Dwayne Kenneth Schintzius (October 14, 1968 – April 15, 2012) was an American

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)

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. He was born in

Brandon, Florida Brandon is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Hillsborough County, Florida, United States. It is part of the Tampa–St. Petersburg–Clearwater Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 114,626 at the 2020 ...

and attended the

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida, traces its origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its ...

, where he helped lead the

Florida Gators men's basketball The Florida Gators men's basketball team represents the University of Florida in the sport of basketball. The Gators compete in NCAA Division I's Southeastern Conference (SEC). Home games are played in the O'Connell Center, Exactech Arena at the ...

program to its first three NCAA tournament appearances as an all-conference

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 eccentricity ...

. Schintzius was selected in the first round of the 1990 NBA draft (24th overall) by the

San Antonio Spurs The San Antonio Spurs are an American professional basketball team based in San Antonio. The Spurs compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference (NBA), Western Conference Southwest Division ( ...

, but chronic back problems reduced his effectiveness, and he played for six different NBA teams over ten seasons in the league, mainly as a reserve player. Off the court, Schintzius was known for his distinctive mullet-style haircut that he called "the lobster", his sometimes abrasive behavior, and his performance as a Russian basketball player in the 1996 comedy film ''

Eddie Eddie or Eddy may refer to: Science and technology *Eddy (fluid dynamics), the swirling of a fluid and the reverse current created when the fluid flows past an obstacle * Eddie (text editor), a text editor originally for BeOS and now ported to Lin ...

''. In 2009, he was diagnosed with a rare form of

leukemia Leukemia ( also spelled leukaemia and pronounced ) is a group of blood cancers that usually begin in the bone marrow and result in high numbers of abnormal blood cells. These blood cells are not fully developed and are called ''blasts'' or ' ...

. After treatment and a brief remission, he died from complications of the disease in 2012.

Early years

Schintzius was born in

, a suburb of

Tampa Tampa () is a city on the Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The city's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and the seat of Hillsborough County ...

.Basketball-Reference.com, Players
Dwayne Schintzius
Retrieved April 16, 2012. He attended Brandon High School, where the seven-foot

played for the Brandon Eagles

high school 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 ...

team.Bob Hill,
Schintzius Could Make a Big Difference
" ''Sun-Sentinel'', p. 1C (November 20, 1986). Retrieved April 16, 2012. Together with teammate Toney Mack, Schintzius led lead the Eagles to a Class 4A state runner-up finish as a sophomore, and another Final Four berth as a junior.Joey Knight,
Tampa Bay's All-Century Team: No. 61 Dwayne Schintzius
," ''The Tampa Tribune'' (October 30, 1999). Retrieved April 16, 2012. As a senior, he averaged 21.1 points and 17 rebounds per game, was a finalist for Florida's Mr. Basketball award, and was recognized as a high school All-American by McDonald's and ''

Parade A parade is a procession of people, usually organized along a street, often in costume, and often accompanied by marching bands, float (parade), floats, or sometimes large balloons. Parades are held for a wide range of reasons, but are usually ce ...

'' magazine in 1986.

College career

Schintzius received athletic scholarship offers from many top college programs. Unlike most top Florida high school basketball prospects up to that point, he chose to stay in-state and attend the

, where he played for the

team from 1987 to 1990 under head coach

Norm Sloan Norman Leslie Sloan Jr. (June 25, 1926 – December 9, 2003) was an American college basketball player and coach. Sloan was a native of Indiana and played college basketball and football at North Carolina State University. He began a long career a ...

.
2011–12 Florida Gators Men's Basketball Media Guide
'', University Athletic Association, Gainesville, Florida, pp. 74, 76–77, 79, 82, 84, 90, 132–133, 146, 151, 153–154, 157, 159–160, 162, 163, 164, 166 (2011). Retrieved April 16, 2012. Schintzius started at center for the Gators beginning early in his freshman season. By the end of his junior season ( 1988–89), he had led the Gators in scoring, rebounding, and free-throw percentage over at least one full season. He also set the program's record for blocked shots, and at the end of his junior year, his season blocked shot totals ranked first, second, and third in school history. The Gators had never been invited to the NCAA basketball tournament in over seven decades of basketball. However, they made the field during each of Schintztius's three full seasons with the program and advanced to the Sweet Sixteen in 1987. During his junior year, the Gators won their first-ever regular season

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is an American college athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central and Southeastern United States. Its fourteen members include the flagship public universities of ...

