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Dwayne Schintzius

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Dwayne Schintzius
Schintzius before a Florida basketball game in 2011
Personal information
Born(1968-10-14)October 14, 1968
Brandon, Florida, U.S.
DiedApril 15, 2012(2012-04-15) (aged 43)
Tampa, Florida, U.S.
Listed height7 ft 2 in (2.18 m)
Listed weight260 lb (118 kg)
Career information
High schoolBrandon (Brandon, Florida)
CollegeFlorida (1986–1990)
NBA draft1990: 1st round, 24th overall pick
Selected by the San Antonio Spurs
Playing career1990–2003
PositionCenter
Number24, 42, 33, 55
Career history
1990–1991San Antonio Spurs
1991–1992Sacramento Kings
1992–1995New Jersey Nets
1995–1996Indiana Pacers
1996–1997Los Angeles Clippers
1999Boston Celtics
2001–2002Mobile Revelers
2003Brevard Blue Ducks
Career highlights and awards
Career NBA statistics
Points587 (2.7 ppg)
Rebounds536 (2.5 rpg)
Assists93 (0.4 apg)
Stats at NBA.com Edit this at Wikidata
Stats at Basketball Reference Edit this at Wikidata
Medals
Men's basketball
Representing  United States
FIBA U19 World Championship
Silver medal – second place 1987 Bormio National team

Dwayne Kenneth Schintzius (October 14, 1968 – April 15, 2012) was an American National Basketball Association (NBA) basketball player. He was born in Brandon, Florida and attended the University of Florida, where he helped lead the Florida Gators men's basketball program to its first three NCAA tournament appearances as an all-conference center. Schintzius was selected in the first round of the 1990 NBA draft (24th overall) by the San Antonio Spurs, 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. In 2009, he was diagnosed with a rare form of leukemia. After treatment and a brief remission, he died from complications of the disease in 2012.

Early years

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Schintzius was born in Brandon, Florida, a suburb of Tampa.[1] He attended Brandon High School,[1] where the seven-foot center played for the Brandon Eagles high school basketball team.[2] Together with teammate Toney Mack, Schintzius led the Eagles to a Class 4A state runner-up finish as a sophomore, and another Final Four berth as a junior.[3] As a senior, he averaged 21.1 points and 17 rebounds per game,[3] was a finalist for Florida's Mr. Basketball award, and was recognized as a high school All-American by McDonald's and Parade magazine in 1986.[2]

College career

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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 University of Florida, where he played for the Florida Gators men's basketball team from 1987 to 1990 under head coach Norm Sloan.[4] Schintzius started at center for the Gators beginning early in his freshman season.[4] 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.[4] 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.[4]

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.[4] During his junior year, the Gators won their first-ever regular season Southeastern Conference (SEC) championship.[4] Schintzius was recognized as a first-team All-SEC player after that season and was included on multiple All-American lists.[4]

However, Schintzius' college career was marred by disciplinary problems.[5] 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.[5] He also had minor incidents with opposing players, fans, and mascots, and with others off the court.[5][6]

During his junior season, Schintzius allegedly heard a rude remark from a sidewalk while riding in a car outside a Gainesville nightclub and stormed after the offender wielding a tennis racket.[5] 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.[5]

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 to face the Vanderbilt Commodores in a crucial SEC matchup.[7] 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 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.[7] 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.[7][8][9]

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. Schintzius was not happy with this turn of events and skipped DeVoe's first practice with the team along with fellow star Livingston Chatman.[10] Soon after, he was suspended for alleged involvement in a fraternity house fight.[10] 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.".[5][10] 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.[10] The statement read, in part:

No one can argue that Coach Sloan and Coach Towe (Monte Towe, 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. If you can play for Coach Sloan, you can play for almost anyone, almost anyone.[10]

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.[11]

Schintzius remains the only player in SEC history to amass more than 1,000 points, 800 rebounds, 250 assists and 250 blocks.[12] 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.[4][12]

