Rolando Antonio Blackman (born February 26, 1959) is a Panamanian-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 was a four-time

NBA All-Star The National Basketball Association (NBA) All-Star Game is an annual exhibition basketball game. It is the main event of the NBA All-Star Weekend. Originally, the All-Star Game featured a conference-based format, featuring a team composed of ...

who spent most of his career with the Dallas Mavericks. Blackman was born in

Panama City, Panama Panama City ( es, Ciudad de Panamá, links=no; ), also known as Panama (or Panamá in Spanish), is the capital and largest city of Panama. It has an urban population of 880,691, with over 1.5 million in its metropolitan area. The city is loca ...

, and raised in

Brooklyn, New York Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

, from the age of eight.

Playing career

College basketball

After being raised in Brooklyn, Blackman attended Kansas State University where he played basketball under coach Jack Hartman. At Kansas State, Blackman had a number of noteworthy achievements: *In 1980, he was named the Big Eight Conference

Player of the Year Several sports leagues honour their best player with an award called Player of the Year (POY) . In the United States, this type of award is usually called a Most Valuable Player award. Association football In association football, this award is he ...

and All-American. *He was a three-time unanimous All-Big Eight selection. *He was three times named the Big Eight Defensive Player of the Year. *He scored 1,844 career points, the second-highest total in Kansas State history. *He had a career .517 Field Goal Percentage and a .717 Free Throw Percentage. Prior to his senior season, Blackman also was selected as a starter for the 1980 Summer Olympics basketball team, but did not participate in the Olympics because of the U.S. Olympic boycott. He did however receive one of 461

Congressional Gold Medal The Congressional Gold Medal is an award bestowed by the United States Congress. It is Congress's highest expression of national appreciation for distinguished achievements and contributions by individuals or institutions. The congressional pract ...

s created especially for the spurned athletes. In his senior year Blackman led Kansas State into the West Regional of the NCAA tournament as the #8 seed. They defeated #9 seed University of San Francisco in the first round. Then KSU pulled an iconic upset of #1 seed Oregon State, 50–48, in the second round, punctuated by Blackman's game-winning jumper with three seconds left in the game. Next up was #4 seed Illinois, whom they defeated 57–52 in the semi before losing to #2 seed North Carolina 82–68 in the West Regional final. In 1996, after the Big Eight Conference expanded to the

Big 12 The Big 12 Conference is a college athletic conference headquartered in Irving, Texas, USA. It consists of ten full-member universities. It is a member of Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) for all sports. Its f ...

, Blackman was named to the AP all-time All-Big Eight basketball team. Blackman's number 25 jersey was retired by Kansas State February 17, 2007 in a ceremony at halftime during a game against Iowa State. In 2015, he was inducted into National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame.

Professional career

Dallas Mavericks (1981–1992)

Rolando Blackman was drafted by the Mavericks in the first round (9th overall) of the

1981 NBA Draft The 1981 NBA draft was the 35th annual draft of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The draft was held on June 9, 1981, before the 1981–82 season. The draft was broadcast in the United States on the USA Network. In this draft, 23 NBA t ...

. He became the first Panamanian-born player in the NBA. Blackman had an immediate impact on the team, averaging 13.3 PPG in his rookie season. He was given a good amount of minutes in his career, getting around 24 minutes per game in his rookie campaign. He played well but the Mavericks weren't good until the 1983–1984 season. That was also Blackman's best statistical season as he averaged a career high 22.4 PPG and lead the franchise to its first ever playoff appearance. The Mavericks managed to beat the

Seattle SuperSonics The Seattle SuperSonics (commonly known as the Seattle Sonics) were an American professional basketball team based in Seattle. The SuperSonics competed in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member club of the league's Western Confe ...

and reach the second round before ultimately losing to the Los Angeles Lakers. Despite putting up amazing stats, Blackman missed the all star game that year, although he did make it the following year. He would go on to be named an NBA All-Star four times in his career. At the 1987 All-Star Game, Blackman tied the game at the end of regulation with two free throws. The West team would go on to win in overtime. As for the Mavericks, they played well and even had a magical season in 1987–1988 where they managed to reach the Western Conference Finals. This appearance happened to be the franchise's first Conference Finals appearance in its history. The Mavericks made it far but fell to the Los Angeles Lakers in 7 games. After this series the Mavericks began to decline and wouldn't achieve the same amount of success until much later on in the