(SEC) championship. Schintzius was recognized as a first-team All-SEC player after that season and was included on multiple All-American lists. However, Schintzius' college career was marred by disciplinary problems. He occasionally clashed with Coach Sloan, including one instance in which he refused to re-enter a game with a minute left during his sophomore season. He also had minor incidents with opposing players, fans, and mascots, and with others off the court. During his junior season, Schintzius allegedly heard a rude remark from a sidewalk while riding in a car outside of Gainesville nightclub and stormed after the offender wielding a tennis racket. Schintzius later apologized and was not charged with a crime, but the university's office of student affairs found him guilty of violating the student code of conduct and suspended him for four games. After returning from that suspension, fans in opposing arenas occasionally threw tennis balls onto the court, presumably taunting Schintzius for the incident. In January 1989, Florida traveled to

Nashville Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and the ...

to face the

Vanderbilt Commodores The Vanderbilt Commodores are the college athletics in the United States, intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Vanderbilt University, located in Nashville, Tennessee. Vanderbilt fields 16 varsity teams (6 men's teams and 10 women's team ...

in a crucial SEC matchup.Mark Bechtel,
Fanatics at Work: Ten Most Intriguing Things Thrown on the Field
" ''Sports Illustrated'' (May 4, 2006). Retrieved April 16, 2012. Losing 72–70, Florida turned the ball over with only one second left on the clock, seemingly sealing a loss. But at that point, someone in the Memorial Gymnasium home crowd threw a tennis ball onto the court. Referee John Clougherty immediately called a

technical foul In basketball, a technical foul (colloquially known as a "T" or a "tech") is any infraction of the rules penalized as a foul which does not involve physical contact during the course of play between opposing players on the court, or is a foul by a ...

on the Commodores, and Schintzius, who led the Gators in free throw percentage that season, hit both free throws to send the game into overtime. He then scored the Gators' first seven points in the extra period and Florida won the game 81–78. Florida went on to capture the program's first SEC regular season championship, beating Vanderbilt by a single game. Sloan was forced to resign before Schintzius's senior season of 1989–90 and was replaced on an interim basis by former Tennessee coach

Don DeVoe Donald Eugene DeVoe (born December 31, 1941) is a former American college basketball coach and former player. DeVoe played college basketball for Ohio State University, and later served as the head coach for Virginia Tech, the University of Wyom ...

. Schintzius was not happy with this turn of events and skipped DeVoe's first practice with the team along with fellow star Livingston Chatman.Basketball; Schintzius Walks Out And Slams the Door
" ''The New York Times'' (January 27, 1990). Retrieved April 16, 2012. Soon after, he was suspended for alleged involvement in a fraternity house fight. DeVoe told Schintzius that in order to rejoin the basketball team, he would have to improve his off-court behavior, maintain his playing weight (he weighed almost 300 pounds at one point), go to class consistently, and get rid of his distinct mullet-style haircut, known as the "lobster.".Curry Kirkpatrick

" ''Sports Illustrated'' (January 16, 1989). Retrieved April 16, 2012. In a statement released January 25, 1990, Schintzius claimed that he had done all these things, but was nonetheless quitting the team due to conflicts with his new coach. The statement read, in part:

No one can argue that Coach Sloan and Coach Towe (
Monte Towe Monte Corwin Towe (born September 27, 1953) is an American basketball coach and retired basketball player. He was a starting point guard on the 1973–74 North Carolina State Wolfpack men's basketball team which won the NCAA Division I Men's Bask ...
, Sloan's assistant) were easy to play for, and to them you had to accept the coach as the absolute authority and their word as final; but that does not mean I must sail under the authority of
Captain Ahab Captain Ahab is a fictional character and one of the main protagonists in Herman Melville's ''Moby-Dick'' (1851). He is the monomaniacal captain of the whaling ship ''Pequod''. On a previous voyage, the white whale Moby Dick bit off Ahab's leg, ...
. If you can play for Coach Sloan, you can play for almost anyone, ''almost'' anyone.

Without Schintzius, the Gators lost sixteen of the seventeen games to end the season and missed the NCAA tournament for the first time since the year before his arrival. Schintzius remains the only player in SEC history to amass more than 1,000 points, 800 rebounds, 250 assists and 250 blocks.Antonya English and Alexandra Zayas,
Former Florida Gator, Brandon High basketball star Dwayne Schintzius dies at 43
" ''Tampa Bay Times'' (April 15, 2012). Retrieved April 16, 2012. He still holds Florida's career record for blocked shots (272), and is ranks sixth among the program's all time scoring leaders with 1,624 points.