Professional career

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Despite his personal issues, Schintzius was regarded as a good NBA prospect due to his performance on the court. Schintzius was widely projected as a top five pick before his suspension and during the suspension was seen as a lottery pick being mocked as high as 3rd overall to the late lottery with some seeing Schintzius as the most talented big-man in the draft .[13] The San Antonio Spurs selected him in the first round (twenty-fourth pick overall) of the 1990 NBA draft.[1] He injured his back during his rookie season and was traded to the Sacramento Kings for Antoine Carr on September 23, 1991. He later revealed that Spurs general manager Bob Bass disliked his mullet haircut and told him to cut it, which he did.[14] Schintzius then sent Bass the shavings in an envelope.[14] The Kings waived Schintzius during the 1991–92 season, and the New Jersey Nets 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 and often missed long stretches of playing time as he moved from team to team, mostly serving as a reserve center.[15][16] He spent three seasons with the New Jersey Nets, a year with the Indiana Pacers, and then a year with the Los Angeles Clippers. 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.[17] After missing the entire 1997–98 season due to injury, he played 16 games with the Boston Celtics in 1998–99 before retiring from the NBA.[1] In eight NBA seasons, he appeared in 217 regular season games and started 33 of them.[1]

He later came out of retirement to play in the minor leagues, and appeared in 35 games for the Mobile Revelers of the NBA's Development League in 2001–02.[1] He last played for the Brevard Blue Ducks of the United States Basketball League (USBL) in 2003.[15]

Off the court

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Schintzius played Ivan Radovadovitch, a fictional Georgian player for the New York Knicks, in the 1996 comedy movie Eddie, which starred Whoopi Goldberg as the team's female coach.[15] Several other actual NBA players were also featured as members of the Knicks and other real NBA teams in the film.[15] He later appeared in local commercials.[15]

At the trial of his former New Jersey Nets teammate Jayson Williams, he testified that he witnessed Williams kill his own dog with a shotgun.[18]

Illness and death

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In November 2009, Schintzius was diagnosed with a chronic myelomonocytic leukemia, a rare and often fatal form of the disease.[19] With a bone marrow donation from his brother Travis, he underwent bone marrow transplantation at the Moffit Cancer Center in Tampa on January 12, 2010.[19] The procedure was considered a success,[20][21] but Schintzius struggled through several difficult rounds of chemotherapy until being declared cancer-free in July 2010.[19]

In early 2012, Schintzius continued to suffer from complications, and a second bone marrow transplant was required.[22] On April 15, 2012, Schintzius died at the Moffit Cancer Center from respiratory failure; he was 43 years old.[23]

Career statistics

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Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game
 FG%  Field goal percentage  3P%  3-point field goal percentage  FT%  Free throw percentage
 RPG  Rebounds per game  APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game
 BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game  Bold  Career high

Regular season

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Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
1990–91 San Antonio 42 7 9.5 .439 .000 .550 2.9 .4 .0 .7 3.8
1991–92 Sacramento 33 0 12.1 .427 .000 .833 3.6 .6 .2 .8 3.3
1992–93 New Jersey 5 0 7.0 .286 — 1.000 1.6 .4 .4 .4 1.4
1993–94 New Jersey 30 3 10.6 .345 — .588 3.0 .4 .2 .6 2.3
1994–95 New Jersey 43 11 7.4 .380 — .545 1.9 .3 .1 .4 2.0
1995–96 Indiana 33 5 9.0 .445 — .619 2.4 .4 .3 .4 3.4
1996–97 L.A. Clippers 15 0 7.7 .361 .500 .875 1.5 .3 .1 .6 2.3
1998–99 Boston 16 0 4.2 .250 — .750 1.2 .5 .0 .2 .7
Career 217 33 9.0 .404 .125 .638 2.5 .4 .1 .5 2.7

Playoffs

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Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
1993 New Jersey 5 0 21.2 .448 — .500 5.0 .8 .2 1.2 5.8

