Lawrence Roberts (basketball)

Lawrence Edward Roberts III (born October 20, 1982) is an American former professional basketball player. Standing at 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m), he played at the power forward position.

Lawrence Roberts
Roberts with Partizan in 2009
Personal information
Born (1982-10-20) October 20, 1982 (age 42)
Houston, Texas, U.S.
Listed height6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)
Listed weight240 lb (109 kg)
Career information
High schoolLamar (Houston, Texas)
College
NBA draft2005: 2nd round, 55th overall pick
Selected by the Seattle SuperSonics
Playing career2005–2015
PositionPower forward
Number44
Career history
20052007Memphis Grizzlies
2006Arkansas RimRockers
2007Olympiacos
2008–2009Crvena zvezda
2009–2010Partizan
2010–2011Efes Pilsen
2011–2012Lietuvos rytas
2012–2013Bayern Munich
2013–2014Darüşşafaka
2014–2015BCM Gravelines
Career highlights and awards
Stats at NBA.com Edit this at Wikidata
Stats at Basketball Reference Edit this at Wikidata

College career

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Roberts attended Baylor University for two seasons, where he made the Big 12 All-Freshman Team,[1] but transferred to Mississippi State University in 2003 following the basketball scandal that rocked Baylor's program that year. He was a first-team All-American and the SEC Player of the Year in 2004, leading Mississippi State to its first top-two seeding in the NCAA tournament. In the 2003–04 season he averaged 16.9 points and 10.1 rebounds. He was first-team All-SEC and a first-team All-American,[2] finishing third to Jameer Nelson and Emeka Okafor for national player of the year honors. In the 2004–05 season he averaged 16.9 points and 11 rebounds. He recorded the first triple-double in Mississippi State history against Nicholls State University with 18 points, 11 rebounds, and 12 assists, while wearing an irritating translucent plastic face mask to protect his broken nose.[3]

Professional career

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Roberts was a second round draft pick (55th overall) of the Seattle SuperSonics in the 2005 NBA draft, but was traded to the Memphis Grizzlies in exchange for two future second-round draft picks and cash considerations. He signed a contract on July 10, 2005.

Europe

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After two seasons with the Grizzlies, in July 2007, Roberts moved to Europe and signed with Greek powerhouse Olympiacos on a two-year deal.[4] However, in October 2007, he was released from his contract before the season started.[5]

Without a club and not playing competitive basketball for several months, Roberts was signed by Serbian team KK Crvena zvezda on September 17, 2008, for a one-year contract.[6]

On September 25, 2009, Roberts signed the Indiana Pacers training camp roster, but he got released less than a month later on October 19, 2009.[7]

Two days later, on October 21, 2009, Roberts signed a one-year contract with KK Partizan.[8] With Partizan he won the 2009–10 Serbian National Championship, the 2010 Serbian National Cup, the 2010 Adriatic League and took 4th place at the Euroleague's Final Four in Paris.

In July 2010, Roberts signed with the Turkish team Efes Pilsen.[9]

On July 12, 2011, Roberts signed with BC Lietuvos rytas.[10]

In July 2012, he signed with Bayern Munich.[11][12] In October 2013, he signed with Darüşşafaka of the TBL2.[13]

On October 2, 2014, Roberts signed with BCM Gravelines of the French LNB Pro A[14] averaging 4.7 points and 4.9 rebounds. On February 4, 2015, Roberts left the team citing personal reasons.[15]

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  PIR  Performance Index Rating
 Bold  Career high

Regular season

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Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2005–06 Memphis 33 0 5.5 .455 .000 .478 1.5 .2 .2 .1 1.5
2006–07 Memphis 54 18 17.9 .452 .000 .725 4.8 .6 .7 .2 5.2
Career 87 18 13.2 .452 .000 .688 3.6 .4 .5 .2 3.8

Euroleague

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Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG PIR
2009–10 Partizan Belgrade 21 21 32.2 .335 .319 .658 7.4 2.3 1.1 .3 9.0 10.0
2010–11 Efes Pilsen 16 3 20.9 .435 .379 .594 5.1 .8 .9 .6 6.5 7.5
Career 37 24 27.3 .368 .337 .640 6.4 1.6 1.0 .5 7.9 8.9

Personal

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Roberts is the son of Lawrence E. "Butch" Jr., and Cynthia Roberts, nephew of former sportscaster Robin Roberts of Good Morning America fame and grandson of the late Col. Lawrence E. Roberts Sr. and Lucimarian Roberts.

References

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  1. ^ "Men's Basketball Coaches' All-Big 12 Team Announced for 2001–02". big12sports.com. March 6, 2002.
  2. ^ "Roberts, Childress, Gomes round out top five". ESPN.com. March 24, 2004. Retrieved February 8, 2024.
  3. ^ "All-American finishes with 18 pts., 12 assists, 11 boards". ESPN.com. November 21, 2004. Archived from the original on January 6, 2019. Retrieved February 8, 2024.
  4. ^ "Reds add Vasiliadis, Roberts, Mavrokefalidis". euroleague.net. July 12, 2007.
  5. ^ "Olympiacos: Roberts released, Vassiliadis hurt". euroleague.net. October 4, 2007.
  6. ^ "Red Star inks forward Lawrence Roberts". eurocupbasketball.com. September 17, 2008.
  7. ^ "Pacers release 3 players in roster trim". indystar.com. October 19, 2009.
  8. ^ "Partizan signs big man Lawrence Roberts". euroleague.net. October 21, 2009.
  9. ^ "Efes Pilsen lands rebounder Roberts". euroleague.net. July 28, 2010.
  10. ^ "Lietuvos Rytas lands Roberts". euroleague.net. July 12, 2011.
  11. ^ "Bayern Munich officially tabs Lawrence Roberts". Sportando. Archived from the original on July 17, 2012. Retrieved August 24, 2012.
  12. ^ "Bayern Munich set to announce Lawrence Roberts". Sportando. Archived from the original on July 28, 2012. Retrieved August 24, 2012.
  13. ^ "Lawrence Roberts signs with Darusaffaka Dogus of TB2L". Sportando.net. Archived from the original on October 5, 2013. Retrieved October 2, 2013.
  14. ^ "Gravelines sign Lawrence Roberts, ex Darussafaka". Eurobasket.com. October 2, 2014. Retrieved October 3, 2014.
  15. ^ Lawrence Roberts leaves Gravelines-Dunkerque
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