman in the balls in an attempt to gain a position advantage. Kaman immediately pushed Evans to the floor and later said, "I felt I got a little violated by another man."^[2] However, Kaman ultimately decided not to press assault charges against Evans. Evans was fined $10,000, but not suspended for his actions. On September 10, 2007, he was traded along with the draft rights to Ricky Sanchez to the Philadelphia 76ers in exchange for Steven Hunter and Bobby Jones.^[3] On opening night of the 2007-08 season, Evans grabbed 15 rebounds in 22 minutes against the Raptors at Toronto ^[4]

Notes

1. ^ http://www.denverpost.com/nuggets/ci_5615044
2. ^ Scoring hits new low at Denver Post
3. ^ Nuggets send Evans to Philadelphia for Hunter, Jones; Sixers also sign free agent Booth, published September 10, 2007
4. ^ Evens grabs 15 rebounds, published October 31, 2007

External links

• Reggie Evans NBA Profile
• Reggie Evans Statistics at Basketball-Reference.com