Dirk Nowitzki Dirk Werner Nowitzki (, ; born June 19, 1978) is a German former professional basketball player who is a special advisor for the Dallas Mavericks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Listed at , he is widely regarded as one of the gre ...

era. Blackman continued to play well and averaged around 19 PPG for the next few seasons, however the Mavericks fell off in the standings. By the 1991–1992 season, Blackman was 32 years old and the Mavericks entered a stage of rebuilding. By the 1992 off-season Blackman's time with the team was finished. Blackman made 6,487 field goals with the Mavericks and scored 16,643 points, which was a franchise record for 18 years – until broken by

on March 8, 2008. In his 865 games with the Mavericks, Blackman never fouled out of a game.

New York Knicks (1992–1994)

On June 24, 1992, Blackman was traded to the New York Knicks for a 1995 first round pick (which became Loren Meyer). Blackman spent his final two seasons in the NBA with the New York Knicks. In his last season in New York, he was reunited with former Dallas teammate

Derek Harper Derek Ricardo Harper (born October 13, 1961) is an American former professional basketball player. A second-team All-American at the University of Illinois, he was the 11th overall pick of the 1983 NBA draft and spent 16 seasons as a point guar ...

. The team made it to the NBA Finals where they lost to the Houston Rockets in seven games. One of Blackman's most notable games as a Knick was when he hit the game winning shot in Game 4 of the 1993 Eastern Conference Semi-finals against the Charlotte Hornets, hitting a jump shot with five seconds left in the game that put the Knicks up by two. Blackman still played well in the twilight years of his career but his age was finally getting to him and his time in the NBA was over. On July 6, 1994 the Knicks waived Blackman.

Retirement from the NBA

Shortly after being released, he retired from the league. Following the 1993–94 season, he had career totals of 17,623 points, 3,278 rebounds and 2,981 assists. Blackman was NBA's all-time scoring leader among Hispanic/Latin players (born in Iberian, Latin American & Spanish-speaking countries) until March 6, 2015, when Pau Gasol overtook him. Blackman's number 22 jersey was retired by the Mavericks on March 11, 2000.

Europe

Blackman signed with the Greek League team AEK Athens BC in the middle of the 1994–95 season. Coached by

Vlade Đurović Vlade Đurović ( sr-cyr, Владе Ђуровић; born 16 May 1948) is a Serbian professional basketball coach and former player. Early life Born in 1948 to Bosnian Serb parents Danilo Đurović from Sokolac and Mileva Cerović from Rogatica� ...

, they finished the season in a disappointing 8th place. Over the summer of 1995, Blackman moved to

Olimpia Milano Pallacanestro Olimpia Milano, commonly known as Olimpia Milano or as EA7 Emporio Armani Milan after its title sponsor, is an LBA Italian professional basketball team, based in Milan, Italy. Its colors are white and red, and the team is sometimes ...

, where he was brought in by head coach

Bogdan Tanjević Bogdan Tanjević ( sr-cyr, Богдан Тањевић; born 13 February 1947), nicknamed "Boša" ( it, Boscia) is a Montenegrin professional basketball coach and former player. He is best known for being KK Bosna's head coach when the club beca ...

. Playing in the Italian League on a team including

Dejan Bodiroga Dejan Bodiroga ( sr-Cyrl, Дејан Бодирога; born 2 March 1973) is a Serbian basketball executive and former professional player who is the Chairman of the Euroleague Basketball. During his playing career, he mainly played at the sm ...

Gregor Fučka Gregor Fučka (; born 7 August 1971) is a Slovenian-Italian retired professional basketball player and coach. A 215 cm (7' ") forward-center, he was a both a Mister Europa and Euroscar laureate in 2000. Professional career Fučka playe ...

, Nando Gentile, and Alessandro De Pol, Blackman, who turned 37 during the season, helped them win both the Italian League title and the

Italian Basketball Cup The Italian Basketball Cup (Italian: Coppa Italiana di Pallacanestro), or Coppa Italia, is an annual professional basketball competition between pro clubs from the Italian Basketball League (LBA). It is Italy's first-tier cup competition, and is ...

by averaging 15.3 points per game. Blackman was named MVP of the Italian Cup series. Olimpia also reached the

Korać Cup Korać is a surname. Notable persons with that name include: * Dušan Korać (disambiguation), multiple people * Milorad Korać (born 1969), Serbian football player and manager * Radivoj Korać (1938–1969), Serbian basketball player * Vitomir ...

