Robert Whaley
|
Whaley in December 2005. | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born |
April 16, 1982 Benton Harbor, Michigan |
| Nationality | American |
| Listed height | 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) |
| Listed weight | 260 lb (118 kg) |
| Career information | |
| High school |
Benton Harbor (Benton Harbor, Michigan) |
| College |
|
| NBA draft | 2005 / Round: 2 / Pick: 51st overall |
| Selected by the Utah Jazz | |
| Playing career | 2005–2008 |
| Position | Center |
| Career history | |
| 2005–2006 | Utah Jazz |
| 2006 | Metros de Santiago (Dominican Republic) |
| 2006 | Twin City Ballers (ABA) |
| 2006–2007 | Petrochimi Bandar Imam BC (Iran) |
| 2007–2008 | Los Angeles D-Fenders (D-League) |
| Career highlights and awards | |
Robert Antawon Whaley (born April 16, 1982) is an American former professional basketball player.
College
Whaley graduated from Benton Harbor High School in 2001 with great athletic honors. He was a leading contender for Mr. Basketball of Michigan, but Benton Harbor came up just short of winning the championship. He attended Barton County Community College for two years, then transferred to the University of Cincinnati in 2003 and Walsh University in 2004.[1]
Professional career
He was selected by the Utah Jazz with 51st pick in the 2005 NBA Draft out of Walsh, an NAIA school. With the Jazz, Whaley played 23 games and played an average 9.2 minutes each game, also scoring on average 2.1 points, making 1.9 rebounds, and shooting 40.4% of attempted field goals. He scored a career-high 11 points on December 23, 2005 against the New York Knicks and 7 rebounds against the Sacramento Kings on November 15, 2005.[2] After sporadic playing time during the 2005-06 season, he suffered a season-ending cartilage-tear to his right knee.[3]
On early Sunday morning, December 11, 2005, Whaley and Jazz teammate Deron Williams were involved in a brawl with Denver Nuggets fans at a bar in the resort town of Park City, Utah. The fight began inside a bar when some Nuggets fans who recognised the two players and approached them and said they did not like the Jazz.[4] The fight, which involved eight to 10 people, then spilled outside.[4] Both provided false names to police officers investigating the incident, with Whaley giving his as "Bobby Williams".[4] It was the same night that Whaley cut his hand on broken glass, a fact which he acknowledged, but denied it was from the fight.[4] He later told Utah Jazz officials he cut it while confiscating a sharp kitchen knife away from his 2-year-old son.[5] He later confessed he had made the story up,[4] and subsequently as a result faced disciplinary action by the team for lying.[5]
On June 8, 2006, Whaley and Jazz teammate Kris Humphries were traded to the Toronto Raptors for Rafael Araújo.[6][7] He was waived by the Raptors on June 21.[8]
In the summer of 2006, Whaley joined the Dominican Republic team Los Metros de Santiago then in the fall the Twin City Ballers of the ABA.[9] He then played for Petrochimi Bandar Imam BC of the Iranian Basketball Super League.[10]
Whaley played 22 games with the Los Angeles D-Fenders, the NBA Development League team of the NBA's Los Angeles Lakers, in the 2007-2008 season.[11]
Post-NBA life
Serving probation for a 2008 conviction for running a drug house, Whaley was arrested for marijuana possession on March 11, 2010. Salt Lake County, Utah police reported that he was carrying the product in his buttocks.[12] At a parking lot near an apartment complex known for gang crime, police investigated a parked, occupied vehicle with its lights off. Whaley, not wearing a seat belt, identified himself to gang detectives as Kareem Johnson, but the detectives recognized him as a former Utah Jazz player.[13] As Michigan listed Whaley as a parole violator on January 2009, Utah extradited Whaley to Michigan on July 5, 2010.[14] On September 27, 2010, Whaley returned to the Berrien County, Michigan jail to begin serving a two-year sentence for probation violation. He was released on February 12, 2012.[15]
Notes
- ↑ "Robert Whaley bio". NBA. Archived from the original on August 30, 2006.
- ↑ "Robert Whaley". NBA. Archived from the original on September 24, 2006.
- ↑ Whaley out indefinitely with torn cartilage
- 1 2 3 4 5 "Jazz rookies cited for giving false names to police". Associated Press. December 14, 2005.
- 1 2 "Jazz await NBA approval before disciplining Whaley". Associated Press. December 16, 2005.
- ↑ "Raptors acquire Humphries, Whaley from Jazz". SportsTicker. June 8, 2006. Retrieved 2007-07-10.
- ↑ Raptors Acquire Kris Humphries & Robert Whaley for Araujo
- ↑ Raptors Acquire Rasho Nesterovic In Exchange for Matt Bonner, Eric Williams & a Future Second Round Pick
- ↑ "Robert Whaley" (PDF). NBA Development League. 2007. Retrieved June 24, 2011.
- ↑ "PETROCHIMI BANDAR IMAM HARBOUR basketball team". Asia-Basket.com. Retrieved June 24, 2011.
- ↑ "Robert Whaley: Career Stats and Totals". NBA Development League. Retrieved June 24, 2011.
- ↑ Kobialka, Daniel (March 18, 2010). "Report: Police Arrest Ex-NBA Center Robert Whaley, Find Marijuana 'Between His Buttocks'". NESN. Retrieved June 24, 2011.
- ↑ Carlisle, Nate (March 12, 2010). "Ex-Jazz center Whaley arrested in Salt Lake County". Salt Lake Tribune.
- ↑ Carlisle, Nate (July 7, 2010). "Ex-Jazz center Whaley out of SLC jail, shipped to Michigan". Salt Lake Tribune.
- ↑ "Robert Antwon Whaley: Biographical information". Michigan Department of Corrections. Retrieved June 24, 2011.
External links
- Robert Whaley at NBA.com
- Robert Whaley at Basketball-Reference.com
- Cincinnati Bearcats biography