Wayne Monte "Tree" Rollins (born June 16, 1955) 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 who played 18 seasons 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 S ...

(NBA) 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 ...

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 ...

Detroit Pistons The Detroit Pistons are an American professional basketball team based in Detroit. The Pistons compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division and play their home games at Li ...

Houston Rockets The Houston Rockets are an American professional basketball team based in Houston. The Rockets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member team of the league's Western Conference Southwest Division. The team plays its ho ...

, and

Orlando Magic The Orlando Magic are an American professional basketball team based in Orlando, Florida. The Magic compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Southeast Division. The franchise was establ ...

Career

The ,

Clemson University Clemson University () is a public land-grant research university in Clemson, South Carolina. Founded in 1889, Clemson is the second-largest university in the student population in South Carolina. For the fall 2019 semester, the university enro ...

graduate played

center Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentrici ...

, and gained high esteem for his defense, particularly his rebounding and shot- blocking ability. On February 21, 1979, Rollins blocked a career high 12 shots in a 106-83 win over 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 ...

. In all, he finished in the top three in blocked shots six times, including leading the league during the 1982–83 NBA season, during which he would finish second in

NBA Defensive Player of the Year Award The NBA's Defensive Player of the Year Award is an annual National Basketball Association (NBA) award given since the 1982–83 NBA season to the best defensive player of the regular season. The winner is selected by a panel of 124 sportswrit ...

voting. At the time of his retirement in

1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is O. J. Simpson murder case, acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the 1994, year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The ...

, he was fourth all-time in career blocked shots, behind only

Hakeem Olajuwon Hakeem Abdul Olajuwon (; ; born January 21, 1963), nicknamed "the Dream", is a Nigerian Americans, Nigerian-American former professional basketball player. From 1984 to 2002, he played Center (basketball), center in the National Basketball Ass ...

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Kareem (alternatively spelled Karim or Kerim) ( ar, کریم) is a common given name and surname of Arabic origin that means "generous", "noble", "honorable". It is also one of the Names of God in Islam in the Quran. Given name Karim * Karim A ...

and

Mark Eaton Mark Edward Eaton (January 24, 1957 – May 28, 2021) was an American professional basketball player who spent his entire career (1982–1993) with the Utah Jazz of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Named an NBA All-Star in 1989, he wa ...

, with a total of 2,542. He currently holds the ninth highest total of career blocked shots, having been passed on the list by

Dikembe Mutombo Dikembe Mutombo Mpolondo Mukamba Jean-Jacques Wamutombo (born June 25, 1966) is a Congolese-American former professional basketball player. Mutombo played 18 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Outside basketball, he has becom ...

David Robinson David Maurice Robinson (born August 6, 1965) is an American former professional basketball player who played for the San Antonio Spurs in the National Basketball Association (NBA) from 1989 to 2003, and minority owner of the Spurs. Nicknamed ...

Patrick Ewing Patrick Aloysius Ewing (born August 5, 1962) is a Jamaican-American basketball coach and former professional player who is the head coach of the Georgetown University men's team. He played most of his career as the starting center for the N ...

Tim Duncan Timothy Theodore Duncan (born April 25, 1976) is an American former professional basketball player. Nicknamed "the Big Fundamental", he is widely regarded as the greatest power forward of all time and one of the greatest players in NBA histor ...

, and

Shaquille O'Neal Shaquille Rashaun O'Neal ( ; born March 6, 1972), known commonly as "Shaq" ( ), is an American former professional basketball player who is a sports analyst on the television program ''Inside the NBA''. O'Neal is regarded as one of the greates ...

. During his playing career, Rollins was given the nickname "The Intimidator". In 1983, as a member of the

, playing in Game 3 of the first round, he got into a fight with

Danny Ainge Daniel Ray Ainge ( ; born March 17, 1959) is an American former professional basketball player, coach, and former professional baseball player who serves as an executive for the Utah Jazz of the National Basketball Association (NBA). A three-sp ...

of the

Boston Celtics The Boston Celtics ( ) are an American professional basketball team based in Boston. The Celtics compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Atlantic Division. Founded in 1946 as one of t ...

