Nazr Mohammed

Nazr Mohammed
Nazr Mohammed
Born	September 5, 1977 (age 49); Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Occupation(s)	Former professional basketball player, general manager, pro scout
Years active	1998–2016 (player)
Known for	NBA career spanning 18 seasons; general manager of Oklahoma City Blue; pro scout for Oklahoma City Thunder

Nazr Tahiru Mohammed ( ; born September 5, 1977) is a retired American professional basketball athlete whose NBA career extended over 18 seasons with eight different franchises. Presently, he holds the position of general manager for the Oklahoma City Blue and works as a pro scout for the Oklahoma City Thunder. His collegiate basketball tenure was with the University of Kentucky.

Early life

Born to Alhaji Muhammad, a businessman from Ghana, Mohammed grew up in Chicago and completed his secondary education at Kenwood Academy in 1995. That same year, he began attending the University of Kentucky, where his playing time was limited during their NCAA Championship-winning season. After trimming down physically in his sophomore year, he shared the starting center position with Jamaal Magloire, playing a key role in Kentucky’s runner-up finish in 1997 and their NCAA Championship triumph in 1998.

Philadelphia 76ers (1998–2001)

Following his junior year, Mohammed declared for the 1998 NBA draft and was picked 29th overall by the Utah Jazz. His draft rights were immediately traded to the Philadelphia 76ers in exchange for a future first-round draft pick. Mohammed spent two and a half seasons with Philadelphia before being traded in February 2001 to the Atlanta Hawks, along with an injured Theo Ratliff, in return for Hall of Famer Dikembe Mutombo.

Atlanta Hawks (2001–2004)

On November 5, 2001, Mohammed achieved a personal best by scoring 30 points against the Los Angeles Clippers. He stayed with the Hawks until midway through the 2003–04 season when he was traded to the New York Knicks in exchange for Michael Doleac.

New York Knicks (2004–2005)

Mohammed played part of the 2004–05 season with the Knicks before being involved in another trade.

San Antonio Spurs (2005–2006)

The San Antonio Spurs acquired Mohammed in exchange for Malik Rose, and he completed the latter half of the 2004–05 season averaging 9.5 points, 7.6 rebounds, and 1.1 blocks per game across both teams. He earned his sole NBA championship ring in 2005 as a member of the Spurs’ starting lineup.

During his second season with San Antonio, Mohammed shared center responsibilities with Rasho Nesterović, averaging 6.2 points and 5.2 rebounds per contest. On March 17, 2006, he equaled his career-high by scoring 30 points against the Phoenix Suns. He played an important role in the Spurs’ first-round playoff series win over the Sacramento Kings but had limited minutes during their second-round defeat by the Dallas Mavericks. After declining a four-year contract extension offer, Mohammed departed from San Antonio following that campaign.

Detroit Pistons (2006–2007)

In July 2006, Mohammed signed on as the starting center for the Detroit Pistons. He began that season as a regular starter; however, after the midseason acquisition of Chris Webber in January 2007, his playing time diminished significantly, resulting in only five minutes played across two playoff games. Over 51 games (33 starts), he averaged 5.6 points and 4.5 rebounds while logging roughly 15 minutes per game.

Charlotte Bobcats (2007–2011)

Mohammed was traded to the Charlotte Bobcats on December 14, 2007, in a deal that sent Primož Brezec and Walter Herrmann to the other team.

Oklahoma City Thunder (2011–2012)

On February 24, 2011, Mohammed was sent to the Oklahoma City Thunder as part of a trade that sent D. J. White and Morris Peterson to Charlotte. While with the Thunder, he advanced to the 2012 NBA Finals, where they were defeated by the Miami Heat in five games (4–1).

Chicago Bulls (2012–2015)

Mohammed returned to his hometown by signing with the Chicago Bulls on July 27, 2012. During the 2013 NBA Playoffs, he was involved in a significant confrontation with LeBron James, which led to Mohammed being ejected from the game.

He extended his contract with the Bulls in July 2013 and again in September 2014. On August 1, 2015, Mohammed participated in the NBA Africa Game 2015 representing Team Africa. He officially retired from professional basketball on October 9, 2015.

Return to Oklahoma City (2016)

In March 2016, Mohammed ended his retirement to re-enter the NBA. He signed with the Oklahoma City Thunder on March 5, marking his second tenure with the franchise. Four days later, he made his return appearance during a 120–108 win against the Los Angeles Clippers.

