Luke Robert Babbitt (born June 20, 1989) 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 court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

player. He played

college basketball In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athleti ...

for the

Nevada Wolf Pack The Nevada Wolf Pack are the athletic teams that represent the University of Nevada, Reno. They are part of NCAA's Division I's Mountain West Conference. It was founded on October 24, 1896 with football as the Sagebrushers in Reno, Nevada. Hi ...

before declaring for the

2010 NBA draft The 2010 NBA draft was held on June 24, 2010, at the Theatre at Madison Square Garden in New York City. The draft, which started at 7:00 pm Eastern Daylight Time (2300 UTC), was broadcast in the United States on ESPN. In this draft, National ...

following his sophomore year.Luke Babbitt Bio
/ref> He was selected by the

Minnesota Timberwolves The Minnesota Timberwolves are an American professional basketball team based in Minneapolis. The Timberwolves compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Northwest Division. Founded in 19 ...

with the 16th overall pick in the

, then traded to 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 ...

Early life

Babbitt was born in

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

. At the age of nine his family moved to

Reno, Nevada Reno ( ) is a city in the northwest section of the U.S. state of Nevada, along the Nevada-California border, about north from Lake Tahoe, known as "The Biggest Little City in the World". Known for its casino and tourism industry, Reno is the ...

. Babbitt attended Galena High School, where he was a 3-time All-State performer and a two-time Gatorade State Player of the Year in

. As a junior, Babbitt averaged 27.8 points and 9.5 rebounds per game while leading Galena to a state championship. Babbitt finished his high school career by scoring 2,941 points, which broke future college teammate Armon Johnson's Nevada state scoring record of 2,616 points. Considered a four-star recruit by

Rivals.com Rivals.com is a network of websites that focus mainly on college football and basketball recruiting in the United States. The network was started in 1998 and employs more than 300 personnel. History Rivals.com was founded in 1998 by Jim Heckma ...

, Babbitt was listed as the No. 12

power forward The power forward (PF), also known as the four, is one of the five traditional positions in a regulation basketball game. Traditionally, power forwards have played a role similar to centers. When on offense, they typically play with their ba ...

and the No. 31 player in the nation in 2008.

College career

After originally verbally committing to

Ohio State The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best public ...

, Babbitt backed out and decided to attend the

University of Nevada The University of Nevada, Reno (Nevada, the University of Nevada, or UNR) is a public land-grant research university in Reno, Nevada. It is the state's flagship public university and primary land grant institution. It was founded on October 12 ...

. In his first game, Babbitt recorded a 20-point, 12-rebound

double-double In basketball, a double-double is a single-game performance in which a player accumulates ten or more in two of the following five statistical categories: points, rebounds, assists, steals, and blocked shots. The first "double" in the term ...

versus Montana State. He went on to average 16.9 points per game during his freshman year including a season-high 30 points on March 12, 2009 versus

San Jose State San José State University (San Jose State or SJSU) is a public university in San Jose, California. Established in 1857, SJSU is the oldest public university on the West Coast and the founding campus of the California State University (CSU) sy ...

. In his sophomore season, Babbitt led the team in scoring with 21.9 points per game. He scored a career-high 33 points in the

Western Athletic Conference The Western Athletic Conference (WAC) is an NCAA Division I conference. The WAC covers a broad expanse of the western United States with member institutions located in Arizona, California, New Mexico, Utah, Washington, and Texas. Due to mos ...

tournament semifinals on March 13, 2010 versus

New Mexico State New Mexico State University (NMSU or NM State) is a public land-grant research university based primarily in Las Cruces, New Mexico. Founded in 1888, it is the oldest public institution of higher education in New Mexico and one of the state's tw ...

. Despite losing that game and ending their hopes of going to the NCAA Tournament, Nevada was invited to the NIT, where they lost in the second round to the

University of Rhode Island The University of Rhode Island (URI) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Kingston, Rhode Island, United States. It is the flagship public research as well as the land-grant university of the state of Rhode Isla ...

. On April 20, 2010, Babbitt hired an agent and declared for the NBA draft.

Professional career

Portland Trail Blazers (2010–2013)

Babbitt was selected with the 16th overall pick by the

in the

. His rights were later traded, along with Wolves forward Ryan Gomes, to the

in exchange for

Martell Webster Martell Webster (born December 4, 1986) is an American former professional basketball player who played 10 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA). The sixth player taken in the 2005 NBA draft, Webster played for Portland, Minnesota ...

. On July 9, 2010, Babbitt signed his rookie contract with the Blazers. He then joined the Blazers for the 2010 NBA Summer League. Luke Babbitt Blazers

On December 8, 2010, Babbitt was assigned to 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 ...

of the

NBA D-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 ...

. On December 18, 2010, he was recalled by the Trail Blazers. On March 3, 2011, he was reassigned to the Idaho Stampede. On March 28, 2011, he was recalled by the Trail Blazers. On January 4, 2012, he was reassigned to the Idaho Stampede. On January 10, 2012, he was recalled again. Babbitt joined the Trail Blazers for the 2012 NBA Summer League.

Nizhny Novgorod (2013–2014)

In August 2013, Babbitt signed with

Nizhny Novgorod Nizhny Novgorod ( ; rus, links=no, Нижний Новгород, a=Ru-Nizhny Novgorod.ogg, p=ˈnʲiʐnʲɪj ˈnovɡərət ), colloquially shortened to Nizhny, from the 13th to the 17th century Novgorod of the Lower Land, formerly known as Gork ...

of Russia for the 2013–14 season. In January 2014, he left Russia under controversial circumstances.