. In retaliation for allegedly being called a "sissy", Rollins elbowed Ainge in the face. Ainge subsequently tackled Rollins to the ground and the two began to wrestle. Rollins then bit Ainge's middle finger so badly that it required a couple of stitches. After the fight, Ainge was ejected and Rollins was not. However, the Celtics went on to win the series 2–1. The incident inspired opposing fans to occasionally hold up signs referring to the incident with sayings like "If you can't beat 'em, eat 'em" during some of his subsequent games. In the late 1980s, still with the Hawks, Rollins was asked how he felt about the team playing an exhibition game in the Soviet Union. Rollins replied that he had already been to the Soviet Union, "and I don't need to go back." Rollins was a

player-coach A player-coach (also playing coach, captain-coach, or player-manager) is a member of a sports team who simultaneously holds both playing and coaching duties. A player-coach may be a head coach or an assistant coach. They may make changes to the sq ...

with the

, serving as an assistant coach from 1993–1999 and backup

during the 1993–94 and 1994–95 seasons. He was an assistant coach for the

Washington Wizards The Washington Wizards are an American professional basketball team based in Washington, D.C. The Wizards compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference (NBA), Eastern Conference Southeast D ...

and

Indiana Pacers The Indiana Pacers are an American professional basketball team based in Indianapolis. The Pacers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division. The Pacers were first esta ...

and one-time coach of the now-defunct

Greenville Groove The Greenville Groove were a National Basketball Development League (NBDL) team based in Greenville, South Carolina. Playing their home games at the Bon Secours Wellness Arena, the Groove was a charter franchise of the league, which had four tea ...

of the

National Basketball Development League The NBA G League, or simply the G League, is the National Basketball Association's (NBA) official minor league basketball organization. The league was known as the National Basketball Development League (NBDL) from 2001 to 2005, and the NBA Dev ...

(NBDL). Rollins joined the WNBA's

Washington Mystics The Washington Mystics are an American professional basketball team based in Washington, D.C. The Mystics compete in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as a member club of the league's Eastern Conference. The team was founded pri ...

in 2006 as an assistant coach. On June 1, 2007, he was named interim head coach following

Richie Adubato Richard Adam Adubato''The Sporting News: 1992-93 Official NBA Register''. St. Louis, Missouri: The Sporting News Publishing Co. 1992. (born November 23, 1937) is a former basketball coach in the National Basketball Association. He has served a ...

's resignation early in the season. Rollins led the Mystics to a 17–14 record. On July 19, 2008, following lopsided losses to the

New York Liberty The New York Liberty are an American professional basketball team based in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The Liberty compete in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as part of the league's Eastern Conference. The team was f ...

and Detroit Shock, which put the Mystics at 8–14 on the season and 2.5 games out of playoff position, he was relieved of his duties. The Mystics' aggregate record under Rollins over the two seasons was 25–28, second best in Mystics history. He was replaced on an interim basis by one of his assistants, Jessie Kenlaw. In 2013, Rollins became an assistant coach with the WNBA's

Chicago Sky The Chicago Sky are an American professional basketball team based in Chicago. The Sky compete in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as a member club of the league's Eastern Conference. The franchise was founded prior to the 2 ...

. One small distinction for Rollins was that he was the last player to wear canvas Converse All Stars (leather ones were worn in 1982 by

Micheal Ray Richardson Micheal "Sugar" Ray Richardson (born April 11, 1955) is an American former professional basketball player and head coach. He played college basketball for the Montana Grizzlies. The No. 4 overall pick in the 1978 NBA draft, Richardson played in ...

) in the NBA when in the 1979–80 season he laced up modified Chuck Taylors which had the Circle Star patch removed on the inside ankle. Instead these had star chevrons sewed to the sides of the canvas similar to the Converse All Star II that had been sold earlier.

Achievements

* First athlete in any sport at Clemson to have jersey number retired * Only Clemson basketball player to average double-double in four straight seasons * NBA All-Defensive Second Team, 1982–83 season * NBA All-Defensive First Team, 1983–84 season

NBA career statistics

Regular season

, - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

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 ...