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: * Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of con ...

, losing to Efes Pilsen Istanbul in the home-and-away series. Blackman transferred to

Limoges CSP Limoges Cercle Saint-Pierre, commonly referred to as Limoges CSP or CSP, is a French professional basketball club based in the city of Limoges. History The club was founded in 1929, but its peak was during the 1980s and 1990s, when they became t ...

in the summer of 1996, essentially brought along by coach Tanjević who earlier signed to be the club's new head coach.

Post-playing career

In 2000, Blackman was tapped to be the defensive coordinator for the Mavericks under coach Don Nelson. The next year, he served as an assistant coach for the German National team and helped lead them to a bronze medal at the 2002 World Basketball Championships in Indianapolis. During the 2004–05 season, Blackman was hired as one of the Mavericks

television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...

analysts, along with Matt Pinto and Bob Ortegel. For the 2005–06 season, Blackman returned to the Mavericks' bench, serving his first season as a full-fledged assistant coach. In July 2006 he was promoted to the position of Director of Player Development. In August 2010, Blackman was hired as an assistant coach for the

Turkey national basketball team The Turkey men's national basketball team ( tr, Türkiye Millî Basketbol Takımı) represents Turkey in international basketball tournaments. They are governed by the Turkish Basketball Federation. Their nickname is the ''12 Dev Adam'', meani ...

by head coach

, in advance of the

2010 FIBA World Championship The 2010 FIBA World Championship was the 16th FIBA World Championship, the international basketball world championship contested by the men's national teams. The tournament ran from 28 August to 12 September 2010. It was co-organised by the Inte ...

tournament. Blackman stated that he took the job specifically to work again with Tanjević, who had been his coach in Milan. During the

2006 NBA Finals The 2006 NBA Finals was the championship series of the 2005–06 NBA season and the conclusion of the season's playoffs. The Dallas Mavericks were favored to win the championship over the Miami Heat. Despite these odds, the Heat won the title in ...

, Blackman's former coach with the New York Knicks,

Pat Riley Patrick James Riley (born March 20, 1945) is an American professional basketball executive, former coach, and former player in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He has been the team president of the Miami Heat since 1995, and he also se ...

, admitted, publicly for the first time, that sitting Rolando Blackman in favor of John Starks during Games 6 and 7 of the

1994 NBA Finals The 1994 NBA Finals was the championship round of the National Basketball Association (NBA)'s 1993–94 season, and the culmination of the season's playoffs. The Western Conference champion Houston Rockets played the Eastern Conference cham ...

was the biggest coaching mistake in his career, and that he has never forgiven himself for it.http://articles.nydailynews.com/2006-06-08/sports/18322204_1_knicks-pat-riley-patrick-ewing

Personal life

He has four children and resides in

Dallas, Texas Dallas () is the third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 million people. It is the largest city in and seat of Dallas County ...

. Blackman is on the board of directors of the Assist Youth Foundation. The foundation's goal is to advance opportunities for underprivileged kids in the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex and across the globe. Blackman is a member of

Kappa Alpha Psi Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc. () is a historically African American fraternity. Since the fraternity's founding on January 5, 1911 at Indiana University Bloomington, the fraternity has never restricted membership on the basis of color, creed ...

fraternity. Blackman continues to contribute to his chapter, Beta Psi, as well as the Kansas State University community.

NBA career statistics

Regular season

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

Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...

