Alaa Abdelnaby ( ar, علاء عبد النبي), (born June 24, 1968) is an Egyptian-American former

professional A professional is a member of a profession or any person who works in a specified professional activity. The term also describes the standards of education and training that prepare members of the profession with the particular knowledge and ski ...

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

player. He played for the

Duke Blue Devils The Duke Blue Devils are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Duke University, located in Durham, North Carolina. Duke's athletics department features 27 varsity teams that all compete at the National Collegiate Athletic Association ...

and then played in the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United St ...

(NBA) and Continental Basketball Association (CBA), among other leagues. Abdelnaby is the only player born in Egypt to play in the NBA. Abdelnaby works as a basketball broadcaster and analyst for NBCS Philadelphia,

CBS Sports Network CBS Sports Network (a.k.a. CBSSN) is an American pay television network owned by the CBS Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Global. When it launched in 2002 as the National College Sports Network (later College Sports Television also known a ...

, and Westwood One Radio.

Early life

Abdelnaby was born in

Alexandria Alexandria ( or ; ar, ٱلْإِسْكَنْدَرِيَّةُ ; grc-gre, Αλεξάνδρεια, Alexándria) is the second largest city in Egypt, and the largest city on the Mediterranean coast. Founded in by Alexander the Great, Alexandri ...

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Medit ...

, and moved to the United States with his family in 1971 at the age of two. His father was an engineer and his mother was a computer analyst who had moved to find better jobs. His family became American citizens. Abelnaby was raised in Nutley and

Bloomfield, New Jersey Bloomfield is a township in Essex County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2020 United States Census, the township's population was 53,105. It surrounds the Bloomfield Green Historic District. History The initial patent for the land that w ...

, and played on the Bloomfield High School basketball team. Abdelnaby was selected as a standout American high school athlete as both a

McDonald's All-American McDonald's Corporation is an American multinational fast food chain, founded in 1940 as a restaurant operated by Richard and Maurice McDonald, in San Bernardino, California, United States. They rechristened their business as a hamburger s ...

and a ''Parade'' All-American.

College career

Abdelnaby played at Duke University from 1986 to 1990. He had a breakout year as a senior when he averaged 14.9 points and 6.7 rebounds during the regular season. Abndelnaby was a third-team all- Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) selection as a senior. He had a series of widely publicized off-court problems during his early seasons including an accident where he drove his car into a tree on campus. Abdelnaby commented on Duke University's academic requirements: "The only way I can make five A's is when I sign my name."

Professional career

Abdelnaby was selected by the

Portland Trail Blazers The Portland Trail Blazers (colloquially known as the Blazers) are an American professional basketball team based in Portland, Oregon. The Trail Blazers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Con ...

of the

with the 25th pick of the 1990 NBA draft, and he spent five years in the league, playing for Portland as well as the

Milwaukee Bucks The Milwaukee Bucks are an American professional basketball team based in Milwaukee. The Bucks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division. The team was founded in 1968 ...

, Boston Celtics, Philadelphia 76ers, and

Sacramento Kings The Sacramento Kings are an American professional basketball team based in Sacramento, California. The Kings compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Western Conference Pacific Division. The Kings are the oldest ...

. He was signed by the Golden State Warriors but he never played for that franchise. Abdelnaby is the only player born in Egypt to play in the NBA. After leaving the NBA, Abdelnaby played for the Papagou BC (Greece) (1995–1996), the

Omaha Racers The Omaha Racers were an American minor league basketball team based in Omaha, Nebraska. The franchise played in the Continental Basketball Association (CBA) from 1989 to 1997. The team's franchise liage started in 1982 as the Wisconsin Flyers. Th ...

( CBA) (1996–1997),

Olympique Antibes Olympique Antibes, in full ''Olympique d'Antibes Juan-les-Pins'' and branded as Antibes Sharks, is a basketball club from the city of Antibes, France. Established in 1933, the club's men's senior team currently plays in LNB Pro B, the French seco ...

(France) (1997–1998), and the

Idaho Stampede Idaho ( ) is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. To the north, it shares a small portion of the Canada–United States border with the province of British Columbia. It borders the states of Montana and Wyomi ...

(CBA) (1999–2000).

Transactions

*1990, June 27 – First round, 25th pick of the

in the 1990 NBA draft *1992, July 1 – Traded for

' rights to

Tracy Murray Tracy, Tracey, or Tracie may refer to: People and fictional characters * Tracy (name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the given name or surname, also encompassing spelling variations Places United States * Tracy, C ...

*1992, December 4 – Traded for Boston Celtics' rights to

Jon Barry Jon Alan Barry (born July 25, 1969) is an American former basketball player and current television analyst for ABC and ESPN. Biography Barry is the son of Hall of Famer Rick Barry and Pam Connolly, and has three brothers: Scooter, Brent, a ...

*1994, July 26 –

Free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

, signed by the

*1995, March 21 – Released by the Sacramento Kings *1995, March 24 – Free agent, signed by the Philadelphia 76ers to a 10-day contract *1995, April 3 – Re-signed by the Philadelphia 76ers to a second 10-day contract *1995, April 12 – Released by the Philadelphia 76ers *1995, October 6 – Free agent, signed by the Golden State Warriors to a one-year contract *1995, October 18 – Released by the Golden State Warriors

NBA career statistics

Regular season

, - , align="left" ,

1990–91 Year 199 ( CXCIX) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was sometimes known as year 952 '' Ab urbe condita''. The denomination 199 for this year has been used since t ...