, 80 , , , , 22.4 , , .487 , , , , .703 , , 6.9 , , 1.0 , , .7 , , 2.7 , , 7.6 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 81 , , , , 23.5 , , .535 , , , , .631 , , 7.3 , , .6 , , .6 , , 3.1 , , 8.4 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 82 , , , , 25.9 , , .558 , , , , .714 , , 9.4 , , .9 , , .7 , , 3.0 , , 8.9 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 40 , , , , 26.1 , , .552 , , .000 , , .807 , , 7.2 , , .9 , , .7 , , 2.9 , , 7.0 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 79 , , 39 , , 25.5 , , .584 , , , , .612 , , 7.7 , , .7 , , .4 , , 2.8 , , 6.1 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 80 , , 80 , , 30.9 , , .510 , , .000 , , .726 , , 9.3 , , .9 , , .6 , , style="background:#CFECEC;', 4.3* , , 7.8 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 77 , , 76 , , 30.5 , , .518 , , , , .621 , , 7.7 , , .8 , , .5 , , 3.6 , , 8.6 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 70 , , 60 , , 25.0 , , .549 , , , , .720 , , 6.3 , , .7 , , .5 , , 2.4 , , 6.3 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 74 , , 61 , , 24.1 , , .499 , , .000 , , .767 , , 6.2 , , .6 , , .5 , , 2.3 , , 5.6 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 75 , , 58 , , 23.5 , , .546 , , , , .724 , , 6.5 , , .3 , , .6 , , 1.9 , , 5.4 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 76 , , 59 , , 23.2 , , .512 , , , , .875 , , 6.0 , , .3 , , .4 , , 1.7 , , 4.4 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

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. ...

, 60 , , 2 , , 9.7 , , .449 , , .000 , , .632 , , 2.3 , , .3 , , .2 , , .6 , , 2.3 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 48 , , 19 , , 14.0 , , .456 , , .000 , , .688 , , 3.2 , , .5 , , .3 , , 1.1 , , 2.6 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...

, 37 , , 0 , , 5.5 , , .424 , , , , .571 , , 1.1 , , .1 , , .1 , , .5 , , 1.0 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

, 59 , , 5 , , 11.8 , , .535 , , , , .867 , , 2.9 , , .3 , , .2 , , 1.1 , , 2.0 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 42 , , 0 , , 5.9 , , .268 , , .000 , , .750 , , 1.4 , , .2 , , .1 , , .4 , , .7 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

Orlando Orlando () is a city in the U.S. state of Florida and is the county seat of Orange County. In Central Florida, it is the center of the Orlando metropolitan area, which had a population of 2,509,831, according to U.S. Census Bureau figures rele ...

, 45 , , 1 , , 8.5 , , .547 , , , , .600 , , 2.1 , , .2 , , .2 , , .8 , , 1.7 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 51 , , 3 , , 9.4 , , .476 , , , , .677 , , 1.9 , , .2 , , .1 , , .7 , , 1.2 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 1,156 , , 463 , , 20.8 , , .522 , , .000 , , .700 , , 5.8 , , .6 , , .4 , , 2.2 , , 5.4

Playoffs

, - , style="text-align:left;",

1978 Events January * January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213. * January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of Republican People's Party, CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd go ...

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, 2 , , , , 25.5 , , .583 , , , , .250 , , 4.5 , , .5 , , .5 , , 2.0 , , 8.0 , - , style="text-align:left;",

1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the ''International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the ''Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the song ...

, style="text-align:left;",

, 9 , , , , 23.6 , , .412 , , , , .692 , , 7.9 , , .6 , , .3 , , 2.7 , , 5.7 , - , style="text-align:left;",

1980 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning System time epoch begins at 00:00 UTC. * January 9 – ...

, style="text-align:left;",

, 5 , , , , 26.8 , , .581 , , , , .600 , , 7.6 , , .6 , , .4 , , 2.8 , , 8.4 , - , style="text-align:left;",

1982 Events January * January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00). * January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street bridges, 14th Street Bridge in ...