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f Basketball-Reference.com, Players, Dwayne Schintzius. Retrieved April 16, 2012.
  2. ^ a b Bob Hill, "Schintzius Could Make a Big Difference Archived November 6, 2012, at the Wayback Machine," Sun-Sentinel, p. 1C (November 20, 1986). Retrieved April 16, 2012.
  3. ^ a b Joey Knight, "Tampa Bay's All-Century Team: No. 61 Dwayne Schintzius Archived 2012-03-07 at the Wayback Machine," The Tampa Tribune (October 30, 1999). Retrieved April 16, 2012.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h 2011–12 Florida Gators Men's Basketball Media Guide Archived May 1, 2012, at the Wayback Machine, 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.
  5. ^ a b c d e f Curry Kirkpatrick "Much ado about a 'do: The long and short of it is that mangle-maned Dwayne Archived January 2, 2013, at archive.today," Sports Illustrated (January 16, 1989). Retrieved April 16, 2012.
  6. ^ King, Bill (January 26, 1990). "Schintzius's Career Always Interesting". The Gainesville Sun. Retrieved April 13, 2013.
  7. ^ a b c Mark Bechtel, "Fanatics at Work: Ten Most Intriguing Things Thrown on the Field," Sports Illustrated (May 4, 2006). Retrieved April 16, 2012.
  8. ^ Kevin Brockway, "Former Florida center Dwayne Schintzius dies at 43 Archived 2015-06-20 at the Wayback Machine," The Gainesville Sun (April 15, 2012). Retrieved April 16, 2012.
  9. ^ "Fans throw Vanderbilt for a loss". The Associated Press. January 26, 1989. Archived from the original on May 20, 2016. Retrieved April 13, 2013.
  10. ^ a b c d e "Basketball; Schintzius Walks Out And Slams the Door," The New York Times (January 27, 1990). Retrieved April 16, 2012.
  11. ^ Hays Carlyon, "Gators great Dwayne Schintzius, 43, dies of leukemia," The Florida Times-Union (April 15, 2012). Retrieved April 16, 2012.
  12. ^ a b 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.
  13. ^ Howard-Copper, Scott (June 28, 1990). "Schintzius Pays a Heavy Price : Overall: Florida center, among the most talented players in the draft, lasts until Spurs make him the No. 24 choice. As expected, Coleman is No. 1 pick". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved June 19, 2024.
  14. ^ a b Joey Johnston, "As baseball's trade deadline nears, anxiety rises," The Tampa Tribune (July 24, 2011). Retrieved April 16, 2012.
  15. ^ a b c d e 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 Archived October 20, 2012, at the Wayback Machine," South Florida Sun-Sentinel, p. C1 (March 14, 2007). Retrieved April 16, 2012.
  16. ^ Shaun Powell, "Former NBA big man Schintzius fights cancer, ghosts of past," NBA.com (October 19, 2012). Retrieved April 17, 2012.
  17. ^ "Los Angeles Clippers at Washington Bullets Box Score, January 10, 1997". Basketball-Reference.com. Sports Reference. Retrieved October 29, 2022.
  18. ^ "Former Net renews claim that Williams shot own dog Archived 2007-04-02 at the Wayback Machine," CourtTV.com (May 5, 2004). Retrieved March 16, 2007.
  19. ^ a b c Joey Johnston, "Former NBA, UF center Schintzius grateful to be alive Archived 2010-08-26 at the Wayback Machine," The Tampa Tribune (July 13, 2010). Retrieved April 16, 2012.
  20. ^ Kurt Helin, "ProBasketballTalk: Dwayne Schintzius fighting for life," NBC Sports (February 19, 2010). Retrieved April 16, 2012.
  21. ^ Joey Johnston, "Ex-UF star, NBA player Dwayne Schintzius battling cancer," The Tampa Tribune (February 17, 2010). Retrieved April 16, 2012.
  22. ^ Joey Johnston, Bay area native, UF star Schintzius dead at 43," The Tampa Tribune (April 15, 2012). Retrieved April 16, 2012.
  23. ^ Michael DiRocco, "Dwayne Schintzius dead at age 43," ESPN (April 15, 2012). Retrieved April 16, 2012.
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