, align="left" , Portland , 43 , , 0 , , 6.7 , , .474 , , .000 , , .568 , , 2.1 , , .3 , , .1 , , .3 , , 3.1 , - , align="left" , 1991–92 , align="left" , Portland , 71 , , 1 , , 13.2 , , .493 , , .000 , , .752 , , 3.7 , , .4 , , .4 , , .2 , , 6.1 , - , align="left" ,

1992–93 Year 199 ( CXCIX) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was sometimes known as year 952 '' Ab urbe condita''. The denomination 199 for this year has been used since t ...

, align="left" ,

Milwaukee Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at the 2020 census, Milwaukee ...

, 12 , , 0 , , 13.3 , , .464 , , .000 , , .750 , , 3.1 , , .8 , , .2 , , .3 , , 5.3 , - , align="left" ,

, align="left" ,

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

, 63 , , 52 , , 18.3 , , .525 , , .000 , , .760 , , 4.8 , , .3 , , .3 , , .4 , , 8.2 , - , align="left" , 1993–94 , align="left" ,

, 13 , , 0 , , 12.2 , , .436 , , .000 , , .640 , , 3.5 , , .2 , , .2 , , .2 , , 4.9 , - , align="left" , 1994–95 , align="left" ,

Sacramento ) , image_map = Sacramento County California Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Sacramento Highlighted.svg , mapsize = 250x200px , map_caption = Location within Sacramento ...

, 51 , , 0 , , 9.3 , , .532 , , .000 , , .571 , , 2.1 , , .3 , , .3 , , .2 , , 5.0 , - , align="left" , 1994–95 , align="left" ,

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...

, 3 , , 0 , , 10.0 , , .091 , , .000 , , .000 , , 2.7 , , .0 , , .0 , , .0 , , .7 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 256 , , 53 , , 12.5 , , .502 , , .000 , , .701 , , 3.3 , , .3 , , .3 , , .2 , , 5.7

Playoffs

, - , align="left" ,

1991 File:1991 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Boris Yeltsin, elected as Russia's first president, waves the new flag of Russia after the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, orchestrated by Soviet hardliners; Mount Pinatubo erupts in the Phi ...

, align="left" , Portland , 5 , , 0 , , 2.6 , , .333 , , .000 , , .000 , , .6 , , .0 , , .0 , , .0 , , .8 , - , align="left" , 1992 , align="left" , Portland , 8 , , 0 , , 3.1 , , .500 , , .000 , , .500 , , .5 , , .3 , , .0 , , .0 , , 1.5 , - , align="left" ,

1993 File:1993 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Oslo I Accord is signed in an attempt to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict; The Russian White House is shelled during the 1993 Russian constitutional crisis; Czechoslovakia is peacefu ...

, align="left" ,

, 4 , , 4 , , 17.0 , , .458 , , .000 , , .000 , , 3.3 , , .3 , , .0 , , .3 , , 5.5 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 17 , , 4 , , 6.2 , , .450 , , .000 , , .500 , , 1.2 , , .2 , , .0 , , .1 , , 2.2

Broadcasting career

Abdelnaby was approached by the NBA to broadcast the 1995 NBA All-Star Game for an Arabic-language television network as he was the only Arabic speaker in the league. He began broadcasting with Orbit Satellite Television and later worked for other Arabic channels. Abdelnaby serves as the color analyst for the Philadelphia 76ers, working alongside play-by-play commentator Kate Scott (

NBC Sports Philadelphia NBC Sports Philadelphia is an American regional sports network owned by the NBC Sports Group unit of NBCUniversal, which in turn is owned by locally based cable television provider Comcast (and owns a controlling 75% interest), and the Philadelp ...

). He is also a

college basketball in-studio analyst and provides color commentary for on-site

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

basketball games. Additionally, Abdelnaby does color commentary for Westwood One Radio.

Personal life

Abdelnaby is a Muslim.

References

External links

Career statistics
at Basketball-Reference.com

at dukeupdate.com
Alaa Abdelnaby
TheDraftReview.com * Morris, Ron

''Saudi Aramco World'', April 1990
espn.com player statsrealgm.com player profilenba.com player profileeurobasket.com player profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Abdelnaby, Alaa 1968 births Living people American men's basketball players Basketball players from New Jersey Bloomfield High School (New Jersey) alumni Boston Celtics players Centers (basketball) College basketball announcers in the United States Duke Blue Devils men's basketball players Egyptian emigrants to the United States Egyptian men's basketball players Idaho Stampede (CBA) players McDonald's High School All-Americans Milwaukee Bucks players National Basketball Association broadcasters Olympique Antibes basketball players Omaha Racers players Papagou B.C. players Parade High School All-Americans (boys' basketball) People from Bloomfield, New Jersey People from Nutley, New Jersey Philadelphia 76ers players Portland Trail Blazers draft picks Portland Trail Blazers players Power forwards (basketball) Sacramento Kings players Sportspeople from Alexandria Sportspeople from Essex County, New Jersey American Muslims