, style="text-align:left;",

, 2 , , , , 32.5 , , .333 , , , , .750 , , 4.0 , , 1.0 , , .0 , , 3.0 , , 3.5 , - , style="text-align:left;",

1983 The year 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to Internet protocol suite, TCP/IP is officially completed (this is consid ...

, style="text-align:left;",

, 3 , , , , 39.3 , , .481 , , , , .333 , , 10.0 , , 1.0 , , .3 , , 3.3 , , 9.7 , - , style="text-align:left;",

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeast A ...

, style="text-align:left;",

, 5 , , , , 30.4 , , .400 , , , , .625 , , 6.8 , , .2 , , .4 , , 2.0 , , 5.0 , - , style="text-align:left;",

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. **Spain and Portugal ente ...

, style="text-align:left;",

, 9 , , 9 , , 27.6 , , .553 , , , , .636 , , 8.7 , , .3 , , .2 , , 1.7 , , 6.6 , - , style="text-align:left;",

1987 File:1987 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The MS Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes after leaving the Port of Zeebrugge in Belgium, killing 193; Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashes after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airport, k ...

, style="text-align:left;",

, 9 , , 9 , , 24.6 , , .536 , , , , .714 , , 5.9 , , .3 , , .3 , , 1.8 , , 4.4 , - , style="text-align:left;",

1988 File:1988 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The oil platform Piper Alpha explodes and collapses in the North Sea, killing 165 workers; The USS Vincennes (CG-49) mistakenly shoots down Iran Air Flight 655; Australia celebrates its Australian ...

, style="text-align:left;",

, 12 , , 12 , , 27.8 , , .556 , , , , .867 , , 5.9 , , .5 , , .8 , , 1.6 , , 4.4 , - , style="text-align:left;", 1989 , style="text-align:left;",

, 5 , , 0 , , 14.8 , , .750 , , , , .600 , , 3.2 , , .2 , , .6 , , 1.4 , , 3.0 , - , style="text-align:left;",

1990 File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of Humankind, humanity on Earth, Astroph ...

, style="text-align:left;",

, 3 , , 0 , , 12.7 , , .333 , , , , .750 , , 2.7 , , .3 , , .7 , , .3 , , 2.7 , - , style="text-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 Phil ...

, style="text-align:left;",

, 6 , , 0 , , 5.3 , , 1.000 , , , , , , .5 , , .0 , , .2 , , .2 , , .7 , - , style="text-align:left;", 1993 , style="text-align:left;",

, 6 , , 0 , , 2.7 , , .000 , , .000 , , , , .7 , , .0 , , .3 , , .0 , , .0 , - , style="text-align:left;",

1994 File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which Sinking of the MS Estonia, sank in ...

, style="text-align:left;",

, 3 , , 0 , , 9.7 , , .400 , , , , , , 1.0 , , .0 , , .3 , , .3 , , 1.3 , - , style="text-align:left;",

, style="text-align:left;",

, 14 , , 0 , , 5.8 , , .600 , , , , .250 , , .4 , , .0 , , .0 , , .4 , , .5 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 93 , , 30 , , 19.4 , , .505 , , .000 , , .624 , , 4.6 , , .3 , , .4 , , 1.4 , , 3.9

References

External links

Coach profile
@ NBA.com

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rollins, Tree 1955 births Living people African-American basketball coaches African-American basketball players All-American college men's basketball players American men's basketball players Atlanta Hawks draft picks Atlanta Hawks players Basketball coaches from Florida Basketball players at the 1975 Pan American Games Basketball players from Florida Centers (basketball) Chicago Sky coaches Clemson Tigers men's basketball players Cleveland Cavaliers players Detroit Pistons players Greenville Groove coaches Houston Rockets players Indiana Pacers assistant coaches Medalists at the 1975 Pan American Games Orlando Magic assistant coaches Orlando Magic players Pan American Games gold medalists for the United States Pan American Games medalists in basketball Player-coaches Sportspeople from Winter Haven, Florida United States men's national basketball team players Washington Mystics head coaches Washington Wizards assistant coaches 21st-century African-American people 20th-century African-American sportspeople

Career

Achievements

NBA career statistics

Regular season

Playoffs

See also

References

External links