Christopher Vernard Morris (born January 20, 1966) is an American former professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

player. In his 11-season (1988–1999)

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 S ...

(NBA) career, the 6'8"

small forward The small forward (SF), also known as the three or swingman, is one of the five positions in a regulation basketball game. Small forwards are typically shorter, quicker, and leaner than power forwards and centers but taller, larger, and stronger ...

played for the

New Jersey Nets New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, ...

Utah Jazz The Utah Jazz are an American professional basketball team based in Salt Lake City. The Jazz compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference, Northwest Division. Since the 1991–92 season, ...

, and

Phoenix Suns The Phoenix Suns are an American professional basketball team based in Phoenix, Arizona. They compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA), as a member of the league's Western Conference (NBA), Western Conference Pacific Division (NBA), P ...

. He is a graduate of Atlanta's Douglass High School where his jersey has been retired, and played collegiately for the Auburn Tigers. He scored 8,184 total points in his NBA career.

Early life

Born in

Dawson, Georgia Dawson is a city in and the county seat of Terrell County, Georgia, United States. The population was 4,414 at the 2020 census. Incorporated on December 22, 1857, the city is named for Senator William Crosby Dawson. Dawson is part of t ...

, Morris grew up with his mother and stepfather. His parents divorced, and Morris would often work at his grandmother's farm. Morris graduated from Frederick Douglass High School at Atlanta in 1984 where he led the basketball team to the school's only state championship. Morris was named Mr. Basketball for the state of Georgia and Douglass High School retired his jersey number 34 in 1994.

College career

Morris played basketball at

Auburn University Auburn University (AU or Auburn) is a public land-grant research university in Auburn, Alabama. With more than 24,600 undergraduate students and a total enrollment of more than 30,000 with 1,330 faculty members, Auburn is the second largest uni ...

from 1984 to 1988. Auburn won the

SEC men's basketball tournament The SEC men's basketball tournament is the conference tournament in basketball for the Southeastern Conference (SEC). It is a single-elimination tournament that involves all league schools (currently 14). Its seeding is based on regular season rec ...

in 1985. In 1987 and 1988, Morris was a first-team all- SEC pick.

Professional career

NBA

Chicago Bulls - New Jersey Nets match on March 28, 1991

Morris was drafted with the 4th overall pick in

1988 NBA draft The 1988 NBA draft took place on June 28, 1988, in New York City, New York. The length was reduced from seven rounds in the previous year to three rounds. This was also the first draft for the Charlotte Hornets and Miami Heat, prior to their i ...

. He appeared in the 1989

NBA Slam Dunk Contest The NBA Slam Dunk Contest (officially known as the AT&T Slam Dunk) is an annual National Basketball Association (NBA) competition held during the NBA All-Star Weekend. ''Sports Illustrated'' wrote "the dunk contest was the best halftime invention ...

, finishing 8th place out of 8 contestants. The following

season A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and ...

, Morris started what would be a career-high 76 games while averaging a career-high 14.8 points per game. Morris developed a reputation as a malcontent and "coach killer." While a member of the Nets, he stopped listening to coach

Bill Fitch William Charles Fitch (May 19, 1932 – February 2, 2022) was an American professional basketball coach in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He developed multiple teams into playoff contenders and won an NBA championship with the Bost ...

and refused to enter a game while the team was trying to make the playoffs. When he later joined the Jazz, he and coach

Jerry Sloan Gerald Eugene Sloan (March 28, 1942 – May 22, 2020) was an American professional basketball player and coach. He played 11 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA) before beginning a 30-year coaching career, 23 of which were spent ...

almost came to blows during practice, and he had to be escorted out of the building by security. On March 2, 1993, with the

, he shattered a backboard with a slam dunk during a regular season game against the Chicago Bulls. With the

, Morris played in the

1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic (1997 film), Titanic'', the List of highest-grossing films, highest-grossing movie in history at the time; ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; ...

and

1998 NBA Finals The 1998 NBA Finals was the championship round of the 1998 playoffs of the National Basketball Association (NBA) and the conclusion of the 1997–98 NBA season. The two-time defending NBA champion and Eastern Conference champion Chicago Bulls ...

. Following the

1998–99 NBA lockout The 1998–99 NBA lockout was the third lockout of four in the history of the National Basketball Association (NBA). It lasted from July 1, 1998, to January 20, 1999, and forced the 1998–99 regular season to be shortened to 50 games per team ...

, Morris signed with the

in February 1999.

International

Morris played internationally after 11 seasons with the NBA, starting with

Olympiacos B.C. Olympiacos B.C. ( el, ΚΑΕ Ολυμπιακός Σ.Φ.Π.), commonly referred to as Olympiacos and Olympiacos Piraeus, is a Greek professional basketball club based in Piraeus, part of the major multi-sport club, Olympiacos CFP. The parent ...

of the

Greek Basket League The Greek Basket League (GBL), often also referred to as the Greek A1 Basketball League, or Greek Basketball Championship (originally called Panhellenic Basketball Championship), and also known as the Stoiximan Basket League for sponsorship reaso ...

in 1999. However, Olympiacos cut Morris due to a knee injury. Morris joined the Harlem Globetrotters in 2001, and the

Southern California Surf Southern may refer to: Businesses * China Southern Airlines, airline based in Guangzhou, China * Southern Airways, defunct US airline * Southern Air, air cargo transportation company based in Norwalk, Connecticut, US * Southern Airways Express, M ...

of the ABA signed Morris as a power forward in April 2002, and Morris later debuted with Purefoods Tender Juicy Hotdogs of the

Philippine Basketball Association The Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) is a men's professional basketball league in the Philippines composed of twelve company-branded franchised teams. Founded in 1975, it is the first professional basketball league in Asia and is the se ...

in July 2002. Morris played with Gaiteros del Zulia of the Venezuelan LPB in the 2003–2004 season.

Lawsuit against Olympiacos

In 2004, Morris won a lawsuit against Olympiacos seeking $1.3 million in owed salary and $400,000 in court costs. US federal judge Christopher A. Boyko permitted American creditors to collect the money in 2009 shortly before Olympiacos visited the

Cleveland Cavaliers The Cleveland Cavaliers (often referred to as the Cavs) are an American professional basketball team based in Cleveland. The Cavaliers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Centr ...

for an exhibition match.

References

External links

Chris Morris career highs and selected season stats
at NBA.com

at NBA.com
Basketpedya.com Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Morris, Chris 1966 births Living people African-American basketball players American expatriate basketball people in Greece American expatriate basketball people in the Philippines American expatriate basketball people in Venezuela American men's basketball players Auburn Tigers men's basketball players Basketball players from Atlanta Gaiteros del Zulia players Greek Basket League players Harlem Globetrotters players Magnolia Hotshots players New Jersey Nets draft picks New Jersey Nets players Olympiacos B.C. players Philippine Basketball Association imports Phoenix Suns players Small forwards Utah Jazz players 21st-century African-American people 20th-century African-American sportspeople