Luis Felipe López (born December 19, 1974) is a Dominican 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 (appro ...

player. He starred as a high school player and for the St. John's Red Storm in

college basketball College basketball is basketball that is played by teams of Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. In the Higher education in the United States, United States, colleges and universities are governed by collegiate athle ...

. López played for four seasons in the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

(NBA). He has played for teams in a half dozen countries, as well as in the

Continental Basketball Association The Continental Basketball Association (CBA), originally known as the Eastern Pennsylvania Basketball League, and later as the Eastern Professional Basketball League and the Eastern Basketball Association, was a men's professional basketball m ...

(CBA) in the U.S. Most recently, he has been a broadcaster with Spanish-language networks. His life story was the subject of an ESPN 30 for 30 documentary entitled '' The Dominican Dream''.

Early life

López's father, who played amateur baseball in the Dominican Republic, and his family immigrated to the U.S. when he was 14. López played high school basketball at Rice High School in New York City, where he followed New York high school player Dean Meminger in becoming one of the most highly touted recruits in U.S. high school history. The guard made many All-American lists in 1994, earning Player of the Year honors from

Gatorade Gatorade is an American brand of sports-themed beverage and food products, built around its signature line of sports drinks. The drink is owned and manufactured by PepsiCo and is distributed in over 80 countries. The beverage was develope ...

, ''USA Today'', ''Parade'', and many others.

College career

López appeared on the cover of ''

Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with a circulation of over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellen ...

'' before he had played his first college game. He also appeared with

Jim Brown James Nathaniel Brown (February 17, 1936 – May 18, 2023) was an American professional American football, football player, civil rights activist, and actor. He played as a Fullback (gridiron football), fullback for the Cleveland Browns of the ...

and Jackie Joyner-Kersee at a televised

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on race and sports along with then-president

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton (né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician and lawyer who was the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, ...

. López was the only Latino onstage during the discussion. López and

Allen Iverson Allen Ezail Iverson ( ; born June 7, 1975) is an American former professional basketball player. Nicknamed "The Answer", he played 14 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as both a shooting guard and point guard. As an NBA rook ...

were the two most lauded recruits coming out of prep that year, and both went on to play in the Big East. López finished his freshman season for the St. John's Red Storm with a 17.8-point-per-game scoring average. He earned a spot on the All-Big East Rookie Team and All-Big East Third Team. His numbers dipped slightly the next two years, bottoming out at 15.9 ppg as a junior. As a senior he averaged 17.6 ppg and garnered All-Big East First Team honors. He finished his career with 1,927 points, placing him fourth all-time in St. John's history behind former players

Chris Mullin Christopher Paul Mullin (born July 30, 1963) is an American former professional basketball player, executive and coach. He is a five time NBA All-Star and four time All-NBA Team member. He is also two-time Olympic Gold medalist and a two-time ...

Malik Sealy Malik Sealy (February 1, 1970 – May 20, 2000) was an American professional basketball player, active from 1992 until his death in an automobile accident at the age of 30. Posthumously inducted into the NYC Basketball Hall of Fame in 2004, Sealy ...

, and D'Angelo Harrison and sixth in Big East history with 1,222 conference points, while also ranking seventh all time in steals, 14th in assists, and 20th in rebounds. He once held the St. John's record for most three-pointers made in a single season (60) and in a career (148), but was surpassed by D'Angelo Harrison.

Professional career

López was selected 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 Southwest Division (NBA), Southwest Division of the Western Conference (NBA ...

with the 24th pick in the 1998 NBA draft and was immediately traded, along with Carl Herrera, to the

Vancouver Grizzlies The Vancouver Grizzlies were a Canadian professional basketball team based in Vancouver. The Grizzlies competed in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Midwest Division (NBA), Midwest Division of the Western Conference ( ...

for

point guard The point guard (PG), also called the one or the point, is one of the Basketball positions, five positions in a regulation basketball game. A point guard has perhaps the most specialized role of any position and is usually the shortest player ...

Antonio Daniels. López's drafting into the NBA was cause for great celebration in the heavily Dominican community of Washington Heights in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. He played 112 games for the Grizzlies before being traded to 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 Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference. The team plays i ...

along with Dennis Scott, Cherokee Parks, and Obinna Ekezie in exchange for

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under a contract at present ...

Isaac Austin on August 22, 2000. López went on to sign as a free agent with both the

Minnesota Timberwolves The Minnesota Timberwolves (often referred to as the Wolves or T-wolves) are an American professional basketball team based in Minneapolis. The Timberwolves compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Northwest Divisio ...

and

Dallas Mavericks The Dallas Mavericks (often referred to as the Mavs) are an American professional basketball team based in Dallas. The Mavericks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southwest Division (NBA), Southwest Divisi ...

, although he never played a regular season game for the Mavs. He trained with the

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 Southeast Division (NBA), Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference (NB ...

and

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

in the first months of the

2005–06 NBA season The 2005–06 NBA season was the 60th season of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The Miami Heat defeated the Dallas Mavericks in the NBA Finals, four games to two, to win their first NBA championship. This marked that it was the final ...

before signing a contract with Lleida. López holds career NBA averages of 5.8 points, 2.4 rebounds and one assist per game.

Career statistics

NBA

Source

Regular season

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Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

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, 65 , , 0 , , 12.0 , , .425 , , .167 , , .615 , , 1.9 , , 0.7 , , 0.5 , , 0.3 , , 4.5 , - , style="text-align:left;" rowspan=2 , , style="text-align:left;", Washington , 47 , , 38 , , 23.6 , , .436 , , .207 , , .732 , , 3.4 , , 1.6 , , 0.9 , , 0.4 , , 8.1 , - , style="text-align:left;",

Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...

, 23 , , 10 , , 19.9 , , .454 , , .565 , , .576 , , 3.2 , , 1.5 , , 0.9 , , 0.5 , , 7.4 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 67 , , 0 , , 8.7 , , .378 , , .424 , , .673 , , 1.2 , , 0.6 , , 0.3 , , 0.0 , , 2.5 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 249 , , 80 , , 16.6 , , .432 , , .327 , , .659 , , 2.4 , , 1.0 , , 0.6 , , 0.2 , , 5.8

Playoffs

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2001 The year's most prominent event was 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. The United States led a Participan ...

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, 4 , , 0 , , 13.8 , , .318 , , .200 , , .667 , , 2.8 , , 1.3 , , 1.0 , , .0 , , 4.3 , - , style="text-align:left;",

2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...

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, 3 , , 0 , , 10.0 , , .250 , , .500 , , .500 , , .3 , , .3 , , .3 , , .0 , , 1.3 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 7 , , 0 , , 12.1 , , .308 , , .286 , , .600 , , 1.7 , , .9 , , .7 , , .0 , , 3.0

References

5. Beat Nuts-Get Funky https://genius.com/The-beatnuts-get-funky-lyrics

External links

*
"Shoot the Moon"
''New Yorker'' article by Susan Orlean * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lopez, Felipe 1974 births Living people Albany Patroons players American sportspeople of Dominican Republic descent Dominican Republic expatriate basketball people in Canada Dominican Republic expatriate basketball people in Germany EWE Baskets Oldenburg players McDonald's High School All-Americans Minnesota Timberwolves players NBA players from the Dominican Republic Orlando Magic players Parade High School All-Americans (boys' basketball) San Antonio Spurs draft picks Shooting guards Basketball players from Santo Domingo St. John's Red Storm men's basketball players Vancouver Grizzlies players Washington Wizards players African diaspora in the Dominican Republic Dominican Republic basketball players Marineros de Puerto Plata players