Regular season

|- | align="left" | | align="left" | Philadelphia | 26 || 0 || 4.7 || .357 || .000 || .571 || 1.4 || .1 || .2 || .2 || 1.6 |- | align="left" | | align="left" | Philadelphia | 28 || 3 || 6.8 || .389 || .000 || .545 || 1.8 || .1 || .1 || .4 || 1.9 |- | align="left" | | align="left" | Philadelphia | 30 || 3 || 6.5 || .466 || .000 || .500 || 1.8 || .1 || .2 || .2 || 3.2 |- | align="left" | | align="left" | Atlanta | 28 || 19 || 25.6 || .480 || .000 || .765 || 9.0 || .6 || .8 || 1.0 || 12.3 |- | align="left" | | align="left" | Atlanta | 82 || 73 || 26.4 || .461 || .000 || .617 || 7.9 || .4 || .8 || .7 || 9.7 |- | align="left" | | align="left" | Atlanta | 35 || 0 || 12.7 || .421 || .000 || .634 || 3.7 || .2 || .5 || .6 || 4.6 |- | align="left" | | align="left" | Atlanta | 53 || 1 || 17.7 || .493 || .000 || .627 || 5.0 || .4 || .4|| .5||6.5 |- | align="left" | | align="left" | New York | 27||23||24.9||.563||.000||.525||7.7||.6||1.2||.9||9.1 |- | align="left" | | align="left" | New York |54||54||28.1||.509||.000||.708||8.1||.5||1.0||1.0||10.9 |- | style="text-align:left;background:#afe6ba;" | † | align="left"| San Antonio |23||5||18.0||.387||.000||.571||6.4||.3||.2||1.4||6.2 |- | align="left"| | align="left"| San Antonio |80||30||17.4||.504||.000||.785||5.2||.5||.3||.6||6.2 |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- class="sortbottom" |}

Playoffs

|- | align="left" | 1999 | align="left" | Philadelphia | 3 || 0 || 1.0 || .000 || .000 || .000 || .0 || .0 || .0 || .0 || .0 |- | align="left" | 2004 | align="left" | New York | 4 || 4 || 24.3 || .500 || .000 || .688 || 5.8 || .3 || 1.5 || .8 || 10.3 |- | style="text-align:left;background:#afe6ba;"| 2005† | align="left" | San Antonio | 23 || 23 || 23.0 || .528 || 1.000 || .638 || 6.7 || .3 || .6 || 1.0 || 7.1 |- | align="left" | 2006 | align="left" | San Antonio | 8 || 3 || 11.8 || .733 || 1.000 || .722 || 3.9 || .1 || .4 || .8 || 4.5 |- | align="left" | 2007 | align="left" | Detroit | 2 || 0 || 3.0 || .500 || .000 || 1.000 || 1.5 || .0 || .0 || .0 || 2.5 |- | align="left" | 2010 | align="left" | Charlotte | 4 || 0 || 12.0 || .579 || .000 || .667 || 2.0 || .5 || .3 || .5 || 6.0 |- | align="left" | 2011 | align="left" | Oklahoma City | 14 || 0 || 10.6 || .412 || .000 || .400 || 2.3|| .0|| .3|| .4|| 2.3 |- | align="left" | 2012 | align="left" | Oklahoma City | 8|| 0||10.4||.500||.000||.500||2.0||.1||.0||.4||2.3 |- | align="left" | 2013 | align="left" | Chicago | 12|| 0||9.5||.512||.000||.571||2.7||.3||.2||.6||3.8 |- | align="left" | 2014 | align="left" | Chicago | 2|| 0||2.5||.000||.000||.000||1.0||.0||.0||.0||.0 |- | align="left" | 2015 | align="left" | Chicago | 3|| 0||4.7||.286||.000||.000||1.7||.0||.0||.3||1.3 |- | align="left" | 2016 | align="left" | Oklahoma City | 5|| 0||2.0||.500||.000||.000||0.6||.0||.0||.2||0.4 |- class="sortbottom" | style="text-align:center;" colspan="2"| Career | 88||30||13.1||.514||.667||.639||3.5||.2||.3||.6||4.2

Personal life

Mohammed follows the Islamic faith and observes fasting during Ramadan, which led to an approximate ten-pound reduction in his weight during the 2004–05 campaign.

Together with his wife Mandi, he has three children: two daughters and a son named Sir, who is a collegiate basketball player at Notre Dame.

He established The Nazr Mohammed Foundation, which contributes to philanthropic efforts by providing donations, organizing fundraisers, conducting camps, awarding grants, and offering scholarships; notably, in August 2012, it held the Kenwood Academy Capital Improvements Fundraiser.

In May 2020, Mohammed completed a Bachelor's degree in Business Management from Kentucky, further developing his expertise for pursuits beyond his athletic career.

External links