Ralph Sampson
Ralph Lee Sampson is a former
college and professional
basketball player. He was arguably the most heavily recruited basketball prospect of his generation. Playing for the
University of Virginia, he was one of only two male players in the history of college basketball to receive the Naismith Award as the National Player of the Year three times . He was the only player to win the Wooden award twice. Professionally, Sampson was a #1 draft pick, three-time
NBA All-Star, and Rookie of the Year for the
Houston Rockets.
Encyclopedia
Ralph Lee Sampson is a former
college and professional
basketball player. He was arguably the most heavily recruited basketball prospect of his generation. Playing for the
University of Virginia, he was one of only two male players in the history of college basketball to receive the Naismith Award as the National Player of the Year three times . He was the only player to win the Wooden award twice. Professionally, Sampson was a #1 draft pick, three-time
NBA All-Star, and Rookie of the Year for the
Houston Rockets. He was on the cover of
Sports Illustrated is an iconic weekly American [i] sport [i]s magazine [i] owned by media [i] ...
an unprecedented six times in a span of less than four years .
Standing 7'4" but at a lean 220 pounds , he could dunk the ball almost without jumping yet was agile enough to dribble behind his back and often even tried to emulate the role of a point guard. For the Houston Rockets, although he was well over 7 feet tall, he played power forward and often guarded men much smaller. This was because 7'0" Hakeem Olajuwon played center and the versatile Sampson preferred to play forward. Together, they were called the "Twin Towers" between 1984 and 1988.
In the 1985-86 NBA season, Sampson had lifted the Rockets from 14-68 in the 1982-83 season before his arrival to one of the best in the NBA. In Game 5 of the 1986 NBA Western Conference Finals, his last second tip-in at the buzzer beat the
Los Angeles Lakers and send the Rockets to only their 2nd NBA Finals appearance in franchise history.
His NBA career quickly deteriorated as he became burdened with numerous knee injuries. In 1988, Sampson was traded to the
Golden State Warriors, and the rest of his career was very limited. In 1989, he was traded to the
Sacramento Kings where he would basically be a third-string player. He would average 4.2 points per game and 3.0 points per game for the 1989-90 and 1990-91 seasons respectively. He would play one final season with the
Washington Bullets in 1991-92 where he averaged two points per game.
Ralph Sampson won numerous individual awards in the short period of time he was healthy, but he never won a national or NBA championship. He played in the Final Four with Virginia in 1981 and his Houston Rockets played in the
NBA Finals in 1986, but each time he was turned away without winning the elusive championship. The Virginia Cavaliers returned to the Final Four in 1984 — the year after he graduated.
Basketball career
College statistics| SEASON | TEAM | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | FT% | RPG | APG | PPG |
|---|
| '79-80 | Virginia | 34 | 34 | 29.9 | .547 | .702 | 11.2 | 1.1 | 14.9 |
| '80-81 | Virginia | 33 | 33 | 32.0 | .557 | .631 | 11.5 | 1.5 | 17.7 |
| '81-82 | Virginia | 32 | 32 | 31.3 | .561 | .615 | 11.4 | 1.2 | 15.8 |
| '82-83 | Virginia | 33 | 33 | 30.2 | .604 | .704 | 11.7 | 1.0 | 19.1 |
NBA Draft: Selected in the 1st round .
NBA statistics| SEASON | TEAM | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | FT% | RPG | APG | PPG |
|---|
| '83-84 | Houston | 82 | 82 | 32.8 | .523 | .661 | 11.1 | 2.0 | 21.0 |
| '84-85 | Houston | 82 | 82 | 37.6 | .502 | .676 | 10.4 | 2.7 | 22.1 |
| '85-86 | Houston | 79 | 76 | 36.3 | .488 | .641 | 11.1 | 3.6 | 18.9 |
| '86-87 | Houston | 43 | 32 | 30.8 | .489 | .624 | 8.7 | 2.8 | 15.6 |
| '87-88 | Houston | 19 | 19 | 37.1 | .439 | .741 | 9.1 | 1.9 | 15.9 |
| '87-88 | Golden State | 29 | 25 | 33.0 | .438 | .775 | 10.0 | 2.9 | 15.4 |
| '88-89 | Golden State | 61 | 36 | 17.8 | .449 | .653 | 5.0 | 1.3 | 6.4 |
| '89-90 | Sacramento | 26 | 7 | 16.0 | .372 | .522 | 3.2 | 1.1 | 4.2 |
| '90-91 | Sacramento | 25 | 4 | 13.9 | .366 | .263 | 4.4 | 0.7 | 3.0 |
| '91-92 | Washington | 10 | 0 | 10.8 | .310 | .667 | 3.0 | 0.4 | 2.2 |
Post-NBA life
Sampson served one year as an Assistant Coach at
James Madison University before coaching a
minor league professional team in
Richmond, Virginia.
In 2006, Sampson was indicted on perjury charges in a federal child support case. In this case, Sampson was held liable for over $300,000 in
child support charges to support children that he fathered by two women.
On Sept.7, 2006, Sampson pleaded guilty to mail fraud in the U.S. District Court in Richmond and received a two month prison sentence. The plea to mail fraud was part of the agreement with federal prosecutors. Also as part of the agreement, charges of making a false claim, making a false statement about his finances in a child support case, and perjury were dropped. Sampson asked that he not be required to begin his two month incarceration until April 2, 2007, and U.S. District Judge James Spencer allowed the delay.
Sampson now lives in a suburb of Atlanta along with his fiancee and their three year old daughter. He will serve his sentence in a facility located in or near Atlanta. His ex-wife, Aleize from whom he was divorced in 2003, and their four children also live in the Atlanta area.
Trivia
- Ralph Sampson is referred to in the sitcom Full House was an American [i] television [i] sitcom [i] that ran from 1987 [i] to 1995 [i] ...
, when Kirk Cameron's character refers to Sampson as "a building", and "the whole Golden State Warriors team is a city". - In his senior year at the University Of Virginia, Sampson lived in one of the prestigious yet small rooms on The Lawn, and had to have his dormitory room bed custom-built due to his height.
External links
- "" Sports Illustrated is an iconic weekly American [i] sport [i]s magazine [i] owned by media [i] ...
- - Houston Rocket Fan Site
Preceded by:
Albert King | ACC Men's Basketball Player of the Year
1981-83 | Succeeded by:
Michael Jordan |
Preceded by:
Mark Aguirre | Adolph Rupp Trophy
1981-83 | Succeeded by:
Michael Jordan |
Preceded by:
Terry Cummings | 1984
NBA Rookie of the Year | Succeeded by:
Michael Jordan |