, 82 , , 16 , , 24.1 , , .513 , , .250 , , .768 , , 3.1 , , 1.3 , , 0.6 , , 0.4 , , 13.3 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 75 , , 62 , , 31.3 , , .492 , , .200 , , .780 , , 3.9 , , 2.5 , , 0.5 , , 0.4 , , 17.7 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 81 , , 81 , , 37.3 , , .546 , , .091 , , .812 , , 4.6 , , 3.6 , , 0.7 , , 0.5 , , 22.4 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 81 , , 80 , , 35.0 , , .508 , , .300 , , .828 , , 3.7 , , 3.6 , , 0.8 , , 0.2 , , 19.7 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 82 , , 81 , , 34.0 , , .514 , , .138 , , .836 , , 3.5 , , 3.3 , , 1.0 , , 0.3 , , 21.5 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 80 , , 80 , , 34.5 , , .495 , , .333 , , .884 , , 3.5 , , 3.3 , , 0.8 , , 0.3 , , 21.0 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 71 , , 69 , , 36.3 , , .473 , , .000 , , .873 , , 3.5 , , 3.7 , , 0.9 , , 0.3 , , 18.7 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 78 , , 78 , , 37.8 , , .476 , , .353 , , .854 , , 3.5 , , 3.7 , , 0.8 , , 0.3 , , 19.7 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 80 , , 80 , , 36.7 , , .498 , , .302 , , .844 , , 3.5 , , 3.6 , , 1.0 , , 0.3 , , 19.4 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 80 , , 80 , , 37.1 , , .482 , , .351 , , .865 , , 3.2 , , 3.8 , , 0.9 , , 0.2 , , 19.9 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 75 , , 74 , , 33.7 , , .461 , , .385 , , .898 , , 3.2 , , 2.7 , , 0.7 , , 0.3 , , 18.3 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;", New York , 60 , , 33 , , 23.9 , , .443 , , .425 , , .789 , , 1.7 , , 2.6 , , 0.4 , , 0.2 , , 9.7 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;", New York , 55 , , 1 , , 17.6 , , .436 , , .357 , , .906 , , 1.7 , , 1.4 , , 0.5 , , 0.1 , , 7.3 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 980 , , 815 , , 32.7 , , .493 , , .343 , , .840 , , 3.3 , , 3.0 , , 0.7 , , 0.3 , , 18.0 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", All-Star , 4 , , 0 , , 22.0 , , .592 , , – , , .813 , , 3.3 , , 3.3 , , 1.3 , , 0.5 , , 17.8

Playoffs

, - , 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 Southeas ...

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

, 10, , –, , 39.7, , .531, , –, , .841, , 4.1, , 4.0, , 0.6, , 0.4, , 23.9 , - , style="text-align:left;",

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a ...

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

, 4, , 4, , 42.3, , .511, , .500, , .947, , 6.5, , 4.8, , 0.5, , 0.5, , 32.8 , - , 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 enter ...

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

, 10, , 10, , 37.1, , .497, , .000, , .792, , 3.5, , 3.2, , 0.8, , 0.1, , 20.8 , - , 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, ...

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

, 4, , 4, , 38.3, , .493, , .000, , .917, , 3.5, , 4.3, , 0.5, , 0.0, , 23.5 , - , 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 Bicenten ...

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

, 17, , 17, , 39.5, , .483, , .000, , .887, , 3.2, , 4.5, , 0.9, , 0.2, , 18.1 , - , 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 humanity on Earth, astrophysicist ...

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

, 3, , 3, , 42.3, , .444, , .400, , 1.000, , 3.0, , 4.3, , 2.0, , 0.7, , 20.0 , - , style="text-align:left;",

1993 File:1993 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Oslo I Accord is signed in an attempt to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict; The Russian White House is shelled during the 1993 Russian constitutional crisis; Czechoslovakia is peacefu ...

, style="text-align:left;", New York , 15, , 0, , 14.3, , .344, , .267, , .833, , 1.1, , 1.1, , 0.2, , 0.1, , 4.2 , - , 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 sank in the Baltic Sea; Nelson ...

, style="text-align:left;", New York , 6, , 0, , 5.7, , .273, , .500, , –, , 0.5, , 0.5, , 0.0, , 0.0, , 1.3 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 69 , , 38 , , 31.0 , , .484 , , .290 , , .869 , , 2.9 , , 3.1 , , 0.6 , , 0.2 , , 16.1

Notes

External links

NBA.com: Rolando Blackman

{{DEFAULTSORT:Blackman, Rolando 1959 births Living people AEK B.C. players African-American basketball players All-American college men's basketball players American expatriate basketball people in France American expatriate basketball people in Greece American expatriate basketball people in Italy American men's basketball players American sportspeople of Panamanian descent College basketball announcers in the United States Congressional Gold Medal recipients Dallas Mavericks assistant coaches Dallas Mavericks draft picks Dallas Mavericks players Hispanic and Latino American sportspeople Kansas State Wildcats men's basketball players Limoges CSP players National Basketball Association All-Stars National Basketball Association players from Panama National Basketball Association players with retired numbers New York Knicks players Olimpia Milano players Panamanian emigrants to the United States Panamanian men's basketball players Shooting guards Sportspeople from Brooklyn Sportspeople from Panama City 21st-century African-American people 20th-century African-American sportspeople