Professional career

Despite his personal issues, Schintzius was regarded as a good NBA prospect due to his performance on the court. The

selected him in the first round (twenty-fourth pick overall) of the 1990 NBA Draft. He injured his back during his rookie season and was traded to 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 ...

for

Antoine Carr Antoine Labotte Carr (born July 23, 1961) is an American retired basketball player. Nicknamed "Big Dawg", he played power forward (and sometimes center) for six different teams in the National Basketball Association across 16 seasons. Early life ...

on September 23, 1991. He later revealed that Spurs

general manager A general manager (GM) is an executive who has overall responsibility for managing both the revenue and cost elements of a company's income statement, known as profit & loss (P&L) responsibility. A general manager usually oversees most or all of ...

Bob Bass Robert Eugene Bass (January 28, 1929 – August 17, 2018) was an American basketball coach and executive who worked in college basketball, the American Basketball Association (ABA), and the National Basketball Association (NBA). Coaching career ...

disliked his mullet haircut and told him to cut it, which he did.Joey Johnston,
As baseball's trade deadline nears, anxiety rises
" ''The Tampa Tribune'' (July 24, 2011). Retrieved April 16, 2012. Schintzius then sent Bass the shavings in an envelope. The Kings waived Schintzius during the 1991–92 season, and 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, ...

signed him on October 1, 1992. Schintzius' NBA career was severely hampered by injuries, particularly chronic back problems. He had several surgeries for a

spinal disc herniation Spinal disc herniation is an injury to the cushioning and connective tissue between vertebrae, usually caused by excessive strain or trauma to the spine. It may result in back pain, pain or sensation in different parts of the body, and physical ...

and often missed long stretches of playing time as he moved from team to team, mostly serving as a reserve center.Chris Harry,
All Grown up Dwayne Schintzius shows a softer side than he did 20 years ago when he stormed onto the basketball scene at the University of Florida
" ''South Florida Sun-Sentinel'', p. C1 (March 14, 2007). Retrieved April 16, 2012. He spent three seasons with the

, a year with the

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 then a year with the

Los Angeles Clippers The Los Angeles Clippers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Clippers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division in the league's Western Conference. The Clipper ...

. Schintzius only played 15 games with the Clippers but did post 15 points in a loss against the Bullets on January 10, 1997. This game also featured the only three point make of Schintzius' NBA career. After missing the entire 1997–98 season due to injury, he played 16 games with 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 1998–99 before retiring from the NBA. In eight NBA seasons, he appeared in 217 regular season games and started 33 of them. He later came out of retirement to play in the minor leagues, and appeared in 35 games for the

Mobile Revelers The Mobile Revelers were a National Basketball Development League (NBDL) team based in Mobile, Alabama. Playing their home games at the Mobile Civic Center, the Revelers was a charter franchise in the 2001–2002 NBDL season, 2001-02 season and fo ...

of the NBA's Development League in 2001–02. He last played for the Brevard Blue Ducks of the

United States Basketball League The United States Basketball League (USBL) was a professional men's spring basketball league. The league was formed in 1985 and ceased operations in 2008. The USBL started in 1985 as one of the first basketball leagues to play a late-spring to ...

(USBL) in 2003.

Off the court

Schintzius played Ivan Radovadovitch, a fictional

Georgian Georgian may refer to: Common meanings * Anything related to, or originating from Georgia (country) ** Georgians, an indigenous Caucasian ethnic group ** Georgian language, a Kartvelian language spoken by Georgians **Georgian scripts, three scrip ...

player for the

New York Knicks The New York Knickerbockers, shortened and more commonly referred to as the New York Knicks, are an American professional basketball team based in the New York City borough of Manhattan. The Knicks compete in the National Basketball Associat ...

, in the 1996 comedy movie ''

'', which starred

Whoopi Goldberg Caryn Elaine Johnson (born November 13, 1955), known professionally as Whoopi Goldberg (), is an American actor, comedian, author, and television personality.Kuchwara, Michael (AP Drama Writer)"Whoopi Goldberg: A One-Woman Character Parade". ' ...

as the team's female coach. Several other actual NBA players were also featured as members of the Knicks and other real NBA teams in the film. He later appeared in local commercials. At the trial of his former

teammate

Jayson Williams Jayson Williams (born February 22, 1968) is an American former professional basketball player who played in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for 11 seasons, primarily with the New Jersey Nets. He played his first three seasons with the ...

