Michael Curtis "Yogi" Stewart (born April 24, 1975) is a retired French-born American

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 who last played for the

Atlanta Hawks The Atlanta Hawks are an American professional basketball team based in Atlanta. The Hawks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference (NBA), Eastern Conference Southeast Division (NBA), Sou ...

of the

NBA 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 ...

Early life

Stewart, son of former Santa Clara standout and European pro Mike Stewart, was born in Cucq,

Pas-de-Calais Pas-de-Calais (, " strait of Calais"; pcd, Pas-Calés; also nl, Nauw van Kales) is a department in northern France named after the French designation of the Strait of Dover, which it borders. It has the most communes of all the departments ...

, France and starred at Kennedy High School in

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

, leading the Cougars to back-to-back city section titles in 1990 and 1991. Stewart earned his nickname "Yogi" from his older brother for his childhood love of

Yogi Bear Yogi Bear is an anthropomorphic animal character who has appeared in numerous comic books, animated television shows and films. He made his debut in 1958 as a supporting character in ''The Huckleberry Hound Show''. Yogi Bear was the first ...

cartoons.

College career

Stewart played four seasons at the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...

. He averaged 4.3 ppg and 4.7 rpg in 117 games and finished as the Bears' all-time leading shot-blocker (207). Stewart set a school record by blocking 59 shots as a freshman in 1993–94 and holds the four best single-season totals for blocks in school history. He never missed a game, playing in all 117 games during his collegiate career and shooting .510 from the field. At the 1994 U.S. Olympic Festival, Stewart was a member of the bronze medal-winning West team.

NBA career

Stewart went undrafted in the

1997 NBA draft The 1997 NBA draft took place on June 25, 1997, at Charlotte Coliseum in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Vancouver Grizzlies had the highest probability to win the NBA draft lottery, but since they were an expansion team along with the Toronto ...

, but was signed to a one-year contract by the

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 ...

on September 11, 1997. This was a dream come true for Stewart, as he had served as a

ball boy Ball boys and ball girls, also known as ball kids are individuals, usually human youths but sometimes dogs, who retrieve and supply balls for players or officials in sports such as association football, American football, bandy, cricket, tennis ...

for the Kings in his youth. As a rookie in 1997–98, he led the Kings in blocked shots and ranked second overall among NBA rookies. He also blocked nine shots in one game. On January 21, 1999, Stewart was signed as a free agent by the

Toronto Raptors The Toronto Raptors are a Canadian professional basketball team based in Toronto. The Raptors compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Atlantic Division. They play their home games a ...

. During the ensuing offseason, he was re-signed to a six-year, $24 million contract by the team. In 2002, Stewart was traded from the Raptors (along with a future first round pick) to 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 (NBA), Ea ...

in exchange for

Lamond Murray Lamond Maurice Murray Sr. (born April 20, 1973) is an American former professional basketball player. Murray was selected seventh overall by the Los Angeles Clippers in the 1994 NBA draft after a college career at the University of California a ...

NBA career statistics

Regular season

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

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Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

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Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

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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 ...

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Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

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Playoffs

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2001 The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a Participants in ...

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2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...

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2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...

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References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stewart, Michael 1975 births Living people African-American basketball players American expatriate basketball people in Canada American men's basketball players Atlanta Hawks players Basketball players from California Boston Celtics players California Golden Bears men's basketball players Cleveland Cavaliers players French men's basketball players National Basketball Association players from France People from Cucq Power forwards (basketball) Sacramento Kings players Sportspeople from Pas-de-Calais Toronto Raptors players Undrafted National Basketball Association players 21st-century African-American sportspeople 20th-century African-American sportspeople