New Orleans Pelicans (2014–2016)

On February 4, 2014, Babbitt signed with the New Orleans Pelicans. On July 20, 2015, he re-signed with the Pelicans.

Miami Heat (2016–2017)

On July 10, 2016, Babbitt was traded to the

Miami Heat The Miami Heat are an American professional basketball team based in Miami. The Heat compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Southeast Division. The club plays its home games at FT ...

in exchange for a 2018 second-round draft pick and cash considerations.

Atlanta Hawks (2017–2018)

Babbitt signed with 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 Southeast Division. The team plays its home games at ...

on August 9, 2017.

Return to Miami (2018)

Babbitt was traded back to the Heat on February 8, 2018 in exchange for

Okaro White Okaro White (born August 13, 1992) is an American professional basketball player for Lokomotiv Kuban of the VTB United League. He played college basketball for Florida State. Early life White was born in Brooklyn, New York, on August 13, 1992, ...

Career statistics

NBA

Regular season

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

Portland Portland most commonly refers to: * Portland, Oregon, the largest city in the state of Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States * Portland, Maine, the largest city in the state of Maine, in the New England region of the northeas ...

, 24 , , 0 , , 5.7 , , .273 , , .188 , , .333 , , 1.3 , , .3 , , .1 , , .1 , , 1.5 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 40 , , 4 , , 13.4 , , .410 , , .430 , , .850 , , 2.4 , , .4 , , .3 , , .1 , , 5.1 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 62 , , 0 , , 11.8 , , .368 , , .348 , , .769 , , 2.2 , , .5 , , .2 , , .1 , , 3.9 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

, 27 , , 2 , , 17.5 , , .390 , , .379 , , .778 , , 3.3 , , 1.1 , , .3 , , .4 , , 6.3 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

, 63 , , 19 , , 13.2 , , .479 , , .513 , , .684 , , 1.8 , , .4 , , .3 , , .2 , , 4.1 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

, 47 , , 13 , , 18.0 , , .422 , , .404 , , .780 , , 3.1 , , 1.1 , , .2 , , .1 , , 7.0 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 at ...

, 68 , , 55 , , 15.7 , , .402 , , .414 , , .733 , , 2.1 , , .5 , , .3 , , .2 , , 4.8 , - , 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 ...

, 37 , , 9 , , 15.4 , , .476 , , .441 , , .773 , , 2.2 , , .7 , , .2 , , .1 , , 6.1 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 13 , , 5 , , 11.2 , , .234 , , .244 , , .000 , , 1.2 , , .4 , , .1 , , .2 , , 2.5 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 381 , , 107 , , 14.0 , , .408 , , .402 , , .747 , , 2.2 , , .6 , , .2 , , .2 , , 4.8

Playoffs

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

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the Unit ...

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

, 2 , , 0 , , 1.5 , , .000 , , – , , – , , .0 , , .0 , , .0 , , .0 , , .0 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 2 , , 0 , , 1.5 , , .000 , , – , , – , , .0 , , .0 , , .0 , , .0 , , .0

College

, - , style="text-align:left;", 2008–09 , style="text-align:left;",

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a state in the Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the 7th-most extensive, ...

, 34 , , 34 , , 32.6 , , .456 , , .429 , , .864 , , 7.4 , , 1.4 , , .7 , , .7 , , 16.9 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2009–10 , style="text-align:left;", Nevada , 34 , , 34 , , 37.1 , , .500 , , .416 , , .917 , , 8.9 , , 2.1 , , 1.0 , , .8 , , 21.9 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 68 , , 68 , , 34.9 , , .480 , , .421 , , .893 , , 8.1 , , 1.8 , , .9 , , .8 , , 19.4

Awards and recognition

* 2008–09 WAC Freshman of the Year * 2008–09 WAC 1st Team All- Conference * 2008–09 WAC Newcomer of the Year * 2009–10 WAC All-Decade Team * 2009–10

ESPN The Magazine ''ESPN The Magazine'' was an American monthly sports magazine published by the ESPN sports network in Bristol, Connecticut. The first issue was published on March 11, 1998. Initially published every other week, it scaled back to 24 issues a year ...

Academic All-American * 2009–10 AP All American Honorable Mention * 2009–10

Naismith Award Naismith Award is a basketball award named after James Naismith, and awarded by the Atlanta Tipoff Club. Naismith Awards include: * Naismith College Player of the Year (men's and women's; NCAA Division I basketball) * Naismith College Coach of t ...

mid-season finalistLuke Babbitt Named National Finalist
/ref> * 2009–10 WAC Player of the Year * 2009–10 WAC 1st Team All- Conference * 2008–2010 2× WAC All-Tournament Team

References

External links

Luke Babbitt
at nevadawolfpack.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Babbitt, Luke 1989 births Living people American expatriate basketball people in Russia American men's basketball players Atlanta Hawks players Basketball players from Nevada Basketball players from Cincinnati BC Nizhny Novgorod players High school basketball coaches in Nevada Idaho Stampede players McDonald's High School All-Americans Miami Heat players Minnesota Timberwolves draft picks Nevada Wolf Pack men's basketball players New Orleans Pelicans players Parade High School All-Americans (boys' basketball) Portland Trail Blazers players Small forwards Sportspeople from Reno, Nevada