, he testified that he witnessed Williams kill his own dog with a shotgun.

Illness and death

In November 2009, Schintzius was diagnosed with a

chronic myelomonocytic leukemia Chronic myelomonocytic leukemia (CMML) is a type of leukemia, which are cancers of the blood-forming cells of the bone marrow. In adults, blood cells are formed in the bone marrow, by a process that is known as haematopoiesis. In CMML, there are in ...

, a rare and often fatal form of the disease.Joey Johnston,
Former NBA, UF center Schintzius grateful to be alive
," ''The Tampa Tribune'' (July 13, 2010). Retrieved April 16, 2012. With a bone marrow donation from his brother Travis, he underwent

bone marrow transplantation Hematopoietic stem-cell transplantation (HSCT) is the transplantation of multipotent hematopoietic stem cells, usually derived from bone marrow, peripheral blood, or umbilical cord blood in order to replicate inside of a patient and to produc ...

at the Moffit Cancer Center in Tampa on January 12, 2010. The procedure was considered a success,Joey Johnston,
Ex-UF star, NBA player Dwayne Schintzius battling cancer
" ''The Tampa Tribune'' (February 17, 2010). Retrieved April 16, 2012. but Schintzius struggled through several difficult rounds of

chemotherapy Chemotherapy (often abbreviated to chemo and sometimes CTX or CTx) is a type of cancer treatment that uses one or more anti-cancer drugs (chemotherapeutic agents or alkylating agents) as part of a standardized chemotherapy regimen. Chemotherap ...

until being declared cancer-free in July 2010. In early 2012, Schintzius continued to suffer from complications, and a second bone marrow transplant was required.Joey Johnston
Bay area native, UF star Schintzius dead at 43
" ''The Tampa Tribune'' (April 15, 2012). Retrieved April 16, 2012. On April 15, 2012, Schintzius died at the Moffit Cancer Center from

respiratory failure Respiratory failure results from inadequate gas exchange by the respiratory system, meaning that the arterial oxygen, carbon dioxide, or both cannot be kept at normal levels. A drop in the oxygen carried in the blood is known as hypoxemia; a rise ...

; he was 43 years old.Michael DiRocco,
Dwayne Schintzius dead at age 43
" ESPN (April 15, 2012). Retrieved April 16, 2012.

Career statistics

Regular season

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

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, 42 , , 7 , , 9.5 , , .439 , , .000 , , .550 , , 2.9 , , .4 , , .0 , , .7 , , 3.8 , - , style="text-align:left;, , style="text-align:left;",

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, 33 , , 0 , , 12.1 , , .427 , , .000 , , .833 , , 3.6 , , .6 , , .2 , , .8 , , 3.3 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

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, 30 , , 3 , , 10.6 , , .345 , , , , .588 , , 3.0 , , .4 , , .2 , , .6 , , 2.3 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 43 , , 11 , , 7.4 , , .380 , , , , .545 , , 1.9 , , .3 , , .1 , , .4 , , 2.0 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...

, 33 , , 5 , , 9.0 , , .445 , , , , .619 , , 2.4 , , .4 , , .3 , , .4 , , 3.4 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

L.A. Clippers The Los Angeles Clippers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Clippers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division in the league's Western Conference. The Clipper ...

, 15 , , 0 , , 7.7 , , .361 , , .500 , , .875 , , 1.5 , , .3 , , .1 , , .6 , , 2.3 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-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 ...

, 16 , , 0 , , 4.2 , , .250 , , , , .750 , , 1.2 , , .5 , , .0 , , .2 , , .7 , - class=sortbottom , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 217 , , 33 , , 9.0 , , .404 , , .125 , , .638 , , 2.5 , , .4 , , .1 , , .5 , , 2.7

Playoffs

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

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References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Schintzius, Dwayne 1968 births 2012 deaths American men's basketball players Basketball players from Florida Boston Celtics players Deaths from cancer in Florida Centers (basketball) Deaths from leukemia Deaths from respiratory failure Florida Gators men's basketball players Indiana Pacers players Los Angeles Clippers players McDonald's High School All-Americans Mobile Revelers players New Jersey Nets players Parade High School All-Americans (boys' basketball) People from Brandon, Florida Sacramento Kings players San Antonio Spurs draft picks San Antonio Spurs players Sportspeople from Hillsborough County, Florida